Waste Management

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Waste Management and Recycling

One of the big differences between living in halls is that when you’re in the community, it is your responsibility to manage your waste and recycling effectively. Managing your waste properly means you can:

Keep the streets and your community looking clean and tidy
Support the environment by recycling as much as possible
Avoid fines and disciplinary action for not keeping on top of your waste
Keep your shared house or flat clean and tidy without smelly waste building up in your kitchen

Make sure you understand the waste management and recycling for the area you live in. There are several different councils and areas that may have different rules on recycling, waste and collection dates.

Moving out at the end of term

As you move out at the end of the term, you may have acquired many items you no longer need. Before you decide to throw anything away, check if any of the items can be donated:

Donations to British Heart Foundation

You can donate almost anything to the British Heart Foundation as long as it is in good condition and not broken. They accept clothes, shoes, books and electrical items. Please see the map of donation points to find your closest bank. They don't accept bedding or sharps.

Excess waste facility

After you've checked if you can donate your items, make sure you recycle what you can so you don't fill up your general waste bin. You can then start filling up your general waste bin only with rubbish. If you find that you have more waste than can fit in your general waste bin, you should not leave this at the side of your bin as the council will no longer accept side waste. Instead, you can use the recycling centre at Dunkirk.

Supporting your community and the environment

Step One

Understand the recycling scheme for where you live now. This could be very different to how recycling is managed at your ‘home’ address and in on-campus halls.

It’s not just what you recycle but how you recycle. Items need to be clean, dry and (in most areas) loose.

Step Two

Know your bin days and remember to put bins out on time. A missed bin might force you to put perfectly recyclable materials into your general waste bin.

Step Three

What a load of rubbish – at the end of the year you will be moving out of your house, and there tends to be a lot of waste generated. Check our specific information on how to manage excess waste at the end of term.

Too big for the bin? Check with your local council about their bulky waste collection services. In Nottingham, the is free. Dumping waste in your garden or on the street is known as fly-tipping and can incur a hefty fine.

Your landlord or managing agent is responsible for disposing of their waste/furniture appropriately at no cost to tenants. Speak to if you have issues with your landlord or agent.

Step Four

If you want to know more about recycling on and off campus, then take a look at the university's #WasteNott campaign.

Clothes, shoes, books, furniture, video games, cooking equipment, crockery and pretty much anything else* can be recycled at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) donation banks located in key areas across Nottingham and also on campus.

Find your nearest BHF donation point.

*Bedding and sharps cannot be donated to BHF, but they can be taken to the Swap Shop at Thomas Helwys Church (Church Street, NG7 1SJ), where Trent Compassion will wash and redistribute them to refugees

Recycling

It’s really important to and ensure that as many household waste items as possible are reused or recycled properly. Failing to put the right items in the right bins can result in bins becoming contaminated and being diverted from recycling plants to end up in landfills or incinerators.

Repeatedly mismanaging your recycling and contaminating your bin may result in it being removed and potentially a fine from your local council. Make sure you know how to recycle right.

GO! Recycle Right

Students moving off campus and into the community for the first time are often faced with having to learn a new recycling system which is different to their family home area. This can occasionally lead to confusion within a shared student house and sometimes lead to the wrong thing being put in the wrong bin. When this happens it is regarded as ‘recycle bin contamination’ and causes problems for that household, the environment and the wider community. A contaminated bin gets all contents diverted away from the recycling centre and instead goes to be processed as general surplus waste.

A completely refreshed and emboldened campaign to reduce recycle bin contamination has been launched for this year. Building on the university’s strong campus sustainability imagery, a new recycling hero helps educate students to not bin the top contaminated items, plastic bags and greasy takeaway containers, along with a QR code to the City Council website for more information.

Student Ambassadors made over 1,700 individual house visits across Lenton, Dunkirk and Radford to engage with residents on the importance of recycling and how to avoid costly contamination. As part of the campaign, Ambassadors were tasked to place an A4-sized vinyl information sticker on nearly 2,000 separate recycling wheelie bins that will help as a quick and useful visual reminder. Ambassadors were also kept busy with litter-picking duties on roads that needed a tidy-up.

The campaign included an audit of all waste facilities and over 200 waste facility issues have been reported to the City Council Housing Licence and Compliance team for potential follow-up action by the landlord or managing agent.

Helping residents recycle more effectively is an important step in ensuring Nottingham City Council achieve its ambitious Carbon Neutral city status by 2028.

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