Waste and recycling guide

Mixed Recycling bins are green and are located in the majority of the University's buildings, as well as in the external waste compounds (for use by on-campus residents). Some areas have paper-only recycling bins as this makes collection easier. 

The recycling bins in non-accommodation areas are collected on a routine schedule, but if you need to arrange a large ad-hoc collection then contact the Facilities Helpdesk by email on fm-helpdesk@york.ac.uk or on 01904 325555.

How to use the mixed recycling bin:

• Remove all item contents and polystyrene inserts (these must be placed in the General Waste).
• Put small pieces of cardboard into the recycling bin - larger pieces should be flattened and placed next to the internal recycling bin so cleaners can remove them easily.
• Rinse out any food containers before putting them into the recycling bin.
• Ensure items put into mixed recycling bins are dry, do not contain liquids / food, and are uncontaminated (do not contain any non-recyclables).

YORCUP bins

If you use a YORCUP when purchasing hot drinks on campus, you don’t need to find an outlet to hand the cup back to. Use our large green bins with ‘YORCUP’ written on. You’ll mostly find these outside cafes or restaurants, so you can also drop them off when the outlet is closed. See all the bin locations on our sustainable facilities map.

Single-use coffee cup bins

If you use a single-use coffee cup when purchasing a hot drink on campus, make sure you dispose of it in our single-use coffee cup recycling bins. The single-use plastic cups can’t normally be recycled, but we’ve teamed up with Forge recycling who collect the cups from campus. This means they don’t end up in landfill. There are 25 giant bins across campus, and you can see their locations on our sustainable facilities map.

College residents

Glass from College residential kitchens is recycled - all colours of bottles and jars can be recycled. These can be transported to the external bins in the blue “glass only” bags that were provided in your kitchen at the start of the year. Glass cookware (e.g. Pyrex) and broken drinking glasses cannot be recycled and should be safely disposed of in general waste bins.

Non-residents

We are looking into offering options for recycling glass in departments but currently glass should be safely placed in general waste bins, or in one of the green lidded wheelie bins for glass which can be found outside colleges.

If your department generates large quantities of glass waste, please contact sustainability@york.ac.uk to discuss potential opportunities for recycling.

Please remember to empty and wash out any glass items before putting them into the glass recycling bin.

College residents

If you're living on campus you'll have a food waste caddy / bin in your kitchen. Dispose of all food waste including cooked meals, meat, bread, vegetable peelings and tea bags.

The following should not be placed in Food Waste: empty food packaging, opaque plastic bags.

Non-residents

Currently food recycling is limited in non-residential areas. There should be minimal food waste generated in departmental areas, but where there are no facilities for food recycling, food should be placed in the general waste bins.

If your department is interested in instigating and managing a food waste system for your department/area please contact sustainability@york.ac.uk to discuss potential  arrangements.

The general waste bins should only be used for material that can’t be recycled but doesn’t need alternative disposal (for example: hazardous or electrical waste disposal). The good news is that our general waste is used to make electrical energy, but it should still be used only as a last resort. 

Examples of general waste items include: polystyrene, Tetra Paks (such as fruit juice cartons), cling film, tissues, paper hand towels, and worn out carrier bags.

British Heart Foundation banks

There are British Heart Foundation banks located at every college on campus. This is a great way of donating the following unwanted items: clothes, accessories, shoes, books and bags. The charity accepts clean items in good condition, to be sold in their three York shops.

BHF Donation Bank map

Electrical waste

Electrical items that are not usable should be disposed of by request through the Facilities Helpdesk (Tel: 5555 or email: fm-helpdesk@york.ac.uk). 

Domestic disposable batteries should be placed in the desktop battery bins located at reception desks and around some offices. Any attached wires should be removed to avoid creating a fire hazard. Batteries must never be placed in mixed recycling or general waste due to their hazardous nature. 

Rechargeable or industrial batteries should be disposed of by request through the Facilities Helpdesk (Tel: 5555 or email: fm-helpdesk@york.ac.uk).

