A to Z – Guide to Waste

The University of Lincoln adheres to the waste hierarchy and encourages staff, students, visitors and contractors to review what items they purchase, the lifecycle of the product and how it can be sustainable repurposes/disposed.

Prevent reduce, reuse, recycle, recover, disposal

Below details key items on campus that may need to be disposed of, if the item you’re looking to dispose of isn’t listed, you can contact Estates Support, or if this an item used within one of the academic spaces on campus you can speak to your local technician.

Page last reviewed in July 2024

Animal and agriculture

Animal bedding
Animal bedding can be placed into the general waste bins on campus.

Animal excrement
Animal excrement can be placed in the dog poo bins or in the general waste bins, if using general waste bins, please ensure the excrement is placed in its own bag.

Garden waste
Garden waste collected from the on campus gardens can be put in the compost bins managed by the local technicians. For more information about these localised compost bins, please speak to the garden manager.

Grass & tree cuttings
All grass and tree are sustainably disposed of by our landscaping contractor.

Farm waste
The university farm waste is managed by the Farm Manager, for further information please email Estates Support.

Clothing, shoes & accessories

Clothing and shoes
Clothing in good condition can be donated via the BHF collection bins located in the student accommodation villages on campus, or alternatively taken to any of the charity shops in Lincoln.

Alternatively, the SU is currently running swap shops each month where students are able to donate an item in return for another.

For clothing in worse condition you can ask your local charity shop if they accept material for rags. Alternatively, they can be placed in the general waste bins.

Accessories

Accessories, including bags and jewellery (not earrings), in good condition can be donated via the BHF collection bins located in the student accommodation villages on campus; or alternatively taken to any of the charity shops in Lincoln.

Otherwise, place these items in general waste for disposal.

BHF Charity Bin Locations

Electrical and batteries

WEEE (electrical items and batteries) waste must be disposed of through specialised channels, and should not be placed in general waste or recycling bins on campus.

Batteries
We have battery bins located around campus for household, single use batteries, such as AA, AAA, D and watch style batteries. Due to health and safety concerns, these bins should not have any rechargeable batteries, vapes or lithium batteries placed in them.

Lithium batteries, which are generally rechargeable batteries, but can be included in single use items such as vapes, must be disposed of through specialist hazardous waste. If you have brought one of these style batteries to campus for personal use, please do not dispose of these on campus, please refer to the Lincoln City Council website for details on how to dispose of personal WEEE and battery items. Local technicians will be able to offer guidance on how to dispose of lithium batteries used for university purposes in their area.

Damaged batteries should be disposed of as hazardous waste. These should be stored appropriately before disposal and should not be placed in any bin on campus, local technicians will be able to advise on how and where to store these items.

Damaged batteries in accommodation, or from personal use items, must be taken to the local refuse centre for disposal and should not be disposed of on campus.

Electrical items – IT equipment & mobile phones
ICT equipment should be returned to the Digital Technologies department who have a contract in place to refurbish or sustainably dispose of the equipment.

Electrical items – general
If WEEE (electrical) items, such as fridges, freezers, washing machines, need to be replaced, you must request that the company replacing the item provide a quote to dispose of it on your behalf.

If this is not done, you will need to contact Biffa to request a quote for disposal and then raise a PO; please note that this could be a significantly higher charge to your department.

Note: Only small WEEE items that have been PAT tested by the university will be disposed of by the university, please log a job onto the system for the porters to collect.

Light bulbs
Light bulbs on campus are generally replaced by the Hard Services provider who will dispose of the light bulbs accordingly.

If you have to dispose of a light bulb on campus please contact the Estates Support desk for further support.

Wires and cables
Please return to Digital Technologies for disposal.

