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.
The four-way trash separation system
The four-way trash separation system initiative is interconnected to the SDG 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities, since HZ aims to create a sustainable and resilient environment. Sustainable waste management systems help keep the cities clean, and it creates a healthy environment for people to live in.
Frying oil waste separation
At the APV student housing, the HZ Green Office has taken the initiative to collect frying oil. It is important to note that cooking oil needs to be correctly sealed in containers before disposal. Recycling cooking oil helps to mitigate climate change. We can minimize our carbon footprint through the use of cooking oil as a renewable energy source. Cooking oil is used as a renewable alternative fuel, such as biodiesel. Properly disposing cooking oil can mitigate ecological disasters such as the damaging of city sewer pipes which results in the seepage of dangerous bacteria like E.coli into water lines and soil. The seepage pollutes groundwater and damages nearby crops, rivers, and wildlife 1 (Food Grease Trappers admin, 29 januari 2021).
Pen Collection
The pen collection initiative focuses on the recycling of writing utensils. The initiative is a collaboration with the company Terracycle, an innovative recycling company that has partnered with BIC to collect and recycle these utensils. The initiative is correlated to SDG 17. Partnership for the goals and SDG 15. Life on land ,since it focuses on collaborating with different organizations to dispose of waste products properly. To learn more about Terracycle visit their website https://www.terracycle.com/nl-NL.
How does it work?
- Collect your writing utensils and place them in a box. If the box weighs more than 20kg, each writing utensil earns a TerraCycle Point that is equal to €0.01. For this initiative, all ballpoint pens, fountain pens, highlighters, markers, and mechanical pencils are accepted, regardless of their brand or material, both plastic, and metal. The HZ Green Office has been collecting writing utensils for a couple of years now, but this year we intend on creating more awareness on the initiative and expanding the initiative 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
We are currently looking for student ambassadors that would like to raise awareness about the importance of waste separation at the HZ campus in Vlissingen and APV student housing in Vlissingen. Please free to contact us if you are interested of just want to share your ideas on how the waste separation implementations can be improved. Student ambassadors can link their activities to HZ personality credits.
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! You can also contact the Project Manager of the Four-way trash separation initiative in Vlissingen, Abigail Gongora at r0761471@student.thomasmore.be.