This is the result of lengthy collaboration between Compass, waste contractor Select Environmental and the Facilities Management and Environmental Sustainability teams within Estates Services.
These cups are a major source of waste - some 7 million cups of them are thrown away each year in the UK alone - and reducing or even eliminating this would be a big step forward in cutting the University's environmental impact. But for this to happen, the bins need to be used properly - just one wrong item contaminating a recycling bin can mean all its contents must be sent to landfill.
After finishing their drink, customers need to pour any remaining liquid into the liquid receptacle provided, put any cardboard sleeves, straws or lids in the relevant section and then drop the cup itself down the tube that is provided for the purpose. The cups will then be taken away to be checked for contamination, compacted into bales of around 27,000 cups and sent off to a paper mill in Cheshire, where the paper and plastic in the cups will be separated and reprocessed.
Please remember to follow the procedure above; if it is ignored, whole batches of cups may not be able to be recycled.
