All office paper waste for recycling is disposed of via white 'Confidential Waste' sacks provided by the University's waste management contractor and is securely shredded, baled and recycled. The confidential waste sacks must be stored in a secure area prior to collection.

What can be recycled?

• Confidential and non-confidential waste paper
• Computer & Copier Paper
• Coloured Paper
• Paper already shredded
• Envelopes
• Post it notes
• Newspapers & Magazines
• Journals (hard backing should be removed)
• Catalogues & Phone Books
• Thin card which can be torn 

Please contact the Porter’s Office (028 9097 3068) to request the delivery of waste paper recycling sacks and cable ties to your area.

Paper recycling sacks are collected as part of a twice monthly, Wednesday collection. Where a School/Directorate have sacks ready for collection, the School/Directorate Building Liaison Officer (BLO) should contact the Porter’s Office (3068) before lunch time on Tuesday to be added to the collection schedule.

Where Schools/Directorates have sacks for collection every week they can be permanently added to the schedule.

The Waste Contractor should collect all sacks by 4.15pm every Wednesday. If the sacks have not been collected by this time contact Nicola Keown on 028 9097 1167 or nicola.keown@qub.ac.uk.

If your School/Directorate is regularly on the schedule but has more bags than normal, ensure this is communicated (with an approximate number of bags) to the Porters to ensure these can be collected as normal. If the Contractor is not notified of a large additional clear-out, it cannot be guaranteed that this will be completed.

If you require more bags than normal, please ensure you request extra at least one week in advance.

The plastic bottle bins located across Campus accept coloured and clear plastic bottles.

If you require a plastic bottle recycling bin, please ensure your School/Directorate Building Liaison Officer (BLO) logs a request via CAFM (Planon).

The can bins located across Campus accept:

• aluminium and steel food cans
• metal biscuit and sweet tins
• clean tin foil, cake, and pie tins

If you require a metal can recycling bin, please ensure your School/Directorate Building Liaison Officer (BLO) logs a request via CAFM (Planon). 

Glass can be recycled at the following locations:

• Back of the South Dining Hall
• MBC, Whitla Medical Building
• Back of the NITC
• Back of the Health Sciences Building
• Riddel Hall

Mixed glass (clear and coloured) can be placed in the glass bins. 

Please note that laboratory and Pyrex glass, and other non-container glass (e.g. window glass) and crockery cannot be recycled.

All Cardboard is recycled within Queen's. Within your office the collection location for cardboard needs to be pre-organised with your Office Cleaner. 

All cardboard needs to be flatpacked. 

Please click here to download a cardboard collection point poster. 

If you have a large amount of cardboard which needs collected, please ensure your School/Directorate Building Liaison Officer (BLO) logs a request via CAFM (Planon). 

Please dispose of your batteries in the 'battery towers' located in the following locations:

• Administration Building, Level 2
• Ashby Building
• Clinical Science A at the Royal Hospital
• David Keir Building
• Elms Village
• Geography
• Health Sciences Building
• McClay Library
• Medical Biology Centre
• Students Union
• Whitla Medical Building

If the battery tower requires emptying, please contact your Building Liaison Officer.

Larger industrial type batteries, such as lead acid car type batteries and nickel cadmium batteries used in emergency standby systems, should be logged via Planon by your School/Directorate Building Liaison Officer (BLO) with details of the items. 

A request to remove electrical waste should be logged via Planon by your School/Directorate Building Liaison Officer (BLO) with details of the items (i.e. the numbers and type of equipment requiring disposal).

The table below summarises any charges for the disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic equipment (WEEE):

Collections will be coordinated via Planon. Please log a request 10 working days in advance of collection date.

All fridges and freezers must be empty and cleaned prior to disposal.  If this is not undertaken they will not be removed. Please note, if your equipment was in use in a laboratory (or any other potentially hazardous) setting, the disposing School/Unit is responsible for appropriately cleaning the equipment and certifying it as clean, prior to its disposal.

