ANU Green has installed a new resource recovery and waste pilot program in the Marie Reay Teaching Centre with five distinct bins to divert more recycling material from landfill. Alongside the new bins are new signage to help users can feel confident about where to put their waste.

ANU is committed to reducing the amount of waste that is sent to landfill. In 2024, 960 tonnes of landfill waste was collected from ANU campus. This compared to 144 tonnes of mixed recycling and 136.5 tonnes of paper and cardboard. When items that cannot be recycled are misplaced into recycling bins, it can cause contamination at the processing plant. If the contamination rate hits the threshold – which is as low as 5% - an entire ‘batch’ of waste is sent to landfill.

Each year, ANU hosts waste audits with its waste management company. In 2024, four buildings were targeted, and waste from a 24-hour period was sorted and waste composition analysed. The results of the bin audits found that:

• 40.8% of the contents of the landfill bins could have been diverted - 23% was food waste, 11.3%% was mixed recycling and 7% was paper and cardboard.
• 44.2% of the contents of the mixed recycling bin was either waste that should have gone to landfill (22.6%) or could be disposed in a specialised recycling bin - 14.6% was 10 cent refundable containers and 15.4% was paper and cardboard.

Having more clearly differentiated resource recovery and waste streams can make sorting recyclable material from waste easier and reduce our environmental impact. To increase their effectiveness, educational programs and clear signage are required to help users and cleaning staff feel confident about what waste goes in which bin.

The new setup in Marie Reay Teaching Centre is a trial to determine how effective this pilot is for diverting recyclable resources from landfill at ANU. On each level of the building there are five-bin Be Bin Smart walls. We have replaced the yellow bin with a purple bin for 10 cent recycling containers and a white bin for other recycling. We have added a maroon bin for food waste and a blue bin for paper and cardboard, and a red bin for landfill remains.

Be bin smart when you are visiting the Marie Reay Teaching Centre. By participating in this pilot and spreading the word you are helping to create a more sustainable campus and community.

Note: The Marie Reay Teaching Centre Be Bin Smart walls are part of a pilot project led by Campus Environment to support sustainable action across ANU. Results will be evaluated and learning shared with the ANU community to inform future action.  

Read more about our circular economy, waste and resource recovery projects.