Recycling and waste
The University has a legal requirement to pre-treat the waste it produces i.e. separating out all possible recyclable materials.
During the 2024-2025 academic year, the University produced over 371 tonnes of waste from its halls of residence, academic buildings, catering outlets and grounds, and recycled an estimated 25% through segregation of food waste, paper, card, plastic bottles, cans and glass. This waste could have been minimised by following the waste hierarchy, which would have reduced both the cost to the University and the impact on the environment.
The waste hierarchy ranks waste management options according to what is best for the environment:
- Prevent producing waste in the first place
- Re-use (cleaning, repairing, refurbishing)
- Recycle what’s possible
- Recovery to produce energy and/or materials
- Disposal as a last resort
The Government introduced the Simpler Recycling legislation in March 2025 aiming to standardise and simplify recycling across the UK and to improve recycling rates, reduce landfill waste and cut confusion. As part of this legislation food waste collections have been introduced across campus and the number of materials which can be recycled has been increased. Check out these Simpler Recycling FAQs and read on for more information and what can and can't be recycled.
Initiatives
Food waste collection caddies have been introduced to all kitchens
Bring your own mug when purchasing a drink
Pack for Good at the end of term:
What to donate:
- Clothes, shoes and accessories
- Books, CDs, DVDs and games
- NO dirty or broken items, pillows or duvets, knives, hangars, bikes and helmets
How:
- Simply bag up your unwanted things
Where:
- Drop the bags off in the red collection banks in the Car Parks at Aigburth Park, Creative Campus (by Hopkins Hall), and at Hope Park (in the FML car park by Green Lane Building and in the HCA car park by Hope Park Sports)
When:
- Whenever you fill your bags. The red collection banks are available now.
- Red British Heart Foundation red collection banks have been placed around campus
The University produces a number of waste streams, which are collected and recycled. It is important to place the correct items in the right bin, as any contamination (i.e. the wrong thing in the wrong bin) will result in it all being treated as general waste.
Always check before disposing of items and ensure plastics and cans are rinsed before putting in the bin.
We currently recycle:
Batteries
All AA and similar type batteries up to a 6V battery can be recycled in the pink battery containers. Car batteries, industrial batteries or batteries with wires cannot be collected. Collection boxes are available behind the Gateway Service Desk, Aigburth Reception, and at the Capstone reception.
Cans (food and drink)
Empty and rinsed food and drinks cans, empty aerosols, empty and clean aluminium food trays and tubes
Use the recycling stations (Red lid or Green lid). Please rinse out before placing in the bin.
Cardboard (please flatten)
Please leave by your nearest recycling collection point for collection.
Any cardboard with food residue on (such as greasy pizza boxes) needs to be placed in the general waste bin (Black lid).
CDs and DVDs
Put in the external Textile Banks. All donations are collected by the British Heart Foundation and sold to raise monies for the Charity. The banks can be found at Aigburth Park, Creative Campus (between Hopkins Hall and the Cornerstone), and at Hope Park (in the FML carpark by Green Lane Building and in the HCA car park by Hope Park Sports).
Clingfilm
Put in the general waste (Black lid)
Clothes and Textiles (including shoes and handbags)
Put in the external Textile Banks. All donations are collected by the British Heart Foundation and sold to raise monies for the Charity. The banks can be found at Aigburth Park, Creative Campus (between Hopkins Hall and the Cornerstone) and at Hope Park (in the FML carpark by Green Lane Building and in the HCA car park by Hope Park Sports).
Coca-Cola cups
Please put in the general waste (Black lid) or recycle alongside food and drink carton banks at Liverpool City Council's recycling centers. The nearest two are Otterspool Recycling Centre and Old Swan Recycling Centre.
Cafe Nero cups
Please put in the general waste (Black lid) or recycle alongside tetrapacks at Liverpool City Council's recycling centers. The nearest two are Otterspool Recycling Centre and Old Swan Recycling Centre.
