Welcome to this month's edition of Sustainable Halls

Welcome back to another of your monthly Sustainable Halls articles! This November, we’ll be talking about the many sustainability successes in halls in recent years, and we’ll point out the ways in which you can help these trends continue! 

Food waste bins 

Did you know, a third of all food produced is wasted? Day-to-day kitchen activities result in an awful lot of food waste – this could be coffee grounds, eggshells, teabags, vegetable and meat scraps, and many other things too. Previously, this would have gone straight into your general waste bin and sent to a nearby incineration facility alongside the rest of your general rubbish. There, it would have been burnt and the resulting energy would be reclaimed. While this is better than disposal in landfill, there’s so much more that can be done with food waste! 

Fortunately, as of last year, every university halls kitchen has its own dedicated food waste bin, and hopefully you’ve got plenty of use out of it already! If you’re not sure how to use it, take a look at the poster below (you should have a copy of this in your kitchen too!). 

Rather than going straight to an incinerator, all food waste put into your food waste bin will be industrially composted. This produces fuel which can be burned to produce electricity with the remainder being usable as a fertiliser to grow more food, so nothing goes to waste! In the first semester of these bins being introduced, over 22 tons of food waste was redirected from incineration, reducing halls’ carbon footprints and making use of your unwanted food – a real halls sustainability win! To learn more about food waste recycling, check out the University’s sustainability blog. 

Recycling Audits in Halls

You may have seen already that our biannual recycling audits are back again this month, but do you know what we’re actually looking at? 

Last year, we ran two recycling audits – one in November, and one in March. We checked each of your four bins: general waste, mixed recycling, glass, and food waste. Halls students assessed whether the right waste was in the right bins, whether waste in the recycling bin was clean, and whether recycling posters and food waste bins were present. To sweeten the deal, every kitchen which scored highly was given some chocolate treats!

In 2023, the first audit in November showed promising results, with five out of the seven halls scoring 3 out of 5 or above– only Dover Court and Tudor Close scored under. However, there was plenty of room for improvement! 

The second audit in March showed a significant improvement over an already very good set of scores. All but one hall was able to improve their performance, with Tudor Close deserving a special mention with its 65% improvement, bringing it from last place to joint third! 

See below for each hall’s score out of 5 from 2023/24's audits:

The next audit taking place in Halls is just around the corner on the 12th November, so to maximise your score (and your chances of getting some chocolate!), make sure you brush up on how to recycle by checking out the recycling poster in your kitchen, taking a look at the Halls Life article on food recycling, or visiting the University’s recycling page. 

Want to get involved?

Want to make a difference in your university’s halls and improve sustainability? Why not become a recycling auditor? 

The next recycling audit is taking place on the 12th November, with mandatory training on the evening of the 11th November. This is a paid opportunity (£12.00/hr), and you can register your interest here. We’ll let all students know whether they have been chosen on Wednesday 6th November. 

What are Halls doing?

With over 4300 students living in UoL halls, it’s no surprise that halls make a lot of waste. Things like mattresses, sofas, and fridges need to be replaced, and when they do, there’s a big concern about where these can be sent. In previous years, waste like this would simply be sent to landfill, which is an extremely unsustainable practice. 

To fight back against this waste, halls have worked with charities and waste management companies to ensure as little waste as possible goes to landfill. In the 2023/24 year, the following items were recycled or donated: 

The impact of keeping these items out of landfill is enormous. You can sleep soundly knowing your mattress will be responsibly recycled at the end of its life!

Keep sustainability going!

We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about the progress that your hall, and others at UoL, have made so far. Remember – there’s always more to do! Sign up as a recycling auditor, join in in a Halls’ Exclusive Give it a Go, and keep an eye out for even more opportunities to improve your hall’s sustainability in the months ahead (Leave Liverpool Tidy will be coming soon – look out for donation boxes in your receptions in December!). 

Sustainable Halls Masterclass

On the 25th November, we’ll be running our first ever Sustainable Halls masterclass! Come along to the Vine Court Mezzanine for a talk from the University’s waste and recycling team, and enjoy crafts, snacks and refreshments too! More info about this event will be coming soon, so keep an eye on the event page over the coming weeks to find out more.

As always, feel free to get in touch with Ollie at LGsustainability@liverpool.ac.uk if you have any questions about anything in this article. Until next time!