Waste Directory (A-Z)

Reduce: If you own a bike, find out where a Dr Bike pop-up is taking place. They offer free ‘Bike MOTs’ and can tell you if there’s anything that needs further attention and where to go. UCL holds Dr Bike sessions once a term.

If you don't cycle regularly, consider hiring a bike through schemes such as Santander Cycles, Lime and Human Forest. Swapfiets allows you to borrow a bike, for a set fee per month.

Reuse: If your bike could be fixed, you can donate it or sell it on sites such as Gumtree.

Recycle: If your bike is broken, you can take the parts to the Regis Road Recycling Centre.

Reduce: Try to avoid buying food products, such as ready meals, that are packaged in black plastic. 

Disposal: Please put black plastic food packaging into general waste.

Dispose: For items such as desks, chairs and filing cabinets that are not in good enough condition to be re-used, a request for removal can be made via the Helpdesk. 

If the bulky/large item is electrical or electronic equipment, please see (W) WEEE waste.

Recycle: Bubble wrap cannot be put in our mixed recycling bins. Bubble wrap can be recycled in soft plastic recycling streams. Many big supermarkets accept soft plastic.

Dispose: Bubble wrap must go in general waste at University of London.

Reduce: Check with your own department and ITDS for any surplus cables before buying new.

As a general rule of thumb, if you go for the cheapest cables, they will probably break faster. We recommend you invest in high-quality cables.

Reuse: If supplied by UoL ITDS, return unneeded cables to ITDS. Unfortunately, we cannot accept donations from students.

Recycle:

Staff - For redundant or damaged cables arrange collection via the Helpdesk. Cables will be recycled as WEEE waste (See: W)

Students – drop off cables to e-waste recycling points, found in stores such as Currys and John Lewis, as well as council recycling centres.

Reduce: Opt for refilling your water bottle with water instead of fizzy drinks! 

Recycle: Place empty cans in the internal or external mixed recycling bins. 

Reduce: Consider packaging when ordering items. If you need to order online, is there a way to order in bulk to minimise deliveries?

Recycle: Remove all non-cardboard packaging (i.e. polystyrene inserts). Place flattened/collapsed cardboard in (or slotted next to) internal or external mixed recycling bins or on designated cardboard cages. 

If you have excess cardboard waste, please contact the Atlas Helpdesk so that it can be cleared, so that you don’t block walkways or fire exits.

Recycle: Put cartons and Tetra Paks in the mixed recycling bins.

For confidential CDs and DVDs see Confidential waste (non-paper) LINK NEEDED.

Reduce: Only purchase what is needed and seek more sustainable alternatives (downloads).

Reuse: Consider donating to a local charity shop, giving to friends and family or selling them on sites like Music Magpie or Zapper. 

Cut your discs into small pieces and use them to create a mosaic pattern on picture frames, flower pots or mirrors.

Hang them up in the garden – they can look pretty spinning in the wind and add some fun to your garden.

Disposal: If reuse is not an option, CDs/DVDs should go into general waste.

Recycle: Paper-based cards can be recycled. 

Disposal: If a card has any glitter or embellishments on it, this means it cannot be recycled, and therefore it should go into general waste.

Reduce: Opt for reusable wraps e.g. beeswax wraps or reusable containers.

Disposal: Please dispose of cling film in general waste.

Reduce:  If using a coffee pod machine: Instead of using pods, try to use coffee beans (whole or ground) and percolate your coffee instead.  

Reuse:  Upcycle into a face scrub! 

Coffee grounds can also be used in gardening. 

Recycle:  

Put loose coffee grounds into food waste caddies (if available). 

If you have any Nespresso pods etc., please see the retailers' instructions. Normally, you can arrange for a collection of a bag of empty pods. 

Disposal:  

Coffee filter papers must go into the general waste bins. If a food waste caddy isn’t available, put coffee grounds into the general waste bins.  

See (S): Single-use hot drinks cups 

E.g. compostable cups, plates and cutlery by brands such as Vegware.

