Waste management
From 2017, The HZ Green Office has begun implementing a waste separation management system on the APV student housing in Vlissingen. The initiative was part of the 4th year course Sustainable Business. The initiative was followed up by another group of students, and it was eventually adopted by the HZ Green Office. The initiative is supported by the municipality of Vlissingen; the waste separation at the student campus helps the municipality to reach their objective to reduce the amount of waste produced from 400kg per person to 100 kilograms per person, as is demanded by European Legislation.
Waste Separation at the HZ campus in Vlissingen
The HZ Green Office created a four-way trash separation system that focuses on separating four different waste streams: Paper Cups, Paper, General Waste, and Organic Waste. The paper cups waste stream will no longer be recycled. As of March 1st, 2021, plastic will be recycled. Plastic waste counts for more than half of the HZ student body and staff's waste.
Waste Separation at the APV student housing in Vlissingen
In May 2020, guiding posters were placed above the bins at the APV Campus to help students with waste separation by informing them about what is allowed to put in each type of bin. With the help of the Municipality of Vlissingen, the posters are re-designed and improved by using the same icons and color-coding for the specific types of waste bins as what can be seen around the Netherlands. This kind of consistency helps to avoid confusion.
The linkage between the waste management activities and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will transform our world:
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities- Make cities and human settlements safe, resilient, and sustainable.
15. Life on Land -Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
17. Partnerships to achieve the Goals- Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.
Current projects
- Waste separation at the student accommodation locations APV and Campus Vlissingen
- In collaboration with the municipality of Vlissingen
Active role in informing the students of how to separate their waste through posters and organizing workshops
We are looking for student ambassadors that would like to raise awareness about the importance of waste separation at the student campuses, who would like to give these workshops, or perhaps have an idea of their own on how to better inform the students on the waste separation procedures.
- Waste separation HZ Middelburg
- A four-way trash separation system has been installed at HZ Het Groene Woud in Middelburg. However, the communication of instructions has not been that clear. In addition, changes will be implemented in February; plastic won't be separated any longer. Instead, coffee cups and the hand towels will go in a sperate bin. We are going to support the school in informing students and staff about what kind of trash needs to go in which trash can.
- How are we going to do this?
- The HZ Green Office will spread awareness of the importance of correct waste separation at HZ Het Groene Woud in Middelburg and in time also in Vlissingen.
- Cooking oil collection at student accommodation locations
- We are looking at how to stimulate the collection of cooking oil and ways of how to collect and dispose of it
- 2 barrels currently at APV and Campus Vlissingen
- Pen Collection
- We all use writing utensils on almost a daily basis. These are used and then thrown away, each of these utensils being made of hard-to-recycle material. However, a company called TerraCycle has taken the incentive to collect and recycle these utensils. TerraCycle is an innovative recycling company found around the world. They are currently a global leader in recycling, mainly hard-to-recycle waste. For each country, there is a variety of programs that one can participate in. In the Netherlands, they are partnered with BIC to collect pens. https://www.terracycle.com/nl-NL
- How does it work?
- With a box, one can start collecting pens and then ship it to TerraCycle. If the box weighs more than 20kg, every writing utensil earns a TerraCycle Point that is equal to €0.01. For this program, one can collect any ballpoint pen, fountain pen, highlighters, markers, and mechanical pencils are all accepted, regardless of brand or material, both plastic, and metal. The HZ Green Office has been doing said pen collecting for a couple of years now, but this year we intend on creating more awareness about it and expanding to the location in Middelburg.
- How can you help? Have any old pens you’d like to get rid of? Drop them off in Vlissingen at the HZ Green Office or by the Cafe
- Return of the good old mug
- We want to stimulate the use of mugs and reusable bottles within the HZ University.
Want to help us with these projects? Or do you have a new idea on the topic of waste management?
Send us an email at greenoffice@hz.nl or come visit us at the HZ Green Office!