Green Portsmouth
New waste scheme aims to achieve a 70% recycling rate with zero landfill
From the 2nd of April 2013 bins in academic buildings changed to make it easier to recycle. With the exception of food, whatever you used to put in the general waste and recycling bins goes in just one bin. Food waste goes into new food caddies and the waste is composted in Dorset - you can find out more about the composting process here. You can see what the new standard bins, food caddies and meridian bins look like here.
Food residue in standard bins
A bit of food residue on waste is ok; for all items, overall residue levels should be only small amounts that won't cover other items in the bin. For example, crumbs are fine, some salad dressing residue in packaging is fine, used sauce sachets are fine.
Individual office bins
Individual offices have retained under-desk bins without liners so that you can collect your waste throughout the day and empty it into the nearest standard bin at your convenience. If you don't need your bin, your caretaker will be happy to take it away for you.
What happens to waste once it's collected?
Our waste contactor (Biffa) has a waste facility in the UK that's able to sort and recover all recyclables from mixed office waste, with the exception of food. You can see how mixed materials are recovered in the video below.
Materials that aren't recyclable go to a waste-to-energy plant so that all waste is safely disposed of. Recycling saves valuable materials from going to landfill and avoids the extraction and use of virgin raw materials - this saves energy and resources.
We trialled this scheme in Richmond and King Henry – it was so successful it resulted in VCE approving the proposal to roll it out to all academic buildings. Recycling rates at Richmond jumped from 40% to 70% as a result of the scheme, and have stayed in the region of 70% both in and out of teaching times.
The table below details how to dispose of particular items of waste. Contact us at greenportsmouth@port.ac.uk if the item you need to dispose of isn't listed, or if you need to discuss bin provision in your area.
| Type of waste | New waste scheme | Halls waste scheme |
|---|---|---|
| Aerosol | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Aluminium foil/tray | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Banana skin | Food Caddies/Meridian black section | Recycling |
| Battery | Caretaker/building reception (battery bucket) | Caretaker/building reception (battery bucket) |
| Blu tack | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | General waste |
| Cardboard (plain/waxed/plastic/coated) | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Cardboard box/tube | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Carrier bag | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Carton (juice, milk and so on) | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Cartridge (printer) | Recycle through your department purchasing staff or use the drop off points for Rowans Hospice charity: St Andrews - IS Admin office, Portland - Open Access office, Richmond - with Service Delivery Advisors in the store. | Recycle through your department purchasing staff or use the drop off points for Rowans Hospice charity: St Andrews - IS Admin office, Portland - Open Access office, Richmond - with Service Delivery Advisors in the store. |
| Chemicals | Department waste protocol/contact Estates if in doubt | Department waste protocol/contact Estates if in doubt |
| Chewing gum | Food Caddies/Meridian black section OR wrap (in paper or otherwise), place in Standard bin/Meridian Green section. | General waste |
| Clinical waste | Department waste protocol/contact Estates if in doubt | Department waste protocol/contact Estates if in doubt |
| Coffee grounds | Food Caddies/Meridian black section | General waste |
| Computer | Caretaker/redundant.equipment@port.ac.uk | Caretaker/redundant.equipment@port.ac.uk |
| Crisp packet | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Drink can (emptied of liquid) | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Egg carton | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Electrical waste | Caretaker/redundant.equipment@port.ac.uk | Caretaker/redundant.equipment@port.ac.uk |
| Envelope | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | General recycling |
| First aid materials | Bag as usual, dispose of in Femwaste bins in toilets (ladies & disabled) | Clinical waste procedure |
| Foil | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Furniture | Caretaker/redundant.equipment@port.ac.uk | Caretaker/redundant.equipment@port.ac.uk |
| Glass bottle/jar (all colours) | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Glass, broken | Contain in cardboard or similar, contact caretaker for disposal | Contain in cardboard or similar, contact caretaker for disposal |
| IT equipment | Caretaker/redundant.equipment@port.ac.uk | Caretaker/redundant.equipment@port.ac.uk |
| Kitchen roll | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Lever-arch file (broken) | Standard bin/Meridian Green section (if intact, return to stationary store) | General waste |
| Margarine tub | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Milk bottle tops | Send to Sarah Day at the Union | Send to Sarah Day at the Union |
| Newspaper | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Paint tins | Caretaker | Caretaker |
| Pallet | Caretaker | Caretaker |
| Paper (plain/printed) | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Paper plate | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Pencils/pencil shavings | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | General waste |
| Plastic bottle (emptied of liquid) | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Plastic container | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Polystyrene | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Sachet (empty, with some residue is ok) | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | General Waste |
| Salad bowl (plastic) | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Shredded paper | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Stamps (used) | Send to Fern Lewis at the Union (for Canine Partners Charity) | Send to Fern Lewis at the Union (for Canine Partners Charity) |
| Staples | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Tea bags | Food Caddies/Meridian black section | General Waste |
| Tissues | Ideally put in Food Caddies/Meridian black section, can also be placed in Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Yoghurt pot | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Tetra pack | Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Recycling |
| Toner | Most are refillable. For those that aren't: Wrap or box and place in Standard bin/Meridian Green section | Wrap or box and place in Standard bin/Meridian Green section |
Recycling and waste management Statistics
Over a period of two years the University has improved its recycling rate from 25% to 40% overall.
Microchips on both the green space and general waste bins allows weight data per bin to be provided on a monthly basis. The more we recycle, the more money we save.
Recycling rates per building can usually then be calculated and monitored - see our Targets and Statistics page for more information. Some buildings are achieving 70% recycling rates but the amount of waste thrown in skips brings our overall recycling rate down to 40%.
| Images of new bins [Acrobat (.pdf) - Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:18:00 GMT] |