Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment

Every year the University spends a significant amount of money on the procurement of IT resources which also carry a significant carbon footprint. To better manage our IT spend, maximise resource efficiency and reduce our carbon footprint (in line with the University Strategic theme of Climate Change and Net Zero) the following will be the process for IT resources and IT WEEE.

• ALL IT resources and IT WEEE will be managed by IT Services.
• IT services will review all assets, disposing of those no longer fit for purpose through our approved contractor but reusing those which still have capability to serve a member of staff.
• All requests for collections of IT resources and IT WEEE are to be made via it.services@lboro.ac.uk  A case number will be assigned and IT Services may interact for further information but in the first instance please provide basic details of what items and quantities need to be collected. Please wait until you have an appropriate quantity/amount to warrant a collection.
• Small volumes of IT resources and IT WEEE will be collected by IT Services.
• Larger volumes of IT resources and IT WEEE may be inspected at the location and if not reusable IT Services will arrange a collection via the approved contractor.
• There will not be any fixed days for these collections as internally IT Services will be managing the process around routine work and externally the contractor collections will be aligned with deliveries enabling lorries to deliver new IT and backhaul the IT WEEE.
• All requests for new IT devices should be made with IT services who will determine whether a new device is required or an existing device can be supplied for reuse.
• If a request is made for a replacement device, upon delivery of the new device IT Services will automatically collect the old device.
• All data bearing IT resources and IT WEEE must be kept secure until collected in the interest of data security.
• Please do not pass any IT resources and IT WEEE to any other WEEE contractor.

• The University has now begun the process of migrating the telephone services to Microsoft Teams. As this will result in a lot of surplus phones, we have arranged with our external electrical waste contractor, Stone Technologies Limited, to collect these phones. Stone will attempt to pass these on for reuse, but failing this will ensure the phones are recycled.

  If you have any phones of this type which you no longer need and wish to dispose of, please submit a WEEE request using the form. Please only submit a request if you have at least 25 phones; if not, please either collaborate with another department, or store your phones within your building until you have sufficient to warrant a collection request.

Our current contractor for this element is: Stone Technologies Limited.

This process will support a reduction in IT spend, maximise any residual value, ensure data protection and reduce our carbon emissions.

Every year the University spends a significant amount of money on the procurement of Domestic Appliances, mainly in the halls of residence.  The majority of these appliances are purchased from Stearn Electric Company Limited. We are in the process of formalising an agreement with Stearn’s that they will both supply and take away Domestic Appliances and as such they are now the University’s mandatory supplier for such products and the collection of associated WEEE.  The process for the disposal of associated WEEE is:

• When ordering a new domestic appliance (e.g. kettle, toaster, microwave, domestic fridge or freezer), please do this through Stearn Electric company Ltd and if you have a redundant item to dispose of, please request its collection on the PO or direct with Stearn when ordering the new item. They will collect from the same location as they deliver the new appliance to.
• Stearn’s are normally on site weekly (often 2-3 times per week) due to the high volume of items required by the halls so this should be a prompt and efficient supply and removal service for the University’s Domestic Appliance needs. There are currently no costs associated with the collection of domestic appliance WEEE when purchasing new through Stearn’s.
• If you have domestic appliance items to dispose of and are not ordering a new item these can be disposed of via the normal WEEE disposal procedure detailed below as “Residual WEEE”.

 Domestic Appliance WEEE from the Halls of Residence will be managed by Domestic Services.

Most WEEE not covered by the above will be covered by a third contractor who will be undertaking a round robin collection service similar to that previously undertaken.  This will operate as follows:

• The campus will be split into two halves, East & Central, and West & Holywell Park (as defined by the Campus Map)
• Collections for East & Central will occur on the first Friday of the month.
• Collections for West & Holywell will occur on the third Friday of the month.
• We will be working with Schools and Professional Service departments over the next few weeks to agree collection points as these need to be managed.
  • • A single building should have no more than one collection point – this may mean buildings occupied by multiple Schools or Departments will need to collaborate on a shared collection point please.
    • Where possible a School operating over several buildings in close proximity should only have one collection point.
    • A School may have more than one collection point but each month only one point should be used.
• To request a collection the WEEE collection form should be completed and submitted the Friday before the collection date.  Please see below for collection dates

• This will be acknowledged and an approximate schedule created for the collectors which will be shared with colleagues who have submitted collection requests. 
• This WEEE should not include any IT WEEE or domestic products as this is a chargeable service (to the University not the Department / School) based on volume filled in the van.
• If you would like to set up a new Residual WEEE collection point for the round robin collection, please email waste@lboro.ac.uk  with:
  • • The name of the building
    • Confirmation of which building entrance is to be used to access the WEEE, using a what3words to denote the location.
    • Contact details for your School or Department allocated WEEE co-ordinator (the person who normally deals with this). 
• Please contact waste@lboro.ac.uk  if you have any large, bulky, heavy items as these may require separate arrangements.
• This contractor will also be providing us with a large skip for use by Domestic Services who on occasions have to collect WEEE from locations across the campus and require somewhere to dispose of this.  Domestic Services are not resourced to collect WEEE from Schools and Departments (apart from E&FM divisions) other than under exceptional circumstances so please do not ask for this unless this is the case.
• Certain teams with specific needs and transport might be given access to this large skip if a clear case can be provided.  Please contact waste@lboro.ac.uk  if you believe this to be required.
• This large skip is chargeable on a per tonne basis + transport.

• Batteries:
  • • There should be collection points for domestic batteries in most buildings which Domestic Services manage.
    •  If you have your own battery collection because you generate a large amount, you can request the collection of these by Domestic Services via Archibus.
    • All of the above are transferred to a central storage box in the FM Yard. 
    • Lead acid batteries (e.g. car batteries) – there is a central storage box in the FM Yard.
    • Li/LiIo/LiPo batteries – these must be segregated and there will be a central storage drum in the FM Yard
    • All the boxes in the FM Yard are provided by Recolight with the exception of the Lead Acid Battery box, which is provided by our main waste contractor at present and all are overseen by the E&FM Electricians and access is only available by arrangement with them.

• Bulbs – there are specialist boxes in the FM Yard provided by Recolight and these are overseen by the E&FM Electricians and access is only available by arrangement with them.
• Hazardous WEEE – any WEEE contaminated with hazardous materials requires specialist disposal, please contact waste@lboro.ac.uk for further support.
• If you cannot see your WEEE item in any of the options mentioned in the various solutions detailed please do not hesitate to contact us via waste@lboro.ac.uk 

This is a summary of the changes we are making to our approach, but if there any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via waste@lboro.ac.uk