ACU recycles about 50% of its waste and sends the remainder to landfill. The heaviest environmental impacts arise from the decomposition of waste that ACU sends to landfill.

ACU’s recyclable waste, such as paper, cardboard, electronics and packaging, is sent to recycling facilities for sorting and on-selling to manufacturers in Australia and abroad. Those manufacturers will turn the recycled material into new products.

Throughout 2022, ACU will introduce food waste collection service at its campuses. The university’s food waste will be turned into compost for use on farms and in public parks and gardens. This will help to reduce the climate change impacts of ACU’s waste.

ACU’s waste management approach is to prioritise the reduction of waste generation. This approach helped ACU to reduce its waste generation to less than 30 tonnes per month in 2021, a 50% cut to waste generation in 2018.

See What you can do to improve recycling rates at ACU