Reduce: Bring your own reusable container, hot drinks cups and cutlery with you if you are planning on eating on-the-go. 

Opt to dine in with washable crockery if you can.

Dispose: Compostable packaging cannot be recycled or put in food waste at University of London. Please put all compostable packaging in the general waste bin.

This is because our food waste goes to anaerobic digestion, which can only deal with high quality food waste, and wouldn’t be able to break down compostables. Compostable packaging can only be recycled if it is put in a specific industrial compost waste stream.

Students in UoL Intercollegiate Halls of Residences:

Disposal: Cooking oil and fat must not be poured down sinks as it can cause blockages. Once the oil has cooled, soak up excess oil from pans etc. with a paper towel, and dispose in the general waste. Or, for larger amounts of waste oil, you can collect the cooled oil in a sealable plastic bottle and dispose in general waste.

Staff working in our commercial kitchens must follow our Commercial Kitchen Waste Oil Procedure.

Reduce: Think if there are ways to reduce your consumption of items wrapped in soft plastic. Not only is this more sustainable, but often healthier too!

Recycle: Crisp packets cannot go in UoL mixed recycling bins. Crisp packets are a combination of plastic and foil which makes them difficult to recycle. Some larger supermarkets accept crisp packets for recycling in a separate stream. 

Disposal: They must go in the general waste at University of London. 

Reduce: Always carry around a reusable tote bag so you don’t have to pick up another one when you shop.

Recycle: Soft plastic cannot go in mixed recycling bins at UoL. Plastic bags can be recycled by taking them to many large supermarkets. 

Disposal: If you are disposing of them at UoL, they must go into the general waste bins. 

Recycle: Staff – contact ITDS for a recycling box for old toner cartridges.

If you are unfortunate enough to find one on campus, contact the Helpdesk and we will arrange to have it removed safely.

Disposal: At present, we do not have a way to recycle duvets, bedding and mattresses. We are currently exploring getting something into place for the halls by Summer 2025.

Please note that the British Heart Foundation cannot accept pillows or duvets; however you can place any sheets, duvet covers and pillow covers into the British Heart Foundation clothing banks (located in each hall of residence).

See (W): WEEE waste

Reduce: Envelopes can be reused if they're in good condition.

Recycle: If they are paper, put them in mixed recycling. Please note if you have envelopes with plastic windows, there is no need to remove the window before recycling. 

Disposal: Padded envelopes are made from a combination of plastic and paper and are difficult to recycle. Put padded envelopes in the general waste bins.

Reduce: Switch to plastic free floss that comes in a cardboard dispenser to reduce your plastic footprint. 

Recycle: If you would like to go the extra mile to recycle your floss container you can recycle them through Terracycle. All brands of used or empty toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrushes, toothpaste cartons, toothbrush outer packaging, and floss containers are accepted by this scheme. 

Dispose: Floss and floss containers in general are not recyclable, please put into general waste.

Disposal: Fluorescent tubes can be very harmful to the environment, wildlife and even humans.

Any variety of fluorescent lighting contains mercury, a highly toxic metal. If incorrectly disposed of, mercury can dissipate into the atmosphere which allows it to contaminate water supplies and wildlife.

Most buildings have a fluorescent tube coffin to safely store these before disposal.  

Contact the Atlas Helpdesk to safely dispose of these.

Reduce: Look at alternatives to single-use foil wrap, such as beeswax wraps and lunchboxes.

Recycle: Put foil (as long as its larger than a post it note) in your nearest mixed recycling bin, as long as your foil is clean (e.g. no food on it).

Disposal: Put dirty foil and foil smaller than the size of a post it note in the general waste.

Reduce: Plan meals ahead to avoid food waste, and don’t overbuy. 

In the halls canteen, take a smaller portion and go back for seconds if you are still feeling hungry to avoid excess plate waste.

