Spotlight on Waste month

This August is the University’s second ‘Spotlight on Waste’ month. The last one saw a successful month of activities, information sharing and resource creation to aid good recycling practices. This month has even more going on and ties in with the recent launch of the University’s new waste contract which will help the University meet its waste targets. Here is a sample of what you can expect this August.

Visit to Mick George’s Materials Recovery Facility

Mick George is the University’s new waste contractor. Staff are invited to join the Environment & Energy section on an educational visit to Mick George’s brand new ‘MRF’ (Materials Recovery Facility) and Anaerobic Digestion plant, to see first-hand how the University’s waste is treated. The visit will take place on 15 August. Transport is provided; however places are limited on a first-come-first-served basis, so email us quickly to confirm your place!

Events

The Environment & Energy section will be undertaking a ‘waste & recycling roadshow’, with prizes on offer for staff visiting our stands to hear about the new waste contract, as well as a chance to pick up the latest posters and try our waste sorting challenge. The preliminary dates and locations are:

• 17 Mill Lane, 8 August, 12.00pm
• David Attenborough Building, 11 August, 12.00pm
• Judge Business School, 12 August, 11.00am
• Clifford Albutt building, 16 August, 12.00pm
• Maxwell Centre, 22 August, 12.00pm
• Greenwich House, 24 August, 12.00pm
• The Gurdon Institute, 30 August, 12.00pm

All details will be shared through the Environment and Energy Coordinator network and via internal departmental contacts.

If you would like to hold a waste event in your department please contact your Environment and Energy Coordinator or email environment@admin.cam.ac.uk.

Posters

We have developed three new waste & recycling posters to put up in your office to raise awareness of waste & recycling issues! See our Posters & Resources page to download the posters, or come along to one of our waste events (above) to pick up hard copies. The new posters include:

• What goes into Recycling bins?
• What goes into General Waste bins?
• What goes into Food Waste bins?
• Waste facts
• Reconsider your refuse - top tips
• Reconsider your refuse - top tips (for sites using Vegware)

Website updates

Visit our website for new information on waste & recycling,including:

• new information on the Mick George waste collection contract
• an updated waste & recycling A-Z
• a refreshed Frequently Asked Questions page
• our top tips for encouraging recycling
• new case studies on how people at the University have addressed recycling challenges in different ways.

Recycling quiz

Everyone loves quizzes! Even more so when there are prizes on offer. Complete our recycling quiz to be in with a chance of winning a bottle of Fairtrade wine and chocolate. There is also a printable version of the quiz if you want to distribute them in your department – send scanned entries to us by email or hard copies in the UMS to ‘Environment & Energy Section, Greenwich House’.

WarpIt prizes

WarpIt is an online marketplace which helps to redistribute resources legally and conveniently within the University for free. It is designed to make it easy for staff to find others with spare items that they may need - reducing procurement spend. It also helps staff who are disposing of “stuff” to find new owners - saving on waste disposal costs. To create an account, please visit: https://www.warp-it.co.uk/cambridgeuni. During Spotlight on Waste month the Environment & Energy section will be posting prizes on the WarpIt system for anyone to claim, so keep an eye out!