Lever arch file reuse is a great example of a waste minimisation initiative. We have been doing this activity for the last year or so on campus.

As we transfer and store more and more data into electronic format, lever arch files are slowly becoming more redundant in office life.

Every year we get 5000 students who need lever arch files for their course work. Times are hard, lever arch files are expensive (about £3-4 P), so as you can imagine there is a definitive opportunity to reduce waste in this scenario.

This is how we collect lever arch files

We distribute lever arch files from cages in a spare garage on campus. We did try it inside building foyers but it gets a bit messy, as people generally don’t put files back neatly.

Follow the trail….

Happy students say “We just saved £ 15!”

Neil Addison and Steven Hogg, from procurement were passing when I was taking photos. They were ecstatic that we were putting waste to good use and reducing waste spend.

Incidentally a full lever arch file costs about 4p to dispose of in general waste on our current waste contract- last week we had a garage full, which would have cost about £25 to dispose of..now it is empty. So file reuse saves the University money as well as students.

Kay has just started with us and will be assisting the 80 strong Environmental Co-ordinator (EC) network with their environmental objectives.

The role of EC is integral to reducing University environmental impacts, contributing to the effective delivery of environmental objectives. They communicate environmental policy and provide a link between operational sustainability, schools and services, share good practice and encourage and motivate other staff.

ECs meet quarterly and we have a really strong group however; ECs feel they did not have enough support and many ECs comment that a building user groups (Eco teams) for ECs would be helpful.

For these reasons, the Sustainability Team have developed the EC Support Officer (ECSO) role.

Kay will be with us temporarily for 6 months and will be helping all of the ECs as well as pushing forward the EC Strategy.

Kay has already hit the floor running and is well embedded into the team and well on with the workload.

She came in this morning and immediately set off the medical school to help with preparations for Switch Off 2010.

Kay will be a great addition to our team and MWH‘s loss is our gain.

if you are an EC you can book Kay’s time here.