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Recycling and reuse at UNSW Live, learn and work sustainably

Recycling and Reuse at UNSW

Live, learn and work sustainably


What Waste does UNSW produce?

1. Paper and cardboard: office paper, newspapers & light cardboard.2. Recyclable hazardous waste: batteries, mobile phones and fluro’s.3. E-waste (electronic waste): computers, printers, keyboards, cables.4. Construction and demolition waste: plaster, steel, rubble etc.5. Green waste: tree pruning's and garden waste.6. Other hazardous waste: chemical & bio-waste produced from faculties.7. Compostable waste: food scraps, cooking oil.8. Co-mingled recyclables: plastic, glass, aluminium. 9. General waste: things that can’t be readily recycled.


Paper and Cardboard> Blue Bins for paper recycling generally placed in corridors or next to photocopiers.> UNSW staff can get small paper recycling boxes for under desks or near photocopiers.> UNSW staff responsible for emptying paper and cardboard into blue wheelie bins.> Amcor collect 800 tonne a year and pay approx $40,000 for paper collected from UNSW.> Students can recycle using blue bins located in Library, ARC & other public access areas.

Blue wheelie bins for paper and cardboard

Recycled at Villawood

Bins available from stationary re-use centre, ARC, FM Assist, room 224A Chancellery or on request.Email [email protected]

It’s a staff responsibility to empty paper into blue bins


Reverse Vending Machines

> Reverse Vending Machines to be placed in:> The Roundhouse > The Kensington Colleges > Food Fair (Upper Campus Food Court) > Eora Lounge> UNSW Climate Change Adaptation Centre.

> Accept empty drink containers.> Eliminate contamination. Material 100% recyclable.> Reduces cleaning costs:

> An average wheelie bin holds between 100 & 150 containers. > Reverse Vending Machines hold 3,000 containers = 25 wheelie bins.

> Give users vouchers & prizes as incentives to recycle.

UNSW machines will look like this


Batteries and mobile phones

> Batteries contain toxic heavy metals and are expensive to recycle.> Battery collection available. Collected & recycled by Battery World at expense to UNSW.> Approximately 800 mobile phones collected at UNSW each year. > Phones recycled by Mobile Muster for free.

Where bins can be found?

> Upper Campus FM AssistMatthews Building

> Lower Campus ARC Reception

Batteries and Mobile Phones

Battery & mobile phone collection FM Assist, Matthews Building.


Printer Toner Cartridges > Cara Toner: Over 5,788 empties collected for reuse since the UNSW service began.

46% of cartridges collected from UNSW by Cara Toner are reused.> Planet Ark: Sent to Close the Loop in Melbourne where some are remanufactured and

the remainder of plastic and metal is recycled.> Successful, informal, staff volunteer initiative.

Planet Ark cartridge binFaculty of Science

Cara Toner cartridge bin Chancellery Building

Cara toner


Fluorescent Tubes and light globes> Collected on request via FM Assist (Ex: 55111). > Stored in the Spotless compound on Western Campus > Recycling and disposal by Chemsal.> Fluorescent tubes contain enough mercury to pollute 30,000 litres of water beyond

safe drinking level.> Chemsal collect fluorescent, CFL, incandescent, halogen, High Intensity Discharge

lamps (HIDs) discharge light bulbs/lamps including associated ballasts and transformers.

Fluro lights stored at Spotless compound on

Western Campus. Periodic collection by

Chemsal.

Florescent lights contain mercury


e-waste> E-waste recycling available but not well utilised.> On request e-waste is collected by FM and stored at the Randwick Tramshed. > From Tramshed collected by contractor. Taken to SIMS Villawood for $1,200 per tonne.> SIMS recycled approximately 40 tonne of e-waste from UNSW in the past 12 months.> Disposal cost to UNSW approximately $30,000 per annum.> Some UNSW e-waste stored in offices & eventually irresponsibly disposed in landfill.

UNSW Bins filled with e-waste & stationary that could be sent to stationary re-use centre.

E-waste stored at Randwick Tramshed

SIMS Villawood facility has excellent recovery rates and is under capacity.


Stationary and Furniture reuseStationary> UNSW Stationary Re-use Centre.> Operated by ARC volunteers. > Stationary donated by UNSW

staff and corporations. > Second hand folders & stationary

free for students & staff.> Successful student initiative.

Furniture> UNSW staff can give and take second hand furniture from

the UNSW Furniture Re-use Centre. Managed by FM.> Furniture stored offsite, with external storage provider. > Staff can order or donate furniture via

www.anstorage.com.au/unsw/unswlogin.asp

Student Volunteer intern at ARC Stationary Re-use Centre – Level 2 of Quad East Wing.


Food Waste and Green WasteUNSW Grounds and Gardens waste> Green waste generated from UNSW lawns, garden beds,

landscaping and other vegetation used for mulch through a contract managed by UNSW Facilities Management Grounds.

> Pruned tree branches and other green waste processed on site & used on UNSW garden beds.

Cooking Oil converted to biodiesel > Up to 800 litres a week collected from campus outlets for free. > Cooking oil would otherwise be wasted converted to biodiesel.

Food Waste> Food waste not separately composted. > The TKC caterer, Spotless, has offered on-site bio waste processing.

UNSW cooking oil converted into bio-diesel.


> Hazardous waste generated from research activity is managed by OHS unit within HR. > Specialist contractors are engaged by the University to responsibly dispose of biological and

hazardous chemical waste. Weekly collections from labs & other waste generators on request.> Chemsal: Dangerous waste including organic solvents, oxidise, pesticides and “ionising radiation

emitting materials not considered to be radioactive” (colloquially known as low level radioactive waste, ie. less than 100 Becquerel per gram.)

> Sterihealth: Dispose of biological, clinical waste, ionising radiation emitting materials not considered to be radioactive, human tissue, biological chemicals and other toxic substances.

> Biowaste that includes ionising radiation emitting material, subject to checks to ensure radiation sufficiently decayed to be “non- radioactive”.

Biological & Hazardous Waste


Construction and DemolitionWaste management conditions imposed under contract > Capital works management of construction and demolition include

criteria such as:> On-site separation of waste for re-use or recycling;> Development of a Construction Site Waste Management Plan.

> Waste management conditions made available for Consultants and Contractors undertaking projects for UNSW.

Construction and demolition waste includes:> Plaster board> Concrete> Bricks> Steel> Cables> Packaging.

Construction site for the Solar Industrial Research Facility.

Construction and demolition waste.Source: Google images


General Waste SystemOffice bins> Used in University offices emptied by cleaners on a daily basis.> Intended for non-recyclable waste. Waste goes to landfill.Public Place Bins> There is no public place recycling at UNSW at present.> All waste collected in public place bins go to landfill.

1,000 litre bin Botany St car park waste shed - H22A.

Standard office bin UNSW public place bins

UNSW’s Contract Cleaners

recycling and reuse at unsw live, learn and work sustainably recycling and reuse at unsw live, learn...

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