Recycling and reuse: share your experiences

Higher Education institutions in the UK currently produce 1.5 million tonnes of waste per year. A significant proportion of this has the potential to be reused or recycled to save organisations money, reduce waste to landfill and avoid the use of raw resources to manufacture new products. Many of these items include furniture or electrical goods. So, how can this waste be managed to reduce costs?
 

Environmental consultancy, AEA Technology, on behalf of the Scottish Government support body, Zero Waste Scotland, are seeking information on the experiences of further and higher education institutions in Scotland and across the UK on the implementation of segregated collection systems for recycling of key materials (e.g. paper, card, metals, glass and plastics) in non-public areas, such as staff offices, canteens, halls of residence and storage areas and for their experiences of reuse schemes. 
 

Examples of good practice and successful, challenging or ambitious projects are being sought to answer the following types of questions: what facilities are currently in place for storage of unwanted goods? How are asset registers used, if at all? What challenges and successes have colleges and universities come across in setting up segregated recycling? What further support is required in setting up reuse and segregated collection and recycling systems? 
 

The research will be used to produce guidance and case studies outlining the opportunities and benefits to establishing effective recycling and reuse schemes together with the associated barriers and possible solutions.
 

Organisations interested in providing input to the research  are requested to contact Lucy Shields (Lucy.shields@aeat.co.uk) or Joanna Hartga (Joanna.hartga@aeat.co.uk).