If you need to dispose of clinical and medical waste (e.g. catheter bags, sharps) please email accommodation@york.ac.uk to request a suitable bin.

This includes, but is not limited to:

• Self-catheterisation bags
• Sharps boxes

Used period products should be placed in the dedicated sanitary bins located in toilets or bathrooms.

Period products should never be flushed down the toilet because it may clog the drainage system and lead to the flooding of the toilet.

Confidential waste is any material that contains sensitive personal or business data that requires secure destruction to ensure that the contents remain private (for example, to comply with data protection legislation or to maintain confidentiality).

Confidential waste bags can be ordered through Planon. Enter the keyword ‘confidential’ and select ‘request for confidential waste sacks’ to place your order. Once it’s two-thirds full, please make a waste disposal request through Planon or the Facilities Helpdesk for collection, including referencing the unique barcode number on the bag. The contents are then securely shredded off site.

Media collection can also be requested through the Facilities Helpdesk including CDs, DVDs and tapes containing sensitive information. Please place these in the same type of confidential bag, but make a comment in the request stating the contents and clearly write "Digital Media" on the outside of the bag prior to collection.

If you shred your own paper, please put your shredded waste in a clear bag and place it in an external mixed recycling bin. Please leave the shredded waste in the clear bag so that it does not escape when the external bin is emptied.

It is your responsibility to keep your data and information secure, so please ensure these are stored securely inside prior to collection.

Electrical waste - IT equipment

IT Services, Estates, and Stone provide an IT equipment disposal service. Departments can request to dispose of IT waste such as PCs, monitors, associated peripherals, scanners, printers and servers.

Following a request, items will be collected by IT Services and then handed over to Stone, our external recycling contractor. Stone will wipe data from all equipment before reuse. Please delete any highly-confidential data before collection, as we cannot securely transport or store it. For data removal assistance, contact IT Services.

To submit a request, see our how-to guide:

• Recycling or disposing of old equipment

Find out more about what happens to old IT equipment.

HP toners

Bulk boxes can be obtained for recycling used Hewlett Packard (HP) consumables (for example, toner cartridges, fuser units and drums). To arrange for box provision, collections and replacement boxes, you or your department's York Print Plus SuperUser(s) should register with HP Planet Partners and arrange collections with them:

• Arrange an HP collection                           

Non-HP toners

Staff and students can use the Facilities Helpdesk to arrange collection of non-HP cartridges for off-site recycling.

Wood and wooden pallets

Bulky items or large quantities of waste wood and metal can be collected from departments for recycling. Contact the Facilities Helpdesk to arrange this.

All pallets should be returned to the supplier to remove from campus wherever possible. If that’s not an option, contact the Facilities Helpdesk who can arrange collection of natural wooden pallets.

If you have coloured delivery pallets, these are still owned by the companies that make them and are reused, and therefore are not waste. You will need to contact your suppliers (who provided the pallets) to collect them. Alternatively you can contact the pallet owners directly to arrange collection from you.

The pallet companies are:

• Red pallets: LPR
• Blue pallets: CHEP
• Brown pallets: IPP

If you have office furniture you no longer need, please send an email around your department to see if anyone else can make use of it. If it cannot be re-used within your department, it can be advertised on the University's furniture re-use scheme, WarpIt. Please note, this is for staff only. 

As a last resort a request can be made to the Facilities Helpdesk to have it collected, and it will then be disposed of offside, either through reuse, recycling, or disposal. If you need to arrange the transfer or disposal of furniture contact the Facilities Helpdesk (Tel: 5555 or email:fm-helpdesk@york.ac.uk).

If you have any other unwanted items that aren’t listed here and can’t be disposed of in the normal recycling or waste facilities (eg because they’re too large) please contact the Facilities Helpdesk.

This will ensure that the waste is effectively disposed of in a manner that is sustainable and safe for yourselves and the individuals that handle the waste from the bins.

If in doubt ask before throwing waste items away!