Waste and Recycling

At the University of Reading, sustainability isn’t just a goal, it’s something we’re genuinely passionate about. Over the years, we’ve been making great strides in reducing our environmental impact. Since 2015, we’ve managed to cut waste per person by 35%, and right now, an impressive 62% of the waste we generate is either recycled, reused, or composted. But we don’t want to stop there, we need your help to keep pushing forward! On 12 February, we’re inviting you to take part in our Recycling Challenge in the Library foyer, and we think you’ll have a great time while learning a…

The Reuse & Recycle (R&R) Service is a free, environmentally friendly initiative designed to help departments at the University properly dispose of unwanted IT equipment, from working computers to damaged peripherals. Overseen by the Device Lifecycle team, this service ensures that outdated or nonfunctional devices are either reused within the University or responsibly recycled in compliance with environmental legislation. The Sustainability team have been working with the Device Lifecycle team over the last 18 months to develop and launch this service. What Does the Service Offer? The R&R Service is open to all University departments and allows them to request…

Soft flexible plastic is everywhere – it wraps our bread, vegetables, pet food and many more everyday items. It is designed to be lightweight and to protect items from damage, and keep them fresh; but most of it is single-use and is not generally recycled by local councils as part of weekly kerbside collections. Supermarkets have begun to offer soft plastic recycling services to try and ensure that this material is collected and recycled where possible. These stores have a distinct advantage in this area as they are able to use their empty delivery trucks to transport soft plastics back…

The University of Reading has a fantastic track record on waste and resource use – in 2023 we were ranked the best University in the UK and Europe for UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12: Responsible Consumption and Reduction (please see this blog for further details). We divert 98.8% of waste from landfill – up from 98.3% last year. We now produce 41kg of waste per person on campus – which is down from 62kg in 2015/16, 35% below our 2015/16 baseline. 62% of our waste was reused or sent for recycling or composting in 2022/23. Further information about our…

The re-use of resources is really important to the University of Reading, from both a financial and environmental perspective. The University of Reading has adopted a Re-Use policy which embeds the importance of seeking “to promote re-use of items that are still fit for purpose and in good condition”..”as a preferred alternative to disposal/recycling and as an environmentally friendly alternative to buying new”. The policy sets out a re-use hierarchy which gives internal re-use within the University the priority, then re-use within the local community, which is then followed by re-use by staff or students for personal use. Surplus furniture…