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LIFE
Photos © Luke Pollitt
LIFE
The Student Life building - new bins are to be brought into the building to make it easier to recycle
Focus on recycling to win the war on waste
LUKE POLLITT examines how waste at Liverpool John Moores University is recycled, and the efforts of the Student Union to reach their sustainability targets
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ecycling is a huge part of ensuring that sectors reach their net zero targets. According to the Office for National Statistics, UK households throw away 23 million metric tonnes of waste per year. 43.2% of this waste can be recycled. However, recycling waste can become contaminated, meaning It can no longer be re-used. This occurs when people put the wrong items or items that haven’t been washed out properly in their recycling bins. Food contamination being the biggest factor in contamination. Last week it was noticed that in the new LJMU Student Life building at Copperas Hill, both general waste and recycling was being disposed of into the same bin bag, even though each bin was marked separately. That meant a large part of the buildings recycled waste could be getting contaminated. Tudor Williams is the Director of Campus Services at the university. He told MNL: “There has been one bag in the bins as a temporary measure. “The ‘General Waste’ is still separated by the waste company at their facility.” The University uses B&M Waste Services for our waste management,
David Carter is the Senior Customer Service Relations Executive for B&M, he told MNL: “We always encourage recycling on site for customers but appreciate it’s not always possible. All waste collected from JMU would be taken to our Material Recovery Facility and will be sorted any waste we can’t recover is sent to a Refuse Derived Fuel plant. “The waste is incinerated, and conversion will take place into clean energy, please see attached.”
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&M Waste Services provided MNL with information of how our waste is treated after students use bins. 54% of the waste is used to become Refuse Derived Fuel with another 46% being able to be recycled. The university aims to make it more clear to students where to dispose of their waste and encourage greater recycling across campus. Mr. Williams added: “New bins will be arriving shortly which will either be for recycling or general waste. In the meantime, two bags will again be used in each unit. “Both the recycling waste and general waste will still be picked up by the same wagon and again separated by the company. “The new bins will hopefully be a lot clearer for both students and staff.”
Bins that collect both general waste and recycling in the same bag
Student Union aims for net zero Last December, the government released polices for the country to ‘Build Back Greener” and meet the target of net zero emissions by 2050. This means that all sectors of the UK economy will have to decarbonise. LJSU declared a state of emergency in relation to the climate crisis in 2020. In consultation with students, the union released a Sustainability Action Plan detailing how they will take action on the climate over the next three years. This includes pledges like reducing the entire carbon footprint by 50% over the next two years and a reduction in single use waste in relation to student lunches. The union also received planning permission from Liverpool City Region’s Community Environment Fund to start work on The Growing Project. A community garden that will be open for all to enjoy, grow foods and learn new skills.
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