The University’s Waste and Resource Use Strategy, spanning 2021 to 2030, is focused on responsible resource use and sustainable waste management. We are dedicated to embedding the concept of the ‘Waste Hierarchy’ into our day-to-day operations, so we work proactively to reduce, reuse, recycle and recover items and materials. Sending materials to landfill is the last resort.
We’ve been ranked in the Top 10 universities globally in each of the last 3 years, according to the Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings, for our efforts towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production (out of 973 universities from 91 countries).
Summary of 2024/25 achievements
We’ve made great progress towards our targets over the last year. Here’s a summary of our 2024/25 stats:
- 36.8% reduction in total day-to-day operational waste generated per person compared to 2015/16 baseline.
- 23.4 tonnes of furniture and other items reused across the university, including via the Warp-it reuse portal.
- 63.9% of operational waste sent for recycling (including repair, reuse, recycling, anaerobic digestion and composting).
- Less than 1% by weight of operational waste sent to landfill.
This significant 36.8% reduction in waste produced per person over the last 10 years (39.1kg generated per person in 2024/25 compared to 61.9kg in 2015/16) shows that the University’s proactive approach to being an efficient user of resources, and preventing waste being created in the first place, is working.
Reduction in waste generated is the most important element of the Waste Hierarchy.
Initiatives and innovations
We’ve rolled out the following waste and resource use initiatives and innovations during the last year:
- DTS launched the IT Reuse & Recycle Service to collect and reuse more IT equipment internally within the institution, rather than sending items to be recycled after their first use.
- Work undertaken on food waste reduction by the University’s Catering Team has advanced, including receiving an award from the Culinary Institute of America for chocolate brownies made from coffee grounds.
- Bright pink Gum Drop bins have been installed in Palmer Quad at Whiteknights to encourage responsible disposal of chewing gum. All chewing gum collected is recycled into new products such as pens, cups and even the Gum drop bins themselves!
- Polystyrene recycling has been introduced, particularly for the science schools and DTS.
- Ceramics recycling collections are being trialed in Catering locations and for heat-proof glass in labs.
- More food waste recycling caddies and bins have been rolled-out across the university’s buildings.
Food waste recycling collections
The roll-out of more food waste recycling bins across the University during 2025 has been part of our response to the UK Government’s Separation of Waste (England) Regulations 2024 that came into effect during 2025, which has been given the working name ‘Simpler Recycling’. This legislation is aiming to stop organic materials ending up in landfill in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to create better-segregated materials for recycling.
You can put all kinds of raw and cooked food waste, as well as tea bags and coffee grounds, in the special food waste recycling bins and caddies that are located inside campus buildings. Please look out for and use the dedicated food waste recycling points in and near catering outlets and cafés, and in key locations such as foyers, kitchenettes and common areas. We’ve produced a list of food waste recycling locations, which will be kept up-to-date, so you can find your closest recycling bin.
Larger catering outlets have bins with ‘Organics’ written on them (see left-hand image below). Various other types of food recycling bins (see middle images) and food recycling caddies (see right-hand images) are located in buildings across the University:
We’ve written food waste recycling FAQs to give more information about what can be put in the food waste recycling bins, who empties them, why they have clear plastic bags in them, and what happens to food waste that is put in them.
During the rest of 2025, the Sustainability team will be completing the roll-out of food waste recycling bins and working with colleagues to determine what further enhancements can be made to our on-campus recycling facilities going forward. You can find lots of information about waste and resource use at https://sites.reading.ac.uk/sustainability/recycling/ and at https://sites.reading.ac.uk/sustainability/recycling/recycle/