Food, drink and containers/packaging

Item	How to dispose
Chocolate/sweet wrappers	General waste unless the wrapper specifically says it is made from paper and is recyclable.
Crisp packet	General waste.
Drinks bottle	Drink bottles should be emptied and placed in the recycling with their lid attached.
Drinks can	Drinks cans should be emptied and placed in the recycling bin to avoid them cross contaminating waste such as paper or cardboard.
Food	Should be put in the general waste bin unless you have access to a food waste bin. If you have a food waste bin in your area, please ensure only food and plastic free tea bags go into the bin. The food waste is taken to anaerobic digestion plant, and the waste stream should not be contaminated with general waste or recycling.
Food cans/tins	Food cans should be washed out and placed in the recycling bin. If the item is not clean, it may contaminate the other waste recycling streams put in that bin.
Glass (bottles and jars)	Glass food packaging such as jars or non-tempered glass bottles should be thoroughly cleaned and placed in separate glass recycling bins. If you do not have a glass bin, please save the glass until you have a substantial amount and put a job on for the porters to collect and take to a glass recycling point. Tempered glass, such as milk bottles, cannot be recycled and should be either returned to the point of purchase or wrapped up to prevent breakage and put in the general waste bin. Glass should not be put in the dry mixed recycle bins, as they are crushed as part of the process and the shards of glass then contaminate the other recycling waste streams in the bin.
Oil – cooking	Cooking oil should be cooled, collected and then disposed of as hazardous waste. The local technicians will be able to advise how to safely store and dispose of this oil.
Plastic food containers	Black or brown plastic food containers should be put in the general waste bin. All other coloured plastic food containers should be rinsed, dried and placed in the recycling bin.
Pringles	Due to how Pringles tubes are constructed these cannot be recycled and must be placed in the general waste bin. Note: Pringles have release some tubes that can be recycled, these are clearly marked on the packaging.
Take away pizza boxes	Due to the grease and food remnants, take away pizza boxes cannot be recycled and must be placed in the general waste bins.
Yoghurt pots	Most yoghurt pots are recyclable, the exception being the soft ‘squishy’ plastic ones. Ensure you rinse and dry the yoghurt pot before putting into a recycling bin.

Furniture

Office furniture
Before disposing of any office furniture, contact the Space team via Estates Support to determine whether or not the item can be repurposed on campus.

If the item is damaged, there could be scope to repair the piece of furniture- contact the Space team for guidance on this.

If the item can no longer be used, place a job on for the porters to take the item up to the Riseholme waste area, where they will determine if it can go in the metal, wood skip, POPs or general waste skip.

Student accommodation furniture
The Student Accommodation team are responsible for the management of furniture used within student accommodation. Please contact your local reception for any queries you may have.

Upholstered furniture
Upholstered furniture may contain POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants), if this type of furniture needs to be disposed of, it should be placed in the separate POPs skip to avoid contamination with other pieces of furniture.

Homeware and furnishings

Bedding & linens
Bedding and other linens, if in good condition can be donated to charity shops .

If in worse condition you can ask your local charity shop if they take material for rags.

Otherwise, it will have to be placed in general waste.

Pots, pans, cutlery, mugs, glassware etc

If in good condition, these can all be can be donated to a local charity.

Otherwise, they should be placed in the general waste bin.

Knives

Knives can be placed in general waste, however they must be wrapped in newspaper, or similar, for safety purposes.

British Heart Foundation

British Heart Foundation donation bins can be found in all university accommodation areas. There are also a number of local charities in the city centre who collect donations.

Media

Books
Books can be donated to local charity shops or placed in the BHF collection bins in the student accommodation villages.

There may be local schemes within Colleges and Schools were students are able to leave pre-loved books for future students to use; please talk to your admin staff to find out if your school delivers this type of scheme.

CDs, DVDs and cases

CDs and DVDs can be donated to some charity shops in the city centre, please confirm with the charity shop before dropping any off.

CD and DVD cases are hard plastic and cannot be recycled, these must go into the general waste bin.

