SUEZ delivers savings and support for eight universities in their zero waste to landfill mission

This was the one of the first pay by weight contracts for SUEZ and is the largest in the Higher Education Sector, supporting more than 110,000 staff and students across 8 institutions – Arts University Bournemouth, Solent University, Southampton City College, University of Southampton, Bournemouth University, University of Portsmouth, University of Winchester and University for the Creative Arts.

The five year contract has been in place since January 2016 and runs to 31 December 2021. This is a zero waste to landfill solution for all institutions and multiple waste streams are offered under the one contract. From general waste, dry mixed recycling, food and garden wastes through to bulky wastes, furniture, sharps, light bulbs, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), chemical, clinical and confidential waste for all eight universities, SUEZ services over 130 locations and over 800 recycling and general waste containers.

This contract adds 3,500 lifts per week to the SUEZ fleet and 7,000 tonnes per annum to our processing facilities.

As part of this contract, SUEZ provides compliant, local services from their depots in Fareham, Poole, Aldershot, Sittingbourne and Mitcham.    

SUEZ provides a dedicated account manager and a local helpdesk to support the needs of these institutions and also have an intern on a 12-month placement each year to provide investment in work experience to the customers.

Accurate weight data is available to support members in tracking and reporting recycling targets and compliance information is also available online, accessible to the members at any time.

Waste audits are undertaken twice per year for each of the eight institutions to focus on cost reduction and continual improvement projects, using the weight data gathered to inform where changes can be made. SUEZ also continue to explore new recycling opportunities for key waste streams that the SCAG locations produce.

SUEZ has undertaken a number of initiatives during the first two years of the contract with all eight institutions, including:

• Social media calendar to promote waste awareness
• Support freshers events and similar events such as ‘Planet Day’ and ‘Green Week’
• Work with Halls of Residences to support ‘RES Life’ programmes and training for Resident Assistants
• Supported reusable cup campaign with the University of Winchester
• Training provided to cleaning, catering, and caretaking staff
• Communication materials supplied to promote waste awareness across all locations
• Communication tools for Halls – monitor displays to feature waste awareness messages, printed clear sacks with dry mixed recycling specifications to hand out to new students when they get their keys to their room
• Working on producing a communications pack which will feature all communication tools in one place to allow SCAG members to ‘pick and mix’ what materials or topics they would like to focus on
• 12-month paid intern placement for a SCAG Graduate or student looking for a year in employment
• Pay by weight and bin weight data reviews to reduce vehicle movements and maximise efficiencies
• Worked with SCAG to build themes for roadshows, such as single-use plastics and reusable options
• Waste audits to review dry mixed recycling quality and general waste composition (results feed into roadshow events and campaigns)
• Legislation updates communicated via email and some webinars

Individual recycling requirements for each institution have been defined to ensure a compliant, efficient process for getting the best value from all the different waste materials at each location. The next step will be to discuss reviewing the individual institution's supply chains to establish if there can be any reductions in the volume of waste generated.