Sustainable waste recovery initiatives | UniSC | University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

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Sustainable waste recovery initiatives

The sustainable waste management program has been implemented at UniSC Sunshine Coast in and around office buildings to encourage staff and students to dispose of waste into a colour-coded bin collection system that separates waste into the appropriate streams to support responsible waste management.

The desktop recycling initiative provides every staff member with a "mini-wheelie bin" on their desk, which encourages sorting of their rubbish into the waste recovery coloured bins located in communal areas.

What goes in the right bin?

The communal waste recovery bins include:

  • Green bin — for food and organics which are then fed into the On-site Composting Apparatus (OSCA)
  • Blue bin — for paper and cardboard
  • Yellow bin — for recycling aluminium, glass and plastic containers and bottles
  • Red bin — for waste that goes into landfill such as plastics and wrappers

These waste recovery stations are also provided outdoors and in campus eateries with educational posters displaying which waste items go in which bin.

Orange bins have been added on the Sunshine Coast campus to collect aluminium, glass and plastic drink bottles and flavoured milk drink boxes. These containers will be recycled through the Containers for Change scheme, with 100% of proceeds being donated to the selected charity: Detection Dogs for Conservation.

How should I dispose of my coffee cup on campus?

At UniSC Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay, our campus food retailers use compostable catering supplies, including coffee cups and lids, which can be processed through OSCA.

Coffee cup origin BioPak/compostable label identifier Compostable Coloured bin
Campus retailer Yes Yes Green - compostable
Elsewhere Yes Yes Green - compostable
Any No No Red - landfill

 

For further information on appropriate coffee cup disposal and compostable food packaging used on campus, please view the UniSC disposable coffee cup and catering supplies guide (PDF 380KB)