Takeaway/single-use cups
Please put in the general waste (Black lid) or recycle alongside tetrapacks at Liverpool City Council's recycling centers. The nearest two are Otterspool Recycling Centre and Old Swan Recycling Centre.
Computers, monitors and IT equipment
Any IT equipment is collected by IT Services for collection and is sent for reuse or recycling.
Confidential materials (electronic)
Please contact the IT helpdesk for more information. Electronic media must not be placed in the consoles, these are for paper only. Confidential materials stored on CDs can be placed in the confidential bags (requested via the Estates helpdesk) for destruction; however, they must be kept separate i.e. not within the same bag as confidential paper.
Confidential materials (paper)
For guidance on confidential materials, please refer to the University's GDPR pages or the Legal Services team.
Confidential paper - Consoles
Please place any confidential paper within the consoles which are located across campus. These are collected on a monthly basis by B&M Shredding.
Hope Park and Creative Campus (Friday) - 27th June, 25th July, 22nd August, 19th September, 17th October, 14th November, and 12th December
Confidential paper - bags (clear-outs)
- Order the number of confidential bags you require via the Estates Helpdesk
- Fill to the maximum line (confidential material only; please remove any folders, plastic pockets/wallets, bulldog clips etc) and secure the bag. The sacks are paper so that they can be shredded without the contents being visible; therefore do not overfill them (use the marker on the bags as guidance) or place any folders etc. within the bags as they may split.
- Once full, request a job via the Estates Helpdesk to collect the bags (detailing the number for collection)
- Return any unused bags to the Estates Office
NB, Prior to collection it is your responsibility to keep the bags in a secure location such as a locked room, do not leave them in a public space or by the recycling stations.
Do not dispose of non-paper items in the consoles/bags.
Electrical appliances
These are collected and recycled by Estates.
Envelopes
They can be reused if they are in good condition, if not, please use the recycling stations (Blue lid or Green lid)
Floppy discs
Use the general waste bins (Black lid). If confidential, please see Confidential materials (electronic)
Food
All Food waste resulting from the processing, preparation and consumption of food can be recycled in the caddies provided:
- All raw and cooked food waste
- Fruit and vegetable peelings
- meat and fish (including bones)
- dairy products
- bread, pasta and rice
- tea bags and coffee grounds
- egg shells
- out-of-date food (removed from packaging)
- plate scrapings
nb, tissues, napkins, kitchen/blue roll and packaging (biodegradable and compostable) must be placed in the general waste bins (Black lid).
Glass
Empty and rinsed bottles or jars
Please put in the DMR bin (Green lid) in halls of residence or within the plastic (Yellow lid) or can (Red lid) bins. For larger quantities, please use the external collection points available in the FML car park by the Geography and Earth Sciences Building, by the EDEN building and by Hopkins Hall and Josephine Butler Halls.
nb, metal jar lids can also be recycled.
Light bulbs/fluorescent tubes
These are collected and recycled by Estates.
Plastics
Empty and rinsed plastic bottles, tubs and trays (such as fruit and meat trays, butter tubs and ready meal trays), plastic tubes and tetrapak cartons
Use the recycling stations (Yellow lid or Green lid)
Plastics - soft
Clingfilm and soft plastics (such as carrier bags, crisp packets, bread bags and film from ready meals) need to be placed in the general waste bins (Black lid) or recycled at your local large supermarket.
Spiral binders (plastic)
Please take to Reprographics for recycling
Stamps
A collection box has been placed behind the Gateway reception desk.
Starbucks cups
Please put in the general waste bin (Black lid) or recycle alongside tetrapacks at Liverpool City Council's recycling centers. The nearest two are Otterspool Recycling Centre and Old Swan Recycling Centre.
Tetrapaks and juice cartons (empty and rinsed)
Use the recycling stations (Yellow lid or Green lid)
Toners
These are collected and recycled by IT Services.
Please check the Recycle Now webpages to find out what you can recycle and where.
