Metal rings attached to trash barrels boost Purdue recycling

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - A device developed by a Purdue University team is helping boost recycling during the university's tailgating events before home football games.

The team developed small metal rings which clip onto the side of regular trash barrels and are fitted with a trash bag to encourage people to fill them with discarded cans and plastic bottles.

The device has been helping cut down on waste at Purdue tailgating and other events since the fall of 2014.

Purdue Sustainability director Michael Gulich tells WLFI-TV (http://bit.ly/1SRHzIR ) that before the recycling units were implemented, only about six percent of waste produced during tailgating events was actually recycled.

But with the units installed, he says about 45 percent of that waste is now recycled. Gulich says the metal rings can be deployed quickly.