City of York Council‘‘s Waste Collection team and the University of York have joined forces to reduce waste and encourage recycling.

Under the terms of a new £1m contract, the University will be charged for the amount of waste it produces and will receive cash back for its recyclable rubbish. If successful, the principles of the scheme could be rolled out to other business clients across the city.

Geoff Derham, the Council‘‘s waste manager, explained: "We used to charge the University for the number of bins we collected, whether they were full or not. Both the Council and the University are keen to reduce the amount of waste that York sends to landfill, in line with the targets set by the Government. By encouraging the University staff to think before they put everyday items in the bin, we hope to reduce waste and reward recycling."

The Council‘‘s refuse teams, equipped with the latest waste collection lorries, will weigh each bin before recycling or disposal of its contents. The detailed results will enable the University to encourage departments to reduce their rubbish and recycle more of their waste. As an added incentive, the University will receive £5 from the council‘‘s waste contractor, Yorwaste, for every tonne of waste it recycles. The funding will be used to support University environmental projects.

Daily waste collections will serve the 3,000 staff and 10,700 students at the University. Additional recycling containers will also be provided by Yorwaste, making it easier and quicker to recycle