100% Zero Landfill on Main Campus

The University of Manchester are 100% ‘Zero Landfill’ on Main Campus. Our general, clinical, and offensive waste is now fully diverted from landfill. Instead of landfill, our non-recyclable general waste now goes through a process known as Energy from Waste (EfW), a waste management method that converts non-recyclables into electricity and heat. Once waste is collected on campus, it is transported to a waste transfer station nearby, where it is ‘bulked up’ before being sent to an EfW facility. At the EfW facility, it is burned under safe and controlled conditions. The process of burning the waste generates heat, which is then used to power steam turbines and produce electricity, ensuring that every by-product (which includes ash and metals) is recovered and reused.