The council will take “dry” recycling, including plastics

University signs waste and recycling contract with city council and Binit

General waste and recycling from the University of Exeter will now be handled by Exeter City Council and Binit.

The five-year deal is intended to dramatically increase recycling rates at the Streatham and St Luke’s campuses in Exeter.

The council will take “dry” recycling – glass, cardboard, cans and plastics, all collected separately to maximise quality – as well as general rubbish. 

Binit will collect food waste and “difficult-to-recycle” items such as mattresses and duvets.

“The university declared an environment and climate emergency earlier this year, and improving our recycling rate is one of many actions we are now taking,” said Neil Sheppard, Head of Facilities Operations at the University of Exeter.

“We are delighted to be working with Exeter City Council and Binit to make this happen.

“We need to move towards a more circular economy, with less waste and more re-use and recycling.”

The service started on 14 October, and Binit will conduct a full audit of the university’s waste and recycling infrastructure to gather data.

This information will be used to identify and make improvements.

Binit CEO Philippa Roberts said: “The combination of our experience of customer-led services, going way beyond the bin and the university’s ambition to really get on top of their waste game, creates so much potential for us to help the university meet and go beyond its targets, whilst at the same time working to increase awareness amongst the student and staff population.”

Binit are already working with Exeter City Council to deliver waste and recycling services to businesses across the city.

Date: 22 November 2019