YORK College has begun a project to cut the waste produced across all its sites to zero.

Under a new three-year contract, North Yorkshire waste management organisation Yorwaste will collect all the college’s waste, intending to increase recycling and ultimately ensure no waste is sent to landfill.

The new contract involves weekly collections of food waste, along with dry mixed recycling such as paper, cardboard, plastic and glass, which are placed in clearly marked waste containers across the college’s main campus on Sim Balk Lane and in its construction centres in Osbaldwick.

Food waste is taken to an anaerobic digestion plant locally, and will eventually be converted into renewable energy. Any remaining waste will be put through Yorwaste’s commercial and industrial recycling facility at Harewood Whin, where it will be turned into a solid recovered fuel that can be used as an energy source.

Geoff Wroe, the college’s estates facilities manager, said: “The college is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and being a sustainable organisation.”