Liverpool Hope University has introduced centralised recycling facilities across the campuses in teaching areas, offices and circulation spaces, so that staff and students are never too far away from a recycling station. There are five separate receptacles for waste and recycling : paper and card (Blue lid), plastics (Yellow lid), food and drinks cans (Red lid) and food waste (Food waste) caddy. Waste that cannot be recycled (including takeaway cups and food wrappers) is collected separately (Black lid). Cardboard is also collected, but it must be flattened and left by the recycling stations before it is collected.
Staff offices
The bins within individual staff offices are no longer emptied by the domestic services team, it is the member of staff’s responsibility to take their bins to the nearest recycling station and separate out their waste into recycling and general waste.
Staff kitchens
Food waste caddies have been introduced into all kitchens. These are regularly emptied into the external bins by the Domestic Services Team.
The following item can be included in the food waste caddies:
- All raw and cooked food waste
- Fruit and vegetable peelings
- Meat and fish (including bones)
- Dairy products
- Bread, pasta and rice
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
- Egg shells
- Out-of-date food (removed from packaging)
- Plate scrapings
Catering outlets
New bins have been placed in Our Place and the EDEN Cafe, which makes it easier to recycle your plastic bottles and cans (Green lid).
Coca-Cola, Cafe Nero, Starbucks Takeaway/single use cups and food packaging MUST go in the general waste (Black lid)
Student halls of residence
Student kitchens have three bins:
* Recycling bins (Green lid) in each kitchen make it easy to recycle cans, tins, glass, plastic bottles, paper and cardboard.
All items etc. must be clean before going in the recycling bins.
Food waste* Food waste caddies have been introduced to each kitchen (see the food waste tab for more information). The following items can be included in the food waste caddies:
- All raw and cooked food waste
- Fruit and vegetable peelings
- meat and fish (including bones)
- dairy products
- bread, pasta and rice
- tea bags and coffee grounds
- egg shells
- out-of-date food (removed from packaging)
- plate scrapings
* general waste bins for everything else
Students must take their waste, recycling and food waste bags to the external bins located outside their halls, where they are collected by our Waste and Recycling partners.
Textile banks
The Textile banks can be found at Aigburth Park, Creative Campus (between Hopkins Hall and the Cornerstone) and at Hope Park (in the FML carpark by Green Lane Building and in the HCA car park by Hope Park Sports).
Living in Merseyside or Halton
Guidelines can be found on the Merseyside Waste and Recycling Authority website detailing what can be recycled and in the Merseyside and Halton Recycling Guidelines document.
The Recycle Now webpages will show what you can recycle and where.
External collections
Teaching Buildings
Waste and Recycling bags are collected and brought to a central compound by our campus operatives for collection by our waste and recycling contractor.
Hope Park accommodation (Angela and Austin)
Waste and recycling - removed daily from the external bins by our campus operatives and brought to a central compound for collection by our waste and recycling contractor.
Food waste - Monday (weekly)
Hope Park accommodation (Wesley, Newman and Teresa Halls)
Waste - Tuesday and Friday (weekly)
Recycling (including glass) - Tuesday (fortnightly)
Food - Monday (weekly)
Creative Campus accommodation (Hopkins Hall)
Waste - Monday, Wednesday and Friday (weekly)
Recycling - Thursday (weekly)
Glass - Monday (weekly)
Food - Friday (weekly)
Aigburth Park accommodation (St Julies and Josephine Butler Halls)
Waste - Tuesday and Friday (weekly)
Recycling - Tuesday and Friday (weekly)
Glass - Friday (fortnightly)
Food - Friday (weekly)
Think - Reduce – Reuse – Recycle. The best way to reduce the amount of waste is not to create it in the first place:
- Do you need to purchase the item?
- Can goods be supplied with less packaging?
- When purchasing new items, look for durable items that are built to last
- Make proper use of the University’s recycling bins
Did you know?
