SDU sorts waste
Technical Services is working flat out to make waste sorting more visible at SDU on a daily basis. This it is not as simple as it sounds however, but through a joint effort we are heading in the right direction.
In November, staff members and students voted on the proposals from the SDG Forum that SDU should address first. The proposal that received the most votes was “From waste to resources”, which is aimed at strengthening the circular economy at the university.
Pia Hjort, who is head of section at Service and Logistics, welcomes the proposal. She says that the process is already well under way - and that waste sorting is nothing new. It is already sorted. It simply takes place “behind the scenes”.
But members of staff and students will be more involved from now on. Sorting and the subsequent management of waste must be more visible to them.
How far will you go?
More and more people have become accustomed to sorting waste at home, and these good habits should be continued as a natural part of their student and working life at SDU.
-Instead of having lots small litter bins in the offices, we hope to be able to establish waste collection points where staff and students can contribute to sorting their own waste. The Faculty of Science and Faculty of Engineering have already offered their services as front-runners together with Technical Services, says Pia Hjort.
Many links in the chain following your sorting of waste
As mentioned, SDU already sorts its own waste - and on a large scale.
-Our sorting is divided into 32 fractions, which we organise so that the environmental and waste company Marius Pedersen A/S and other collaboration partners can safely transport the refuse for the appropriate treatment of waste.
The majority people have no idea what happens to the waste after sorting and how it is managed in a sustainable way in the subsequent links in the chain. We need to be better at informing people about this, she says.
Joint process
When new ideas for waste sorting are put forward, it is important that they can function all the way through the chain from discarding to sorting and recycling.
-The best way for us to live up to the SDGs in our daily lives is by aligning ourselves very closely to what is proposed by the municipalities where we are present in order that we introduce similar waste sorting, says Jan Jeppesen from Technical Services.
-This means that together with transport and recipient companies, as well as other external collaboration partners, we can find out the best way to sort and treat the waste, he says.
Facts: The projects
This Autumn SDU held a Sustainable Development Goals Forum where staff and students generated ideas on how the university can work with sustainability. Staff members and students voted on the proposals in November and it was decided that work should continue on the three proposals that received the most votes.
The three proposals are “From waste to resources”, “SDU gets moving” and “Transport that is sustainable”. This article was derived from “From waste to resources”.
Facts: Sorting waste
The idea is to divide the new waste collection points at Odense Campus into the same four factions that the citizens of Odense should sort their waste into:
- Bio-waste (for biogas
- Cardboard and paper
- Glass, metal and iron
- Residual waste (for incineration)