Recycle: Food waste must not go into the mixed recycling bins. For food waste to be recycled it must go into a food waste caddy. If there is a food waste caddy available, please put food waste in the caddy.  

Dispose:  If there is no food waste caddy nearby, please put in the general waste.

Our canteens in our Intercollegiate Halls and in Senate House, and our staff kitchenettes should have food waste provisions available. Please contact [email protected] if this is not the case. 

See (H) HAZARDOUS WASTE.

Retailers offer a take-back scheme if you are buying a new fridge/freezer.

Did you know…?  Refrigerators contain valuable materials such as aluminium, copper, steel and plastics. These can be extracted and used again. Reusing them saves precious resources. Fridges also contain a motor and compressor, which must be handled carefully. The coolants they contain are a greenhouse gases which must be captured to avoid polluting the environment. Finally, foam insulating materials such as polyurethane and polystyrene must also be disposed of properly to avoid releasing harmful gases. Since 2002, by the law, old fridges must be disposed of through approved contractors. 

Staff: For items such as desks, chair, filing cabinets that are not in good enough condition to be re-used, a request for removal can be made via the Helpdesk.

For rehoming, contact the Property Team.

Students: Contact your Halls management or reception.

The container must either be returned to the supplier or disposed of as (See: H) Hazardous Waste

Recycle:

Students - There is a glass bin located in each Intercollegiate Hall of Residence, in the common room.

Staff - There are external glass bins for Senate and Stewart House in the bin area.  If departments are hosting an internal event and empty bottles will be produced, please contact [email protected] for a glass recycling container.

Metal jar and bottle lids should be removed from the glass jar/bottle and put into the mixed recycling. 

If there is no glass bin available, please put the glass in mixed recycling.

Why recycle glass?  Glass is an extremely malleable material that can be melted down, repoured and reshaped into essentially anything else with no loss of quality – so it is a great candidate for reuse. Keeping glass ‘in the loop’ reduces the use of precious minerals and unnecessary carbon emissions.

Reduce: Don’t laminate unless there is a benefit to having your paper made more durable. 

Dispose: Please dispose in general waste.

Reduce: Do you need to print? Can you print on recycled paper? 

Ensure the quantity is as accurate as possible to avoid wastage.

Recycle: Put leaflets in mixed recycling or paper bins on campus.

Reuse: Reuse magazines in art projects or donate to art departments. 

Recycle: Most magazines can go in mixed recycling. 

Reduce: Explore what make-up you can buy in easily recyclable containers, such as glass jars. 

Think consciously about overconsumption of make-up items – what is your capsule make-up collection?

Recycle: Make-up containers cannot go into UoL mixed recycling bins. 

There are ways to responsibly recycle your old make-up containers. See more here.  Retailers such as John Lewis, Boots, Maybelline and LUSH offer take-back services.

Dispose: Make-up should go in general waste on campus. 

Recycle:

Staff: If you have any significant metal waste, contact the Helpdesk.

Students: Metal can be taken to Regis Road Recycling Centre to be dealt with properly.

Recycle: These cannot go in University of London mixed recycling. 

They can, however, be recycled away from campus if they are put in the right waste stream. Read more here.

Disposal: Medication blister packets should go in UoL general waste bins. 

Reduce: Consider accessing news in other formats.

Reuse: Reuse newspaper in crafts, as wrapping paper or when packing boxes.

Recycle: Please put newspaper in the mixed recycling bins.

Dispose: Please put in general waste. 

Please contact the Helpdesk.

If the paper is confidential, please seek out your closest confidential paper bin.

Reduce: Think digital first – are there instances where using paper could be avoided?

Recycle: Please put paper in the mixed recycling. 

Reduce: Are there instances where you could be using a towel/reusable wipe to dry hands/crockery or clean surfaces instead?

Dispose: Paper towels are made of tiny fibres which are too short to be recycled, especially as they would often be dirty/wet after use. Please dispose in general waste.

Reduce: Instead of physical post it notes, can you use an online tool such a Whiteboard. 