Items can either be recycled into the same product or into new materials. This conserves our precious resources and saves energy.
Take proactive measures to reduce the number of handouts taken to meetings by emailing hand-outs, power-point presentations, agendas, previous minutes and papers to meeting attendees, or by using the projector facilities.
Think before you print:
- Can you scan and email documents rather than printing and posting?
- Use track changes, instead of printing and making notes
- Do you really need to print out that email?
- Only print the relevant pages
- Print double sided (typically reduces paper consumption by around 40%)
- Don’t print in colour unless absolutely necessary
Use glass and crockery in meetings instead of plastic or paper alternatives.
Refill a water bottle instead of buying a new bottle or using plastic cup every time - water stations are available for use in Fresh Hope, LTC Foyer, EDEN cafe, Chapters and Hope Park Sports Foyer.
Collect all paper that has been printed on one side and re-use it for scrap paper.
Use old envelopes for sending internal mail.
Cancel junk mail and unwanted publications to reduce the amount of waste that has to be thrown away.
Register with the Mail Preference Service to reduce your junk mail.
Use rechargeable batteries rather than disposable ones.
- We sent zero waste to landfill: 100% was either reused, recycled or used for Energy From Waste
- The University's old cooking oil is collected by Olleco for conversion into bio-fuel for their vehicles
- Students can get 10% off at British Heart Foundation shops by showing their identity card
- In 2018-2019 (October to July), our End of Year Pack for Good event in the student halls of residence collected 444 bags of unwanted items (including kitchen items, clothing, and stationery), which generated around £6,216 for the British Heart Foundation. The Pack for Good Campaign is run across Merseyside and includes the three Universities, private accommodation and local authorities. In 2018, nearly £48,000 was raised and saved the weight of 4.5 elephants from going to waste.
- The students collected over 20 boxes of kitchen items which were donated to the local asylum seekers charity
- In partnership with our library, Better World Books reused or recycled 4.3 tonnes of books
- The Salvation Army received 162 pairs of curtains and 90 desktop fridges following the refurbishment of student accommodation.
- Using recycled materials in the manufacturing process uses considerably less energy and produces less emissions than that required for producing new materials from raw materials (www.wrap.org.uk):
- Two glass bottles = enough energy to boil enough water for five cups of tea
- One aluminium can = enough energy to power a TV set for 3 hours
- One plastic bottle = enough energy to power a 60W light bulb for six hours
- Each year, in the UK, we throw away £12.5 billion worth of good food, costing the average family almost £60 per month. If we stopped wasting food, we could avoid 17 million tonnes of CO2 being emitted each year, the same as taking 1 in 4 cars off the road (www.lovefoodhatewaste.com).
- UK households have an average of £4,000 worth of clothes, but a third of those haven’t been worn in the last year, and we throw more than 30% of our clothing in the bin. All of our clothing can either be re-used or recycled.
- If no longer used, pass them on.
- Donate them to the collection bins which are around campus.
- Recycle them.
- Glass, steel and aluminium cans can be endlessly recycled with no loss in quality (www.wrap.org)
- Each year in the UK we use 10.4 million tonnes of paper and cardboard and it takes up to 40,000L of water to make every tonne
- It takes 7 days for a recycled newspaper to come back as newspaper again
- You can now recycle your soft contact lenses and blister packs via Terracycle (in partnership with Acuvue) at participating Boots and Independent Opticians.
- Medicine blister packs (empty) can now be recycled at participating Superdrug stores and independent chemists
- The Body Shop and L'Occitane are now collecting any brand of clean, empty cosmetics and beauty packaging for recycling
- You can now recycle your inhalers at participating chemists via GSK.
Welcome to your new food waste recycling service.
To help you get started we’ve provided an indoor food waste caddy in all kitchens and external bins which are collected weekly by our waste and recycling partner. Please take a moment to review the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) below to; you’ll find all the information that you need to get you started.
What do I do?
