Documentation to help complete the survey

Relating to waste operations

Your institution should already have some documentation relating to existing waste management operations, such as waste transfer notes, or a copy of your contractors' waste management licences. Some of these documents should have been identified on completion of Template 1.

Examples of the types of documents that could be used are shown in Structured Approach and the Legislation section. The existing documents should not just be useful in providing background information on management practices, and possibly waste arisings, but can also be used as a benchmark of current practice for comparative purposes, for example, in your first year audit. They will also indicate your current compliance with legislation.

Purchasing records

Purchasing data from all areas of the institution, including that from catering, bars, Student’s Union and so on, can be a useful source of information on potential sources of waste. It can help to establish what goods and materials are coming on site and which sections of the institution are likely to be major waste generators. It may highlight specific potential waste streams, for example, high users of paper, chemicals or oil. It should be noted that the use of such records may not be of great benefit for all institutions as, for example, students may bring large numbers of cans and bottles on to campus. The main records to look at would be those that relate to the generation of the majority of waste for your institution e.g. paper, cans, bottles (glass and plastic), and computers (both packaging boxes and the machines). Financial data from this information can be included in Template 3 and Template 4.

From purchase records, it should be possible to obtained a fairly close estimate of the number of cardboard boxes generated, number of trays of cans, bottles etc. Whilst it is unlikely that all the cardboard or cans will end in the waste bin, this information should help to get an idea of the maximum amount of specific items that could get into the waste stream. It is also useful for establishing realistic targets for recycling. For example, at Glasgow Caledonian University 14,000 cans are sold to students each week of term. Most are consumed in canteens, others elsewhere, so targets were set to collect around 6,000 cans per week.

In this section…

Documentation to help complete the survey

Relating to waste operations

Purchasing records

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