On home football Saturdays, about 106,000 people -- more than twice the population of Harrisburg -- fill the stands of Beaver Stadium. By the end of the game, thousands of wrappers and water bottles litter the stadium. That means a lot of recycling.

Penn State utilizes three separate systems for cleaning trash after home football games. Volunteers and employees work together before, during and after the games to gather trash left by fans.

And recycling stadium waste is actually more cost effective for the university than sending it to local landfills, said Al Matyasovsky, recycling program coordinator at Penn State.

"We have an outstanding program which we are very proud of," said Paul Ruskin, Office of Physical Plant (OPP) spokesman. "Other teams, such as the Pittsburgh Steelers, University of Michigan and [University of] Pittsburgh, have inquired or adopted a similar program."

The Beaver Stadium Recycling Effort is a student-run organization that collects empty water bottles left behind in the stands. It begins two hours before each game.

Boy and Girl Scout troops work from 12 to 25 recycling stations located outside the stadium. They hand out blue trash bags for recycling and literature about recycling stations in and around the stadium.

"Since 9/11 we have the Boy and Girl Scouts leave before the game starts due to security and liability measures," said Matyasovsky. "This program began in 1995 and has collect[ed] over 100 tons of recyclable material."

Cardboard and mixed office paper from the press box and unused programs are collected for recycling during the game.

The university's recycling effort has been received positively by fans, Matyasovsky said, because fans want to see recycling.

Thirty minutes after the game, volunteer students meet at the Joe Paterno statue to begin clean up in the stands. The collected bottles are then sold and the proceeds given to the Centre County United Way.

"Any student can volunteer," Matyasovsky said. "We have had a great turnout for the past two games: 60 students the first game and 40 this past weekend."

Matyasovsky finds that many students and clubs volunteer as part of their volunteer credits. The department of athletics and OPP work to finish cleaning on Sunday mornings.

"It's a joint effort," said Beaver Stadium staff member Richard Bupp. "The [Office of] Physical Plant employees are outside the stadium emptying the barrels and hand-picking and we're inside hand-picking and cleaning up the stands for the next game."

Bupp said most clean-up teams are members of club sports, but there are several varsity sports teams participating as well.

"It's a good source of income for club sports," he said.

By volunteering time, athletes earn money for their teams.

Mark Denlinger, who is on the cycling and tennis club sports teams, helped on Sunday in the effort to pick up leftover trash.

"We started at 7 a.m. and we're here 'til it's all done," said Denlinger (freshman--finance). "They estimated we'd be done by 2."

Cycling team member Adam Joelsson (senior--microbiology) said he and his teammates' method of cleaning up was fairly simple.

"We're just focusing on getting the trash out of the stands and into the bags," he said.

Denlinger was surprised by the amount of recyclable material.

"Down by the entrance, there is a ton of recyclable stuff," he said. "There are two full dumpsters of cardboard and bags of bottled water.

"It seems everyone leaves trash everywhere," he added. "There aren't a lot of places to put it in the stands. It's amazing how much trash there is."