College and University Waste and Recycling

Moving in or out?

Below are details of where to take unwanted items:

Living in Halls?

Recycling services will vary depending on your college or hall.  Materials generally recycled at college domestic sites include glass, tins, and paper.  For useful information relating to recycling and other environmental issues at your University, see the following sites:

University of Oxford

Contact your domestic bursar or environmental representative to find out what recycling facilities are available at your college.

• Colleges listings
• Environment and Ethics Committee
• Energy and water conservation

Oxford Brookes University

Contact your RA or hall representative to find out what recycling facilities are available at your hall.

• Recycling information
• Environmental Information Exchange

Living in a student house?

Your collection days will depend on where you live.  Households are classed as either orange or purple.

To find out your collection day and calendar please visit our bin collection page.

Need a reminder?

To get free text or email reminders, text or email your collection day to:

You will get a reminder of what box or bin to put out the night before your collection.

To stop the text reminder service, simply text 'STOP' to 07786 200848 for Blue Calendars or text 'STOP' to 07786 200424 for Red Calendars.

To stop the email reminder service, simply email 'STOP' to blue@oxford.gov.uk for Blue Calendars or email 'STOP' to red@oxford.gov.uk for Red Calendars.

What do I put in which bin/box?

Your wheelie bin is for landfill waste that can't be recycled. Your green box is for newspaper and glass, your blue box is for plastic bottles, tins, cans, cardboard and other paper. For more information go to our What goes in each bin page.

Need more boxes?

Each house should have a green wheelie bin, a blue box, a green box and a garden waste bag. You can get an extra blue and green box for free. If you have a large student house and need bigger bins then please contact us.

How we are helping students recycle

We have been working to strengthen our link with Oxford's universities, colleges and student groups to encourage students to play a leading role in our recycling campaign. 

We have a Student Liaison Officer for Recycling, whose role is to improve communication between us and the universities, to help facilitate and promote recycling at the colleges, and with students. 

Recent activities include:

• Piloting Oxford's commingled recycling scheme at Worcester College (University of Oxford) and Oxford Brookes Morrell Hall and Clive Booth Hall.
• Attending fresher fairs at the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes to provide students with information about recycling.
• Advertising in magazines targeted towards students
• Visiting colleges to educate students and housekeeping staff about recycling.
• Working with college bursars, student environmental representatives, and university environmental groups to improve internal and external collection of recycling, and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Targeting students living in houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs) through a door knocking and survey campaign. 

Page last reviewed 6 Nov 2008