Waste at Swansea

Working Together to Reduce Our Waste

At Swansea University, we're committed to embedding a culture of waste prevention, reuse and recycling throughout our operations, ensuring we uphold our legal duty of care.

We manage our waste in accordance with the Waste Framework Directive and operate within all relevant waste legislation and within the remit of the waste hierarchy.

The Carbon Trust Standard recognise organisations that follow best practice in measuring, managing and reducing their environmental impact. The Carbon Trust Standard for Waste distinguishes organisations that can demonstrate real reductions in waste streams year-on-year and show that waste is being dealt with more effectively; for example through increased recovery, recycling or reuse.

Following an extensive audit and assessment period from 2017-2020, in September 2020 we became the first University in Wales to achieve the Carbon Trust Standard for Waste. Valid for two years, the standard provides recognition of our fantastic achievements to date which include an impressive 15% reduction in total waste production and an overall score of 75%* for our waste management practices.

* the best performing organisation in the sector achieved 84% so we’re up there with the best!

During the 2018-19 academic period, we diverted 68% of all waste produced from energy recovery and landfill by adhering to the waste hierarchy. For the 2019-20 academic year, due to the challenges brought by the covid-19 pandemic, total on-campus waste production reduced dramatically by 172 tonnes on the previous year, with a diversion rate of 65% achieved.

As part of our new Sustainability Strategy which is due to be published in early 2021, renewing our certification will be a big priority for us and will involve an interim assessment with The Carbon Trust in mid 2021.

We very much hope this achievement will encourage continuous improvement in waste management practices across the University and look forward to working with staff, students and other partners to ensure we continue to meet the Standard.

View a summary of the University’s Waste Management Assessment Results.

How to Recycle at Swansea University

We have heavily invested in our waste and recycling infrastructure to ensure that all our campuses have a large network of recycling bins. This investment has ensured that we are able to maximise the amount of recycling we are able to segregate at source, ensuring good quality recycling for reprocessing, and ever increasing recycling levels.

Internally and externally, using our quad bins, students and staff are able to separate the following for recycling;

Paper / Cardboard
Plastic
Cans
Glass
Food
Coffee cups (some locations)

For more information on available waste and recycling receptacles, see our Waste Management; Operational Procedure

We work closely with our appointed waste and recycling contractor to ensure we process our recycling and general waste in line with the Waste Hierarchy requirement.

Currently our key waste streams are processed as follows;

Non-Recycling (general waste) is sent to an Energy Recovery Facility in South Wales where the waste is incinerated to produce energy; heat and electricity. This is then used to power the facility and exported back to the national grid. The facility processes on average 350,000 tonnes of waste per year, and produces approximately 250GWH, enough to power around 68,448 homes.

Food waste is sent to a facility in South Wales where the waste is processed by Anaerobic Digestion, a process whereby in the absence of oxygen microbes breakdown the food waste, producing bio-gas, and a nutrient rich fertiliser.

Paper, cardboard, cans and glass are all taken to a local baling plant where they are prepared ready for distribution to various industries throughout the UK and Europe for open and closed loop recycling.

Coffee cups

In partnership with the local council we are able to recycle the coffee cups that are collected from around our campuses.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

We use a range of methods to encourage our students, staff and visitors to make simple changes that can dramatically reduce the volume of waste we generate. At Swansea University we promote:

Donating unwanted items to charity for re-use - we have British Heart Foundation clothes banks on both our campuses!
Avoiding purchasing heavily packaged items.
Using re-usable shopping bags instead of disposable carrier bags.
Using a reusable coffee cup - using a reusable cup at our catering facilities saves 25p on every hot drink.
Buying products made from recycled materials.

Everything there is to know about our waste and recycling processes, including further information on the management of specific waste streams, including hazardous, clinical and biological waste, is available within our waste management guidance notes.

Additional resources are available for students and staff over on the Staff Intranet and MyUni webpages. If you have any queries, please do contact us.

Students Living Off Campus

Are you a student living off campus within the areas of Brynmill, Uplands, Mount Pleasant or Sandfields? Then please take a look at Swansea Council’s Student Recycling Guide 20-21 which includes a timetable of collection days and waste types. You can also view Swansea Council's website and Facebook for further information. You can collect more recycling bags and printed timetables from the main University Reception in Fulton House.

Students studying at the Bay Campus and living off campus in the county of Neath Port Talbot can access residential waste and recycling information on Neath Port Talbot's website and Facebook.

If you’re ever unsure about what you can and can’t recycle, visit Wales Recycles’ Recycling Locator.

TerraCycle Recycling

We're really proud to have teamed up with TerraCycle, who believe in 'Eliminating the Idea of Waste ® by recycling the ‘non-recyclable’. TerraCycle provide free recycling programmes funded by brands, manufacturers and retailers to allow us to collect and recycle generally hard-to-recycle waste.

You can recycle the following waste items on campus at our designated TerraCycle collection points:

- Writing instruments: Any brand of pen, felt tip, highlighter, marker, mechanical pencil, correction instrument (tape and fluid pots), fountain pen, ink cartridge pen.

- Crisps, Nuts, Pretzels and Popcorn packets: Any brand of crisps, nuts, pretzels and popcorn packets. All packets must be empty of leftover food product.

- Tassimo and L’OR: Tassimo Flow Wrap packaging, Tassimo T-Discs, L’OR coffee capsules, Kenco Eco Refill packs, Kenco plastic coffee jar lids. (Please note that any other branded items including Nescafe Dolce Gusto coffee pods CANNOT be sent to TerraCycle, however you can visit the brand website for recycling information).