11 February 2010
Recycling rockets at `green´ University
Recycling of paper and card has soared by nearly 600 per cent at the University of Sheffield in the last year, following a host of environmental initiatives to encourage staff and students to `go green.´
New figures show that paper recycling increased from 22 tonnes in 2008 to 154 tonnes in 2009, following the launch of a new paper and card recycling scheme.
The initiative has seen the University´s Portering and Cleaning Services help collect more paper waste, extending the material collected for recycling from just white paper to magazines, coloured paper, envelopes and card. More recycling bins have also been provided around campus to encourage people do their bit for the environment.
In total, the University, which has already received awards for being `green,´ including the Carbon Trust Standard for its commitment to reducing carbon emissions, also managed to recycle 268 tonnes of waste in 2008/9 across the campus. Recycled material included Winchesters, (large glass bottles lab chemicals are supplied in), electrical equipment, and toners thanks to the development of greater corporate recycling schemes.
As well as the above recycling initiatives, since April last year the University has had a waste disposal contract with Premier Waste Management Ltd who send general waste to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), where recyclable material is separated from the waste and sent on to be remade into new products. From April to August last year, Premier collected 274.57 tonnes of waste of which 192.82 tonnes were sent on for recycling, bringing the total amount of the University´s waste that was recycled to 460 tonnes.
The figures are good news for the University, which is already striving to change the behaviour of staff and students to encourage them to help the environment. As part of `Degrees Cooler `, a two year project being run in conjunction with the National Union of Students (NUS), the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC), Student Switch Off and People & Planet, the University has also recently taken on a Greener Living Assistant to help champion greener living. Students are also being encouraged to sign up to become Eco-power rangers - residents who pledge to use their energy carefully and encourage their friends to do so as well.
Charlotte Winnert, Environmental Officer in the University of Sheffield´s Department of Estates, said: "The University is committed to improving its environmental performance and has, over the last few years, made huge improvements in the way we manage our waste. However, we realise that there is still more that we could do and over the next few years we hope to build on this success." Notes for Editors: To find out more about Degrees Cooler, visit the link below.
To find out more about the Carbon Trust Standard, visit the link below or call the Carbon Trust Advice Line on 0800 085 2005.
For further information please contact: Shemina Davis, Media Relations Officer, on 0114 2225339 or email shemina.davis@sheffield.ac.uk
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