Disposal: We are currently unable to recycle post its due to the glue layer. Please put these in general waste bins.

Disposal:

Small amounts of PPE can be put into general waste bins. Please double bag. 

For large amounts of PPE please contact [email protected] 

Reuse: If they are in good condition, contact the Sustainability team so we can explore reuse.

Disposal: Ring binders must go in general waste. 

Reduce: If you are interested in reducing waste from your period, check out: https://blog.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/lets-get-sustainable-period/

Dispose:

DO NOT FLUSH TAMPONS OR PADS. 

If tampons or pads: wrap in the packet it came in or in tissue and use the sanitary waste bins or general waste bin.

Reuse: Reuse for packaging, otherwise not recyclable as shredding paper cuts the fibers too short for recycling. 

Disposal: Please put in general waste.

Reduce: Try and remember your reusable hot drinks cup when visiting campus. Bloom@Senate Café has a 30p levy on single-use cups and bottles, so you'll save 30p each time you bring a reusable cup to campus. Bloom Café sells branded reusable rice husk cups for £7.50 (£6 for students).

Disposal: Please put your hot drinks cups in general waste, not mixed recycling. This applies to both standard single use hot drinks cups and the compostable/biodegradable varieties. This is because hot drinks cups have a plastic inner lining which cannot be separated out.

Reduce: Try loose leaf tea

Recycle: If you have the option of using a food waste caddy, put used tea bags into the food waste stream, the small amount of plastic used to seal tea bags doesn't affect the anaerobic digestion process.

Dispose: If you don’t have the option of using a food waste caddy, put used tea bags into the general waste stream. 

See (P) Paper towels.

For electric toothbrushes, please see (W): WEEE Waste

Reduce: If you use a manual plastic toothbrush, consider switching to a bamboo toothbrush to reduce your plastic footprint. 

Recycle: If you would like to go the extra mile to recycle your toothbrush you can recycle them through Terracycle. All brands of used or empty toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrushes, toothpaste cartons, toothbrush outer packaging, and floss containers are accepted by this scheme. 

Dispose: In general manual toothbrushes are not recyclable, please put into general waste bins. 

Reduce: You could consider toothpaste tablets or toothpaste that comes in a recyclable jar to reduce your plastic footprint. 

Recycle: If you would like to go the extra mile to recycle toothpaste tubes you can recycle them through Terracycle. All brands of used or empty toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrushes, toothpaste cartons, toothbrush outer packaging, and floss containers are accepted by this scheme. 

Dispose: Toothpaste tubes are often made of different types of plastics, as well as containing a metal layer. In general they are not recyclable, please put into general waste bins. 

Reduce: Did you know that two vapes are thrown away every second? If you feel you need to vape right now, invest in a refillable vape.

Recycle: Single-use and reusable vapes/e-cigarettes must go into the vape/battery bins at reception desks.

Damaged vapes need to be in a zip lock bag.
Reusable vapes must have their refillable liquid cannister removed where possible.

Vapes and e-cigarettes cannot go into general waste or mixed recycling because the batteries within them can cause fires, especially if they are put into the wrong waste stream. Furthermore, recycling batteries protects resources as they contain metals and chemicals which can be recovered and recycled if put into the battery bins. 
 

Disposal:
DO NOT FLUSH WET WIPES, even if they state they are flushable. 
Put wet wipes into general waste. 
 

Reduce: Instead of wrapping paper, why not go for reusable bags or furoshiki fabric wrap?

Reuse: If you carefully undo wrapping paper, it could be reused. Or, as mentioned above, use fabric or bags which can be used again and again.

Recycle: Wrapping paper can only be recycled if it passes the 'scrunch test'. If you scrunch the paper and it springs back open, it's made from mixed materials and should go in your rubbish bin. If it passes the test, make sure you remove any sticky tape! 

Disposal: If the wrapping paper fails the scrunch test, i.e. you scrunch it and it doesn’t spring back open, it should go in the general waste.