Consumer waste

All buildings at the UiB have containers for paper located in or close to the building.

Bergen municipality has its own boxes for paper that will be sent for recycling. All offices have received a box for recyclable paper, and if you do not have one you should contact the operations manager by e-mail. Information on use is printed on the box.

The following can be placed in boxes for recyclable paper:

• writing paper
• paper for photocopiers and printers
• data lists
• envelopes without windows
• newspapers
• magazines
• brochures etc.

The recycling box is not emptied by the cleaning staff. Individual users themselves are responsible for emptying this paper waste.

Destruction

Documents that are to be destroyed are the responsibility of the user and must not be placed in the box for recyclable paper.

Recycling collection point

All buildings at the UiB have containers for recyclable paper located in or close to the building.

Everything made of cardboard must be placed in this recycling arrangement (boxes, cartons, partitions, inserts, etc.) All cartons and boxes should be flat-packed and/or cut down. In some buildings, the cleaning staff will take care of cardboard; if not, users themselves must take care of the waste. Cartons must be placed in containers with a blue lid, marked “Papp” (“Cardboard”).Mixing cardboard and paper is bad economics!

NB: Only glass used for food and drink should be sorted in the “Glass and Metal” container.

Empty medicine bottles and chemical bottles made of glass must be disposed of as:

• Problematic waste

See the procedures for glass. Metal used for food and drink should be disposed of by the user in the glass containers.

Deployed containers: see under “Handling Glass”.

Glass and metal: Yes, please – both.

Contaminated metal packaging that it is not possible to clean – see:

• Problematic waste
• Hazardous waste

Electrical and electronic (EE) waste is regulated by the “Regulations relating to the recycling and processing of waste (the Waste Regulations), Chapter 1. Discarded electrical and electronic products.” This type of waste may contain several types of hazardous waste, which are sorted at the place of reception. EE waste consists of various types of waste:

• Fluorescent tubes. All lengths and thicknesses of straight fluorescent tubes
• Other light sources. Economy bulbs, incandescent lamps, light bulbs, vapour lamps, fluorescent tubes that are not straight (e.g. “kringles”), ultraviolet and infrared lamps, etc.
• Cables and wires. All types of cables and wires
• Small units. Hand tools, PC equipment, small instruments, fittings, lamps, coffee makers, kettles, electric radiators, etc.
• Larger units. Pumps, tool machinery, large instruments, electrical motors, machine sets, hot water containers, industrial machines, etc.

The UiB has set up its own arrangements for the return of fluorescent tubes and other light sources. See under “Fluorescent tubes”.

The UiB has entered into an agreement for the collection and delivery of small units, with wire netting cages deployed in a number of buildings for collection. Individual units are responsible for making use of the recycling arrangements.

When large units or large quantities of EE waste are to be delivered, a container must be provided. Whenever an EE product is purchased or imported, an environmental charge has already been paid that will cover the processing of the waste, though shipment and rental of the container must still be paid. It is extremely important to ensure that the container contains only EE waste and that this has not been mixed with other waste so that the container needs to be handled as unsorted waste. The cost of unsorted waste is very much higher.

The unit must contact the operations manager, who will arrange each collection with the collector. All costs will be charged to the unit.

• Regulations relating to the recycling and processing of waste (the Waste Regulations), Chapter 1. Discarded electrical and electronic products (NO)

Old/discarded mobile phones can be handed in at the enquiry office at the IT Department.

The IT Division has an agreement with EMC – the Norwegian National Recycling Centre for Mobile Phones. They collect the phones free of charge and ensure that the mobile phones are wiped in a secure manner. Compensation is paid for each mobile phone returned, which is currently donated to the Red Cross.Toner cartridges

Toner cartridges from Hewlett-Packard (HP) printers

HP offers a free return arrangement for used and unused toner cartridges for HP printers. These are sent for recycling. However, not all HP cartridges can be recycled. List of those that cannot be recycled (NO) .

Use the HP website to order return boxes and arrange freight (NO). It is also possible to send in individual cartridges. This is done by printing out a return label for individual toner cartridges from the same website.The UiBs organisation no. is 874789542

Toner cartridges from Ricoh

Empty toner cartridges from Ricoh machines can be returned with service personnel when they visit.

They can also be disposed of as residual waste.

There are separate return arrangements for fluorescent tubes, economy bulbs and light bulbs. Fluorescent tubes and economy bulbs contain mercury vapour (Hg vapour) and tubes must therefore be emptied of vapour so that they do not harm the environment. Light bulbs contain elemental lead (Pb), which must be handled in a safe manner.

The operating staff at the Estate and Facilities Division manage change of fluorescent tubes and most economy bulbs. If you have any light bulbs or economy bulbs, contact the operations management via e-mail for clarification of delivery.

UiB have a special arrangment for small batteries. These are to be placed in boxes that are sent to waste disposal when they are full. The image below shows what these boxes look like.

Photo:

EIA