How we manage our waste
We have made a commitment to reduce the amount of waste we produce and increase the percentage of waste that is reused and recycled.
We aim to become one of the most sustainable research-intensive universities in the country and are committed to embedding sustainable practice across everything we do.
We produce a varied and substantial amount of waste every year. Waste can have significant environmental impacts including releasing greenhouse gases and polluting local environments during processing. It can also pollute natural environments further afield if it is not properly dealt with. We take the commitment to avoid, reduce, reuse and recycle materials very seriously and are committed to applying the principles of the circular economy wherever possible.
Our Waste Policy
Our Sustainability Strategy sets out our strategic aspiration and the action plan outlines the steps we will take to achieve them.
The University manages waste in accordance with the waste hierarchy, which ranks waste management options according to what is best for the environment.
In practice, we
- try to prevent generating waste
- stream materials at source for recycling where practical to do so
- send general waste and other non-recyclable wastes for energy recovery in preference to disposal
- only landfill and incinerate wastes that we are legally obliged to.
How we manage waste
The University is a diverse organisation and the waste generated from our activities is equally diverse, for example we generate waste directly from our teaching and research activities, estate maintenance and catering and conference activities. While waste is also generated indirectly from our activities, and includes domestic waste from student tenants at the residences - more information about waste and recycling at the residences can be found here (University login required).
The following materials are currently separated on campus and collected by specialist contractors for recycling:
|
Batteries Books Chemicals, solvents and hazardous waste Confidential waste Electrical lab equipment and fridges Fluorescent lamps Food waste Gas cylinders |
Green waste IT equipment Metals and swarf Mixed recycling, including glass Textiles Toners and printer cartridges Vegetable oils |
Our performance
Each year the university reports on its performance through the EMR return
The table below provides an overview of our performance and describes how the waste generated directly by the organisation is managed.
Tonnes of waste generated directly by the university’s activities
|
Disposal route |
2016/17 |
2017/18 |
2018/19 |
2019/20 |
2020/21 |
2021/22 |
|
Recycled |
1520.20 |
717.30 |
669.10 |
381 |
371.4 |
485.8 |
|
Composted |
102.20 |
72.10 |
75.70 |
79.5 |
113.4 |
107.74 |
|
Anaerobic digestion (food) |
104.10 |
113.60 |
103.40 |
47.4 |
34.7 |
50.71 |
|
Energy recovery |
178.50 |
941.50 |
1199.50 |
739.92 |
498.9 |
793.66 |
|
Landfilled |
229.00 |
84.50 |
1623.00 |
51.3 |
25 |
27.42 |
|
Incinerated without energy recovery (hazardous waste) |
65.30 |
21.20 |
35.70 |
48.2 |
26.3 |
52.28 |
|
Total waste generated |
2199.3 |
1950.2 |
3706.4 |
1347.32 |
1069.7 |
1517.61 |
|
Total recycled / recovered |
1905 |
1844.5 |
2047.7 |
1247.82 |
1018.4 |
1437.91 |
|
Total disposed of |
294.3 |
105.7 |
1658.7 |
99.5 |
51.3 |
79.7 |
|
Percentage of waste recycled / recovered |
86.6% |
94.6% |
55.2% |
92.6% |
95.2% |
94.7% |