For lots of students, University is the first time they’ll be living alone; it can be difficult to prioritise recycling and sustainable waste management among other new household responsibilities. At Warwick, we're working to make it easy for everyone to reduce, reuse, and recycle, following our Environmental Policy to implement long-term waste management strategies and cut the overall waste generated by 1% per annum between 2021 and 2025.  

We’re targeting big volume materials on campus – such as drinks bottles, cans, cardboard, and plastic – and trying to move away from single use items, for example disposable coffee cups.

In Welcome Week 2023, we introduced a Café Safari where students could purchase a reusable cup to use on campus in exchange for a free drink from six of our outlets. There’s also a new Zero Waste Shop in Warwick’s Student Union, encouraging people to bring their own containers and move away from single use plastic. It’s small initiatives like this that can often have a big sustainability impact.

The Cut The Flow project looks to reduce energy and water consumption in campus accommodation. Students can help the environment, learn good habits for when they live off campus, and win prizes. Plus all electricity we purchase is 100% renewable, and we also produce our own renewable energy on campus.

As a University, we always look for the most eco-friendly suppliers of whatever we need to buy. We work with them to reduce their own impact on the environment too – we’re not only interested in hitting our own environmental targets; we want to go one step further.

As well as lots of bins around campus which make recycling as easy as possible, there’s also plenty of opportunities to re-use items that still have life left in them. Warwick Swap is a place for departments to advertise their used furniture, equipment, and stationery, reducing the need for disposal. There’s also reStore events, where people can repair and upcycle everything from electrical and mechanical devices to bicycles and clothing, using provided tools and equipment, and help from skilled repairers and makers.

The Pay as You Feel market allows student and staff to buy items left behind in student accommodation from the previous year, such as pots and pans. This is part of the RAWKUS, an important project that saves food surplus from kitchens across campus when students leave each term. Tens of tonnes of waste has been saved since it began, and they’ve worked with food banks and local charities.