Submitted by Grainne Kennedy on Fri, 2017-12-01 10:29
Throughout the month of November our focus has been firmly on waste; how we can reduce the amount we produce and how we can better manage the waste that we cannot avoid. This is a big issue for us all; in 2015-16 around 2,500 tonnes of waste from the University was sent to landfill - equivalent to the weight of the London Eye!
The University has already taken steps to reduce its impact. As of this year, we no longer send waste to landfill, as everything that can’t be recycled or composted goes to an Energy from Waste plant. However, it is still essential that we reduce the waste we produce and improve our recycling rates.
The University has targets to achieve continuous year-on-year reductions in waste arising per FTE staff and student, and to recycle at least 95% of total waste produced. Meeting these targets is challenging and will require input from everyone at the University. Through Spotlight on Waste month we’ve been helping to spread the message to as many people as possible, giving them the information they need to make a difference. During the month hundreds of conversations have been had about how we could all do our bit to turn the tide on waste.
The month was divided up into a number of themes, reflecting each of these four R’s:
1.Record and research
The prevailing wisdom is that you can’t manage what you can’t measure and our wonderful staff and students went to extreme lengths in November to provide a clear picture of what is going in which bin. Waste audits were carried out by the Green Impact teams, Greenwich House, and Earth Sciences, while six other randomly chosen sites were part of a student-led ‘Bin Busting audit’. Each of these audits gave us useful insights, showing where further education is needed and highlighting problematic waste streams, but they also showed us where we are doing well, for example in Greenwich House a separate food waste collection was found to be very effective.
Why not carry out a waste audit in your building and engage with your colleagues? Your findings may prevent waste contamination and ensure that what is produced is processed in the correct way.
Through the Social Innovation Programme at Cambridge Hub, the Environment and Energy section was able to engage a number of students to carry out research on our behalf. The student’s goal was to see how the University could reduce or eliminate waste from its processes. The work found we could go a lot further to reducing waste, but changes need to be made to make it easy for staff and students. The report was detailed and we will be putting in place a number of the recommendations (table 1) in the coming months.
2.Reduce
The most effective way to prevent waste is to reduce what we buy in the first place. A number of departments have made an effort to reduce paper (see the Earth Science Paper Pyramid above); including greater controls on printing, ensuring double-sided printing is the default, and moving lecture notes online. These changes are resulting in a reduction in the amount of paper we use and that has a financial benefit: In Greenwich House these simple changes have resulted in a saving of at least £2,000 per annum or the prevention of felling of 49 trees!
3.Reuse and repair
Buying good quality items, repairing and reusing are all good for the planet, as you don’t dispose of the item or need to replaced it as often. A number of staff and students were involved in the Cambridge ‘repair café’ world record bid on 11 November. 232 items were repaired across the day, beating the existing record of 130 items! Everything from clothes to electronics to bikes were repaired, and a second life was given to many items that would otherwise have been thrown away. Attendees learned how to better maintain their items and they also received tips on how to live a ‘zero waste’ life. Within the University, the spirit of repair was embodied by many: The craft group in Greenwich House held a number of ‘make and mend’ sessions where they repaired clothes, Earth Sciences had an exhibition of how they have reused items, and Obstetrics and Gynaecology held a collection of blankets to raise money for charity.
Reuse was also encouraged through stationary amnesties. Of particular note were the efforts of the Judge Business School where 15 full crates of stationary were collected and redistributed! At the end of the exercise there were just a few writing instruments left which were donated to the pen recycling initiative spearheaded by the Counselling Service.
Some departments continued to make use of the WarpIt system, the University’s free online system for advertising unwanted items such as fixed shelving.
4.Recycle
The University has a way to go to reach its 95% recycling target (last year it was 74%), and a big part of this is ensuring that staff know what can be recycled. Waste ‘roadshows’ were held at the Department of Earth Sciences, the Old Schools, 17 Mill Lane, the Department of Geography, the Centre for Mathematical Sciences and Land Economy. The events helped to engage hundreds of staff on the topic of what can and can’t be recycled, using games, information and the odd chocolate freebie! It was an opportunity for staff to ask questions, to learn about the difference made when waste is segregated correctly, and for us in the Environment and Energy team it was an opportunity to hear from staff what their barriers to better recycling are. If you’re interested in what can be recycled and how, why not visit our waste A-Z.
We would like to thank everyone who was involved and we look forward to more departments and sites engaging their staff on this very important topic.