Umeå University will continue to develop opportunities for staff and students to sort their waste. The reasons for doing this include:
- A new legal requirement regarding mandatory food waste sorting will be introduced on 1 January 2024.
- There is great demand from the University's organisations for more complete sorting facilities.
- The University set a target for 2030 that involves reducing the amount of combustible waste.
Sorting in the kitchenette
Waste sorting will be introduced in the University's kitchenettes in 2024. This applies to 282 staff kitchenettes and 30 student kitchenettes. It will be possible to sort food waste, plastic packaging, paper packaging, metal packaging and residual waste. Fractions for food waste will also be introduced in certain selected public spaces, such as study spaces and adjacent to cafés.
"It is high time that the University increases the opportunities for students and staff to sort waste. At the same time, as mandatory sorting of food waste becomes a legal requirement and is thus introduced, we are taking the opportunity to install recycling bins for several of the most common waste fractions," says Lisa Redin, the University's Environmental and Sustainability Strategist.
Rubbish bins being removed from offices
Another activity in the project is to remove rubbish bins in offices and replace them with recycling bins for plastic and residual waste in the office space or out in the office corridor.
In 2023, this change was implemented in the University Management Building and the University Administration Building. Despite the challenge of finding a place for the recycling furniture, project manager Carina Nyberg found that most people welcomed the initiative and were committed to making the new recycling system work.
"It was particularly pleasing that several departments got in touch with me to take part in the project and also wanted to expand the recycling system to include food waste," says Carina Nyberg, Project Manager at the Campus Services Office.
How this will be implemented for 2024
The organisations will be able to start sorting food waste in their kitchenettes beginning 1 January 2024. Contact the staff of the Campus Services Office in your building and show them where you intend to store the food waste. They will then provide a bin and bags. The service staff will then empty it as needed, but no more than once a day.
The project team will have a dialogue with all organisations about sorting for recycling, how it works and whether any furniture or bins need to be purchased.
If there is great interest in any organisations that can easily begin with the expanded waste sorting in both kitchenettes and offices at the same time, they will be prioritised. If this is the case, please email carina.a.nyberg@umu.se.
Read more
Sorting of waste (umu.se)
If you have any questions, please contact
Carina Nyberg, Project Manager, carina.a.nyberg@umu.se or
Lisa Redin, Environmental and Sustainability Strategist, lisa.redin@umu.se.