Office - general items

Cardboard
Cardboard can be recycled in the recycle bins, any cardboard boxes must be folded down

Paper & confidential waste
Paper should be placed in the recycle bin. Confidential waste should be stored securely, and the porters contacted to transport it to the confidential waste skip.

Printer cartridges
Contact DT when the printer cartridge is empty and they will advise on how to recycle the cartridges.

Stationery
Stationery cannot be recycled and must be put in the general waste bins. Freecycle can also be used to share information on what extra items of stationery, such as files and folders, are available for other departments to take.

At certain points in the year the SU and library will be collecting certain items of stationery that will be stored for incoming students to repurpose. Keep your eyes peeled on socials for further information.

Link to: Freecycle

Packaging

The following table details which packaging items can be recycled and which must go in general waste bins:

Item	Bin Type	Special Instructions
Bubble wrap	General waste	Some departments may find bubble wrap of value to store/send out items. If you have large quantities of bubble wrap either post the item on the staff freecycle page or put a message out to colleagues via teams.
Cardboard	Recycling	Fold down any boxes to maximise space in the recycle bin. If you have large quantities, fold the boxes down and contact the porterage team to dispose of for you.
Jiffy bags	General waste / donate to the library	The library use jiffy bags to post out books to students, if you’re able to donate any please contact the library reception to arrange a time to drop the items off.
Wood pallets	Wood skip / return to vendor	Pallets – where possible should be returned to the vendor. If not possible, the porters can be requested to take the pallets to the pallet area up at Riseholme. The woodwork shop in NDH may be able to use pieces of wood, please contact the senior technician with details of the wood available and they can advise if it is usable. Alternately, place a job through the estates support desk to ask the porters to collect the wood.
Polystyrene	General waste
Soft plastics	Recycling or general waste – see special instructions	Clean soft plastics can be put in recycling bins. Any dirty or contaminated soft plastics should be put in the general waste bins.

Sanitary Waste

All menstrual sanitary waste should be placed in the appropriate bins located in the ladies, gender neutral and disabled toilets.

Sanitary waste created as part of Schools or College degrees should be disposed of through a hazardous waste provider, organised through locally based technicians.

Sanitary waste from accommodation can be placed in general waste bins.

Sanitary waste should not be flushed down the toilet.

Workshop, studio and lab waste

Chemicals
Chemicals should be stored as per the COSHH guidelines.

When ready to be disposed of the local technicians should be able to offer guidance as to how to do so.

Contaminated waste including cloths

Local technicians are responsible for the safe disposal of these items. They should not be placed in general waste or recycling.

Gas cannisters

Dealt with by local technician.

Glass

Tempered glass, such as cups and test tubes, cannot be recycled and should be wrapped up, to avoid breakage, and placed in the general waste bin.

Other glass items should be thoroughly cleaned and placed in the glass recycle bins.

Glass should not be put in the dry mixed recycle bins, as they are crushed as part of the process and the shards of glass then contaminate the other recycling waste streams in the bin.

Medical waste
Local technicians should ensure the safe storage of medical waste and it should be disposed through a specified hazardous waste provider.

This includes, but is not limited to:

Blood and tissue samples
Swabs
Sharps
Contaminated clothes

Metal & metal shavings
Metal can be recycled in the metal skip at Riseholme. Place a job on for the porters, who will ensure the correct disposal.

Metal shavings should be saved up and then put in the metal waste skip.

Oil
Oil must be safely stored and disposed of locally by the technicians.

Paint
Water based paint – local technicians should ensure the safe storage and disposal of these items.

Oil based paint – this is classed as hazardous waste and must be disposed of by local technicians.

Paint should not be put down the drain and paint cans should be disposed of appropriate by local technicians, they should not be put in general waste or recycling bins.

Photographs

Photographs cannot be recycled and must be put in the general waste bin.

Rubber gloves, aprons etc

If uncontaminated, rubber gloves and aprons can go in the general waste bin. Contaminated items should be treated as hazardous and the local technician will be able to advise as to how to dispose.