Tag: reduce waste

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Winning at Waste

January 9, 2024

As we look back on December, it’s often a month of excess and overconsumption. It’s the month which creates a mountain of waste and recycling for us to drown in until the first bin collection after the festive holidays. Many of us will have sifted through the sacks of wrapping paper, sorted through plastic packaging and wrestled with a record number of cardboard boxes – it’s a tedious task and one which gets little recognition!

This is not the case on campus. Your noble waste and recycling efforts have not gone unnoticed. In fact, we can look back on 2023 and celebrate some waste related wins. Dylan Jones, Waste and Recycling Officer at FX Plus, has diligently been calculating what we throw away and has reported increases in recycling and a reduction in overall waste generated on Penryn campus when compared with last year’s figures.

Here are some 2022/2023 statistics (when compared with 2021/2022):

  • Food waste recycling has increased by 38%
  • All recycling has increased by 5.3%
  • All general waste generated on Penryn campus has reduced by 7%
  • Over 10,000 tetra pak cartons have been recycled since last January (2023), and we now average around 1,000 tetra pak cartons recycled each month!

Waste and recycling are ongoing challenges, but the above statistics are an encouraging indication that our campus community is moving in the right direction, an endeavour that which takes us closer towards our sustainability goals and reduces our negative impacts on the environment. Well done, you! Keep up the good work.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Food recycling success

November 24, 2022

A trial project to recycle food waste in Penryn student residences has been so successful it’s being rolled out across our campuses.

The scheme began in May (2022), when the FX Plus Facilities team teamed up with Cornwall Waste Solutions to encourage students to separate food waste in some of the some Glasney Village blocks, at Penryn Campus.

It was later expanded to more student residences, including Packsaddle, and now new food waste bins have been installed just outside AMATA Cafe, in the bin compound near the AIR building and at Falmouth Campus. Even more locations will be added soon.

This has already led to a big increase in food waste being sent to an anaerobic digestion plant, where it can be turned into electricity, fuel and fertiliser. In September/October 2021, 1.5 tonnes of food waste was to anaerobic digestion facilities – this was from the kitchens of the main campus catering outlets at Falmouth and Penryn. This year, in the same period and with the addition of the new food waste bins, 2.5 tonnes has been sent.

Casey Thomas, Head of Facilities Management, said: “Thanks to the innovation of the Facilities team, this project is already making a significant contribution to supporting Falmouth and Exeter universities in their aims to make our campuses more sustainable.”

If you have any questions or suggestions, please email recycling@fxplus.ac.uk for more information.

For tips about how to reduce your own food waste, see https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Food Waste Separation Trial

May 17, 2022

We’ve launched a pilot project to reduce more waste on our campuses by separating food waste in our halls of residence.

The Facilities team has teamed up with Cornwall Waste Solutions for this trial, which is underway in Glasney View blocks L and M, at Penryn Campus.

It is estimated that about a third of our household waste is food and we are aiming to divert this from general waste to anaerobic digestion facilities, where it can be turned into electricity, fuel and fertiliser.

Casey Thomas, Falmouth Exeter Plus Head of Facilities Management, said: “This is a key priority for the waste management team and supports both Falmouth and Exeter universities in their declarations of climate emergency and the plans to make our campuses more sustainable.”

There are 12 flats with about 80 student residents involved, with food caddies in each kitchen and waste bins close to the blocks. These larger bins are collected by a specially equipped truck that lifts, empties and then sprays the bins clean.

If successful, this scheme will be rolled out to other student residences at Penryn Campus.

Our main campus catering outlets at Falmouth and Penryn already have food waste collection in place.

For tips about how to reduce your own food waste, see https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/ .

Bins being emptied into waste disposal truck
Waste Collection Caddy

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Face covering recycling

May 6, 2022

If you have single-use face masks lying around then please feel free to drop them into the recycling bin in the Exchange foyer, Penryn Campus, or the Fox Café, Falmouth Campus. From here they will be combined with other ‘hard to recycle’ plastic items and sent to ReFactory, a company which will turn them into ‘stormboards’ that are then used for shopfitting, children’s furniture and new recycling bins.

Table made from recycled material
Colour coded recycle bins

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Self serve refill launch

February 15, 2022

The Penryn Campus Shop has launched a new Bring Your Own (BYO), self-service refill section. This will help to reduce unnecessary packaging and waste.

The new refill range includes cereals and breakfast food; pasta; rice and snacks.

Customers can bring along their own refill container, weigh it, fill it up with their desired item, reweigh and pay.

To mark this launch, the Shop team is giving away free, reusable #oureffect food containers to the first 50 customers.

The new refill range includes:

  • Muesli
  • Porridge Quaker Oats
  • Quinoa
  • Banana Chips
  • Chickpeas
  • Couscous
  • Pumpkin Seeds
  • Basmati Rice
  • Penne Pasta
  • Fusilli pasta
  • Popcorn Kernels
  • Oriental Rice Crackers

For more information about Penryn Campus Shop, including opening times, please see our website.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Community furniture donations

February 3, 2022

Communities and organisations have been benefiting from furniture donations from our campuses as part of our commitment to sustainability.

The working styles of many people at Falmouth and Penryn campuses changed during COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Furniture was taken out of rooms to allow for more space and social distancing.  As restrictions lift and people return to the campuses to work, many prefer the less cluttered office style.

Rather than throw away unwanted but good quality furniture, our Caretaking team has been busy finding new homes for it with community organisations and schools.

Lynn Storey, Falmouth Exeter Plus Facilities Operations Manager, said: “With our commitment to avoid disposal of any furniture that still has life left in it, we have been reaching out to local communities to see if we can find new homes for our furniture.

“Over the last few months the Penryn caretaking team has donated items to Cornwall Business School at their new space on Kernick Industrial Estate and the Dracaena Centre and Princess Pavilion in Falmouth. The Falmouth Caretaking team has also been busy supporting local schools and community projects, recently delivering sofas, seating and tables to Constantine Primary School and Camborne Contemporary Crafts Hub.”

Oliver Milliner, Head of Sustainability, added: “We are committed to making our campuses more sustainable via a variety of initiatives and this is a perfect example of repurposing and reusing. With thought and care, our Caretaking team has found a great way of supporting local communities while reducing waste.”

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.