Waste and Recycling
Waste and recycling is an area where everyone can make a difference. Our new interactive maps for Streatham and St Luke’s show where all the recycling bins are on campus. If new to recycling, the images on the bins makes it clear what goes inside them. We would encourage you to think about whether an item can be reused instead of recycled or disposed of - reuse is the more sustainable option. Please see our A-Z of what you can recycle.
In 2022-23 approximately 94% of our waste was reused (Warp It), recycled, composted, combusted or sent for anaerobic digestion. If you are interested in how we measure and track our waste, see our Waste Summary Report 2022-23 for information on waste generated, treatment/disposal type and waste stream. Waste accounts for less than 1% of the University’s total carbon emissions but has a significant impact on the environment so we still need to think about how we manage it.
Avoiding waste is the ideal solution, because then there is no need to consider options for recycling or disposing of material. The waste hierarchy is a long established guide which illustrates the order in which waste management measures should be prioritised based on environmental impact. Everyone has a duty of care to dispose of waste safely.
What are we doing?
We continue to seek new and innovative ways to dispose of waste and initiatives to help everyone reduce, reuse and recycle. We would encourage everyone who uses our campuses to think about waste and how they can reduce it. Please see our new Circular Economy & Sustainable Resource Management Strategy 2024-2030, which has just been published outlining our aims for the next 6 years.
- Working group established to investigate the feasibility of creating an off-campus resource hub for improving resource management and enabling reuse and recycling of University waste using the most sustainable methods and promoting circular economy
- Continued focus on further reduction of single use plastics
- Enhancing reuse through expansion of the Moving On project
- Developing regular reuse pop-up events
- Investigating opportunities for student reuse
Visit Warp It Reuse Network. to find out about options for reuse (Warp It is only available to staff at present). Our reuse section will be coming shortly with more details about the circular economy.
Campus map - find out where you can recycle different items here.
Waste A-Z - from aerosols to wood - common waste types and details on how to recycle or dispose of them.
What we are doing
- Waste composting - we are working with academics, professionals, industry and manufacturers to investigate the opportunity of introducing in-vessel composting to the South West in order to correctly process compostable packaging.
- A waste tender process is underway which is identifying opportunities for improved segregation and treatment of our waste from suppliers of five of our existing waste streams:
- Chemical & lab waste
- Clinical waste
- WEEE – IT
- WEEE – electrical
- Paper – confidential & ‘regular’
- Tetrapak recycling scheme introduced
- We are continuing to focus on further reduction of single-use plastics
- Our new Waste and Resource strategy is in development, while we undertake extensive consultations with our external and internal stakeholders, together with exploring innovation within waste contract services
- Visit our reuse section to find out more about options for reuse, including the Warp It reuse network
Please see our new Circular Economy & Sustainable Resource Management Strategy 2024-2030
The Sustainable Bought Goods & Services Policy and The Responsible Procurement Checklist enable environmental and sustainable considerations in the purchase of all bought goods and services, including consideration on whether existing assets can be reused or shared.
Ideally, the university would prefer for our Warp It reuse platform to be utilised for the transfer of goods, either internally, or externally to our network of charitable partners. For staff wishing to transfer assets (with the support and authorisation of a Director) to external organisations who may not be able or willing to sign up to Warp It (free to charities, charitable organisations, schools, hospitals etc) the Equipment Transfer Agreement must be completed in full and a copy of the completed form submitted to the sustainability team.
If items are to be sold at a cost to the recipient please refer to the Sale and Donation of Redundant / Surplus Assets for guidance.
Managing Waste
Our Waste Management Standard sets out the responsibilities for the requirements of the management of waste: University of Exeter Waste Management Standard 2024
Waste is hazardous when it contains substances or properties that might make it harmful to human health or the environment. As an organisation that produces hazardous waste, we must comply with the legal obligations that control how we classify, store, transport, treat and dispose of it. Find out more in the Hazardous Waste Compliance Briefing Note
Waste hierarchy
