Waste sorting Q&A
You will find the waste room/waste area with grey/red containers for metal, cardboard, flamingo, glass, hazardous office waste etc. close to your building.
Some waste rooms are found inside, e.g. in Rendsburggade 14 and others are outside the building, e.g. Kroghstræde 3.
If you are unsure where to find the waste area, find a guide here, look it up in the "AAU Maps" app, or ask the nearest Facility Supporter.
After waste sorting was implemented at AAU in 2020, we sent approx. 500 tons of waste for recycling per year. The residual waste is not included in the 500 tonnes, as this category is not recycled.
500 tonnes is a lot and corresponds to approx. 4.5 blue whales, if you compare.
In Campus Service, we continuously work to develop waste management from start to finish. That is why we have several projects in the pipeline - both in terms of sorting behavior and also in relation to recycling AAU waste, so that it creates the greatest value for the environment.
AAU has made a waste sorting system available to all students, staff and guests. But the sorting itself is up to the individual.
AAU has made a waste sorting system available to all students, staff and guests. But the sorting itself is up to the individual.
We encourage you to sort as much as possible - but at the same time, it is also perfectly OK if you throw your post-it in the residual waste when you are now standing by the triple bin and have to throw out the apple core.
Due to requirements from the fire authorities, the paper category must not be placed in the aisles together with the triple bins.
That is why they are in printer rooms and in selected kitchenettes, where it is natural to dispose of paper, since paper is produced in the printer rooms.
This also ensures a cleaner paper sorting.
At home, the municipality collects all types of waste categories. But it is not like that for companies.
At AAU we have several different waste collectors: the municipality collects the residual waste, while a private provider collects all the sorted waste categories.
The gray containers are a temporary solution until ground tanks are established. The process of establishing ground tanks is underway and awaits case processing by Aalborg municipality.
What about the food scraps in the plastic?
Please rinse and clean your packaging as much as you can before sorting - this applies to both metal and plastic. However, the sorting can handle a little residual oil in the salad tray or a little tomato sauce after the mackerel in the metal can.
What about bottle deposit return?
A lot of people drink from bottles, cans or glasses - and much of the packaging comes with a deposit.
As a starting point, it is best to take your deposit home with you.
If you wish to throw away the deposit, it must be sorted in the deposit containers located in seminar rooms, auditoriums, internal waste rooms and selected common areas.
The contents of deposit containers are transferred to the cleaning company as part of their contract with AAU.
Waht about paper?
Clean paper is sorted at the printer room and in selected kitchenettes.
But if you have spilled your café latte in addition to your papers, then they must go in the residual waste.
NOTE: Paper is printer paper, not paper towels or napkins.
Where should you sort your pizza tray?
Although you might be tempted to throw the pizza tray in the cardboard container, it should go in the residual waste container in your nearest waste room.
There is often cooking oil and other residues in the pizza tray, and therefore it can no longer be sorted as pure cardboard.
NOTE: The pizza tray takes up too much space in the indoor triple bins in the hallways, so it must go in the black residual waste container.