Waste management

To make it as easy as possible for our students and staff to recycle on campus, we offer a mixed recycling scheme. You’ll see our green recycling bins across the University, which can be filled with:

• washed and squashed aluminium and steel cans
• cardboard
• mixed paper
• washed and squashed plastic bottles
• plastic food containers, tubs, cups, and pots (excl. black plastic)
• plastic bags and shrink wrap

All our recycling is collected by Veolia and taken to their local waste management facility. 

There are several bins on campus for recycling small batteries.

We offer free ink and toner recycling via Konica Minolta’s recycling partner EOS Solutions South. EOS provide flat packed boxes (dimensions 400mm x 400mm x 700mm) to collect any used toners; if you haven’t already got these in your building, you can order them by emailing collections@eos-it.co.uk.

Simply place any used ink or toner cartridge, including packaging, in the box and, when it’s full, tape it up ready for collection. You can recycle any cartridges: they don’t have to Konica Minolta-branded.

EOS usually carry out collections very four to six weeks; all you’ve got to do is ensure you’re on their key contacts list. To be added to this, please send your name, building and floor location, email, and telephone number to Sue Clarke (sue@eos-it.co.uk) and Claire Tyler (claire@eos-it.co.uk). They’ll then be in touch with the next collection date.

You can also request a collection within two working days by emailing collections@eos-it.co.uk. This will be carried out by a courier, so you’ll need to place your box in an obvious, easy-to-find location, within your building’s main reception, loading bay or post room.

EOS will also collect old desktop printers and fax machines if requested via email; simply send them your contact details, a list of the equipment, and your location.

When it comes to disposing of waste, it’s not always as simple as it seems. Different types of waste require different disposal methods. Below you’ll find everything you need to know about getting rid of hard-to-dispose of electrical equipment, confidential waste, and more.

We have a duty of care to dispose of electrical equipment through the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) directive. This means that we can’t dispose of electrical items or IT equipment in the same way as general waste.

To ensure your old equipment gets disposed of correctly and safely (e.g. lamps, toasters, microwaves, personal printers, etc.), please contact PPT Services to book a collection.

Please note that old IT equipment will need to be returned to IT. To arrange a collect, please raise a call via the IT Service Desk.

Please be aware that the company you purchased the equipment from may be obliged to take the old equipment away themselves.

Confidential waste is anything that contains sensitive information, including invoices, emails, or student records. To protect people’s data and information, it’s vital that you dispose of this waste properly by requesting a confidential waste collection, which are managed by ourselves and Veolia. 

If your office regularly generates confidential waste and you would like to install a permanent cabinet, please contact us.

The destruction process:

1. A secure electronically traceable and alarmed Veolia vehicle will arrive on site.
2. A member of uniformed staff will identify themselves with their ID badge and enter the building.
3. The member of staff will service the confidential waste containers. All containers will be logged on the service note.
4. A signature as proof of attendance/service will be obtained before the driver leaves the site.
5. The contents are taken to a secure facility with CCTV monitoring. All the material is loaded into the shredder, after which it is baled.
6. A certificate of destruction is then issued by email.
7. All shredded paper is sent to a UK paper mill for recycling.

For further information, please see the procedure for the collection of confidential waste under the Data Protection Act and the University’s Data Protection Policy.

Please note from 1st June all forms of hazardous waste (including solvents) will be rechargable. If you have any questions about the recharging of hazardous waste, please contact the team at recycling@contacts.bham.ac.uk

Hazardous waste includes fridges, freezers, chemicals, solvents, oil, paint, and many other forms of hazardous material. If you wish to dispose of hazardous waste, please complete the appropriate form from the below and return it to recycling@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

• Form for small hazardous waste collections
• Form for large waste collection
• Form for solvents
• Form for white goods

Please raise an internal order to ENVIRO via Core Systems and attach this to your email with your form.

 For us to collect your white goods, please ensure:

• all fridges and electrical units are empty
• all items are decontaminated
• your collection location is clear of all personnel
• you minimise collection points and make your items accessible outside on the ground floor.
• Guidance on the difference between Domestic vs Industrial _ Commercial White Goods 

If you have any questions about hazardous waste collections, please get in touch with us at recycling@contacts.bham.ac.uk. 

We manage all clinical waste through a contract with Stericycle. If you work with clinical waste and have any queries, please email us at recycling@bham.ac.uk or call us on ext. 58802 or 45943.

There are grey general waste bins in all offices and venues across campus, which are collected daily. Once collected, waste is incinerated by our waste management partner, Veolia, to create energy and heat, helping us to keep the University’s emissions as low as possible.

If you have a large amount of waste, please see our skip hire page. 

We manage the disposal of sanitary and feminine hygiene waste through a contract with phs. We also manage sanitary and nappy disposal bins, and washroom vending machines.

Our contractors attend site early in the morning to discreetly exchange our sanitary bins. Their contents are then sent to the LifeCycle facility and converted into refuse derived fuel (RDF). This waste-to-energy process is the first viable option for diverting hygiene waste products away from landfill.

Please contact us if you have any questions or queries relating to sanitary/feminine hygiene waste.

Procycle:

• Procycle is a service Veolia offers to aid the disposal of hard to recycle items.
• Veolia offer 6 different types of boxes for the collection of the items. The boxes are to be placed in areas of high footfall for maximum use.
• Helps to increase the recycling rate of the university.
• The box includes the delivery, collection and material processing fee. (Discounts for bulk order of 25+).
• The first order will be paid from the Cleaning and Waste Services budget, any subsequent orders will need to be recharged via an internal order to ENVIRO.
• Contact recycling@contacts.bham.ac.uk for more information.