Waste management

Across NTU's estate you will see recycling bins encouraging everyone to recycle their waste. The University currently recycles over 90% of the waste it generates; however, we are always aiming to improve this by asking our staff, students, and visitors to follow the waste hierarchy:

Reduce – Do you need to print the items out? If you do, can they be printed double-sided?
Reuse – Will your unwanted clothing be of use to someone else? If so, why not donate these to a local charity rather than throwing them away? Many charities receive money for rags, so even if you think the clothes are too old and worn they may be worth something to the charity shop.
Recycle – The recycling bins across the estate allow for a wide variety of items to be recycled.
Dispose – As a last resort, items are taken away to go to landfill. This amount of waste should and can be reduced year-on-year.

Reuse

WARPit is an electronic portal NTU use to redistribute and reuse surplus items internally between staff and externally to our partners. WARPit helps increase resource efficiency, and reduce unnecessary procurement and waste disposal costs.

Registered staff members can sign up to receive a daily or weekly email showing what has been listed that day or week. The system is very easy to use as items are selected from a drop down list and dimensions, location, photos etc. can be added. Simple instructions on how to use WARPit are available online.

What items can be reused through WARPit?

WARPit is predominately used for reusable furniture items, however anything from the list of categories can be added. Please do not add electrical items which can hold data.

How to register

If you are an NTU member of staff, register on WARPit to start adding and claiming items. Please read and abide by the Rules of using WARPit.

After registering, you will be sent an email with further details. Please check your junk folder if you do not receive this email in your inbox.

Should you have any WARPit queries, please contact the Sustainable Development Team.

Recycling

The recycling bin stations available across the estate are made up of two types:

Mixed Recycling
Non-Recyclable Waste

Please help improve our recycling rates and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill by choosing the correct bin for your rubbish. We also provide facilities for you to recycle mobile phones and batteries – find out more in our Waste Guide If you need to dispose of other waste, see our S pecialist Waste Guide for more information.

Food waste collections are up and running in kitchens across NTU. Any food waste, such as tea bags or fruit and vegetable peelings, can go in the caddies that will be located in kitchen and catering areas. They will eventually be used to generate electricity.

Visit recyclenow to see how items such as paper, plastic, and glass are sorted and recycled.

Get creative with your rubbish! Share your recycling and reuse ideas and get tips to 'Make it Yourself' with Co-oproduct, a fantastic design organisation set up with the help of NTU's Future Factory.

Big Clear Out

After five great years, the Sustainable Development Team are no longer able to run the Big Clear Out, our scheme to get students donating their unwanted items to charity at the end of the academic year. We are very proud of our achievements – since the project began in 2010, we have collected over 18 tonnes of reusable items. The 2012 , 2013 and 2014 Big Clear Out reports show how the events are run and the results for each year.

NTU and UPP, our accommodation partner, are now running their own donation schemes. Check out the accommodation Facebook pages for more details of further campaigns.

If you wish to donate any unwanted items to charity in the meantime, please consider these worthy, locally based charities that the Sustainable Development Team have worked with over the past five years:

British Heart Foundation – with donation banks around the City Campus (2016-17 report )
The Friary – Tackling Disadvantage, Changing Lives
Radcliffe Animal Shelter – An independent charity finding loving homes for unwanted pets
Emmanuel House – Supporting homeless and vulnerable people
Inspire Nottingham – Providing services and support to people with learning disabilities
White Rose – Working to prevent genocide
Sue Ryder – Providing care for people with life-changing illness.