- Line your caddy with one of the provided caddy liners (clear/transparent plastic; do not use biodegradable or compostable bags)
- Place the caddy in a convenient location
- Use your caddy to recycle all types of food waste:
- all raw and cooked food waste;
- fruit and vegetable peelings;
- meat and fish (including bones);
- dairy products;
- bread, pasta and rice;
- tea bags and coffee grounds;
- egg shells;
- out-of-date food (removed from packaging); and
- plate scrapings
- Please do not place the following into the caddy
- packaging of any kind;
- liquids such as milk;
- oil or any fat;
- any material that is not food waste (tissues, kitchen roll, packaging);
- household waste
When your caddy is full:
- Student halls – tie up the bags and take it to the external bins (black bin with green lid)
- Non-Residential kitchens – the bags will be exchanged by the domestic services team
- Staff residences:
- Green Lane Annexe – tie up the bags are take it to the external bin by Austin Hall (black bin with green lid)
- Taggart Lodge and Stand Park Lodge – tie up the bags and take it to the caddy outside where it will be collected by our campus operative team
- if the bins are collected by Liverpool City Council, check out the roll out of food collection services
Frequently Asked Questions
What does food waste include?
You can place all of the following into the food waste caddy:
- all raw and cooked food waste;
- fruit and vegetable peelings;
- meat and fish (including bones);
- dairy products;
- bread, pasta and rice;
- tea bags and coffee grounds;
- egg shells;
- out-of-date food (removed from packaging); and
- plate scrapings
Do not place any of the following in your caddy:
- packaging of any kind;
- liquids such as milk;
- oil or any fat;
- any material that is not food waste (tissues, kitchen roll, packaging);
- household waste
Will the food waste bin smell?
Not if you regularly empty your kitchen caddy into the external waste bins and tie up the liners
When will the waste be collected?
The external bins will be collected weekly on a Monday
Why can’t I use compostable bags?
The waste is processed via Anaerobic Digestion which doesn’t effectively break down biodegradable or compostable bags; and therefore, they are removed before the food waste is treated. It is easier to remove plastic bags during this ‘pre-treatment’; clear plastic bags allow any contamination to be noticed.
How will the food waste be treated?
Your food waste is taken to an anaerobic digestion facility; where the food waste gets broken down by micro-organisms to produce biogas and digestate. Biogas is a great source for heating, electricity and fuel. Digestate is a valuable fertiliser and soil conditioner.
Why can’t I put my food waste in the general waste anymore?
It is now a legal requirement for food waste to be collected separately (as part of the Simpler Recycling Legislation). Recycling food waste is better for the environment and reduces our carbon footprint
Why are we doing this?
Recycling food waste is easy; keeps the bins cleaner; reduces our carbon footprint (as we’re specifically treated food waste – food waste is ~70% water, sending food waste for incineration requires more energy to burn as energy from waste, so anaerobic digestion is a more efficient method of disposal) and ensures we comply with the Simpler Recycling Legislation.
In 2024-2025, the University only recycled 25% of the waste that we produced; so, we are throwing away a lot of materials that could be recycled and food waste is a large part of that. Collecting the food waste separately means it can be processed more effectively, rather than being processed with the general waste as energy from waste.
We are also working with our waste and recycling partners to increase the items which you can place in the yellow, red and green lidded recycling bins.
How do I reduce the amount of food waste I produce?
- We throw away ~7 billion tonnes of food and drink each year, costing around £60 per month, and more than half of this could have been eaten. Check out Love Food Hate Waste for practical tips about a range of food-saving measures: from planning to food portioning, and from better food storage to using leftovers
- Check out Love Food Hate Waste’s portion planner to work out how much food you need to cook for each person (whatever their age) in your household, for each meal. This will save time and money, as well as reduce the amount you might be throwing in the bin
- Buy more local and seasonably priced produce to reduce both costs and your food miles. Eat Seasonably shows what produce is best to eat and grow now