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Bristol students encouraged to recycle for charity

Press release issued: 25 November 2011

A new scheme launched by the University of Bristol is encouraging students to reuse and recycle in a bid to tackle the amount of waste that students throw away at the end of term.

The scheme, which has been introduced with the help of local charity St Peter’s Hospice,  means that every halls of residence has received a ‘donation station’ from the hospice to collect unwanted clothes, shoes, books and CDs which will then be turned into cash for the charity.

Earlier this year students and staff at the university converted three tonnes of unwanted items into money through the Big Give campaign. Following the success of this initiative it is estimated that over 2,000 reusable items will be collected for the charity.

Sian Rees from St Peter’s Hospice said: “The amount of unwanted items thrown out of student residences in the city on a yearly basis is unbelievable. Items that are discarded by students, who no longer want or need them, actually are very valuable to us as we can sell them on in one of our 47 shops around Bristol or on eBay.

“At the end of every term many students have a huge clear out of things that they may not want to cart back home or leave in their halls and we can find some real gems amongst the ‘rubbish’.

“Money raised from these items is vital and goes towards caring for local adults with incurable illnesses. The University of Bristol has been fantastic in setting up this scheme with us and we hope it is really successful.”

St Peter’s Hospice is also working closely with Bristol City Council and the University of the West of England to promote the same message to students living in private accommodation in the city.

Rose Rooney, Sustainability Manager at the University of Bristol, said: “Recycling and reuse at the University of Bristol halls of residences and accommodation sites averaged 33 per cent in 2010/2011 and this is set to increase with the introduction of food waste and plastics recycling to all halls.

“Our focus now is to prevent waste occurring and ensure reuse is the first option where possible. This new scheme with St Peter’s Hospice will go a long way to help us meet our waste reduction targets at the University.”

Services at St Peter’s Hospice are provided free of charge but the NHS contribute just 23 per cent of the £6million needed to run the hospice yearly.

Last year the hospice cared for 2,000 patients in the region and supported over 6,000 family members including children.

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