Circular Economy
Environment Manager Andrew Stahly is spearheading a legacy furniture project, which includes refurbishing exam desks.
Around 500 of these desks are stored at Teases Mill near Ceres in between use at exam locations around the University since the 1970s. Fifty years of use means they are beginning to show their age but, knowing the carbon cost of throwing them out and buying replacements, Andy established a new partnership between the University and Recycle Scotland.
Andrew said: “The University is moving from a linear to circular waste management system, which means we are reducing what we buy, reusing what we have and recycling what we no longer use. Working with Recycle Scotland is allowing us to put this into practice by remanufacturing products that would otherwise be disposed.”
In 2022, Recycle Scotland worked with businesses across Scotland to save 255,000kg of furniture from landfill, reusing or recycling over 97% of furniture into component parts.
The Universities of St Andrews and Dundee are leading the way, but other institutions are taking note after Andy presented the work at a recent conference organised by the Environment Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC).