16 | PROMOTION | LEAFIELD ENVIROMENTAL
Bath Spa University… on the road to ‘zero waste to landfi ll’
Bath Spa University… on the road to ‘zero waste to landfi ll’
Bath Spa has recently been recognised as a First Class university in the People and Planet University League Table 2015.
T
he University has made signifi cant strides over the past year, towards its goal of ‘zero waste to landfi ll’,
ably assisted by Leafi eld Environmental. The journey started around eight
years ago, with an at empt to segregate waste streams at source, both internally and externally. As the number of recyclate streams expanded, the project became increasingly complicated and consequently less and less eff ective. That said, the University still managed
to recycle over 50% of its waste, indicating a latent will amongst students and staff to ‘do the right thing’ and be more environmentally aware. The decision to more than double
the number of live-in students was the catalyst to revisit the recycling problem, as Sustainability Manager Dr Julian Greaves explains: “To continue recycling at source we would have had to isolate seven waste streams and that would have meant having no less than seven separate bins in each collection location. Clearly that was far too complex and unlikely to work well.
“We found a contractor to handle
three recyclate streams, food waste for composting or anaerobic digestion, mixed recycling for material recovery and residual waste for energy and then sought a supplier that could meet our requirements for collection bins. Having spoken to several bin
manufacturers we came to the conclusion that Leafi eld Environmental were the only company that really understood our requirements and were willing to develop products to meet them.”
Designing the right solutions Leafi eld Key Accounts and Business Manager Vince Wright carried out a preliminary survey and made initial recommendations that involved the Leafi eld design team. In the words of Dr Greaves: “We formed a close partnership that is still working very well.” The initial focus was to design and
manufacture an economical bin for mixed recycling that could be used in
“Our new approach to recycling is proving very successful and has gained good acceptance from students, staff and the existing cleaning team alike”
existing residential kitchens, where the available kit space could accommodate three individual bins – two for mixed recyclables and one for general waste. The EcoAce Envirobin was specifi cally designed for this purpose: a simple bin with WRAP-compliant, colour-coded lid and graphics, easy-carry handles and a capacity of 62 litres. To improve the overall effi ciency of the
waste collection and transport operation they decided, at an early stage, to adopt a bagless approach. Black bags cost money, create waste in themselves, enable users to ‘hide’ bad behaviour and contain a lot of air that takes up room in collection bins. This move not only increased ‘bin fi ll’ effi ciency. It also resolved the problem of liquids dripping from bags and staining carpets and put an end to the unsightly black bags that previously piled up around the external waste areas, causing lit er problems from wildlife ripping open the bags.
Bins for every location The fi rst hurdle over, the team turned its at ention to the new student halls of residence, which were under construction. The objective was to make provision for the collection of the
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