Energy efficient bulbs and all types of discharge lamps (such as fluorescent tubes, compact fluorescents, compact fluorescent energy savers, SONs, Mercury, Metal Halide and others) contain toxic metals such as mercury, cadmium, and lead and are classified as hazardous waste. The tubes are recycled into their constituent parts by a specialist waste contractor.

Please ensure that all fluorescent tubes and energy efficient bulbs are stored in their original packaging. A request to remove any fluorescent tubes and energy efficient bulbs for recycling should be logged via CAFM (Planon) by the School/Directorate Building Liaison Officer (BLO).

To recycle your Ricoh toners, please contact your local Department Print Champion. For further information on your Print Champion please click here. 

All other toners need to be recycled via the appropriate toner website. This is the responsibility of the School/Directorate/Faculty:

• HP Toners
• Xerox Toners
• Kyocera Toners

Once you have received confirmation from your Director/Line Manager/Head of School that the specific books are unwanted, please determine which books are appropriate for 'Better World Books'. Please click here for more information. 

Once you have determined which books are appropriate for reuse please place the books in ‘Better World Book’ boxes.

To receive ‘Better World Book’ boxes, and to organise collection of unwanted books, please ensure your School/Directorate Building Liaison Officer (BLO) logs a request via CAFM (Planon).

WARPit

Queen’s has their very own corporate E-bay/Freecycle-style network, called WARPit. It allows staff to redistribute unwanted and underused assets within Queen’s. This avoids unnecessary purchases, saves money, and reduces waste going to landfill.

There are two scenarios which mean as an organisation our resources are often wasted:

• Due to limited communications, space and time pressures, we often have to dispose of surplus resources because a new owner cannot be found quickly and easily
• It is human nature to hoard items that might be needed later – this leads to inefficient use of space as the stored unused resources become obsolete

Why use WARPit?

Money: By making sharing resources easy, WARPit helps the University cut procurement costs - by avoiding unnecessary purchases, and by allowing the university to share with other local organisations.

Embracing a low carbon future: Re-using unwanted items instead of buying new has major environmental benefits – it reduces waste to landfill, cuts carbon emissions and saves natural resource which get depleted when making new items.  WARPit is part of the University’s embracing a low carbon future campaign for a more sustainable university.

Community: It is also a way of ‘giving back’ to the community. The site allows local organisations (such as schools and local charities) to access any unwanted resources which are unclaimed internally.

By using WARPit we are also able to create sharing relationships with local charities and partner organisations. These relationships have mutual benefits, as the recipient avoids paying for new items whilst the University will avoid paying taxes and charges associated with waste disposal.

To sign up go to the Queen’s University Belfast WARPit portal.

Items claimed on WARPit can be delivered through PlanOn and the Estates Helpdesk. A BLO can log your request using the order group '08 WARPIT'. Please note that the person claiming the WARPit item is responsible for organising its delivery.

Ban the Bin

Queen’s ‘Ban the Bin’ Campaign aims to increase recycling, reduce landfill and make us all conscious of where we dispose of our waste.

How does it work?

Individual desk bins are removed. They are replaced with desk top bins and designated recycling points throughout the office.

How does this improve recycling?

Removing under-the desk bins while providing sufficient recycling bins as an alternative has been an effective way of reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill.

• Much of what we throw away can be reused or recycled but having a bin right by your desk provides a temptation not to bother
• The campaign aims to raise awareness of recycling: getting us really thinking about which bin items of rubbish should go in

Figures from other schools and directorates that have adopted ‘Ban the Bin’ indicate that recycling has increased by 30%. Areas involved include the MBC, DKB, International and Post Graduate Student Centre, Academic Affairs, Education, HAPP, English, Registrar’s office, Information Services and Estates.

If you would like to implement ‘Ban the Bin’ in your office, please download our 'Ban the Bin' guide.

Clear Outs

If your office is going to undertake a clear out, please to download Queen’s ‘Clear Out Guide’. This will provide a step by step process on how to minimise your waste.

Waste Management for Events

If you are planning a large student or staff event, please download our 'Waste Management Event' Guide.