Student Waste

Keep Britain Tidy works with five local authorities to tackle drivers behind waste management issues at private-rented student properties 

Overview & Objective 

With over half a million students living in private-rented accommodation in the UK, local authorities face ongoing issues regarding waste management among student populations. Issues within large student areas include low recycling rates, high contamination of recycling, and poor presentation of waste, including fly-tipping and excess waste. The transient nature of student populations make these issues particularly challenging to address.

This research, carried out in March and April 2022, aimed to identify student waste management behaviours throughout the year, the contextual and behavioural drivers influencing these, and recommendations for encouraging better waste management behaviours among these specific student populations.

Approach

Working with five local authority partners (Bath and North East Somerset Council, Brighton and Hove City Council, Cheshire West and Chester Council, Liverpool City Council and Manchester City Council), the research used three stages of methodology.

First, six students living in each of the five partnering local authority areas were recruited to participate in a series of online ethnographic research tasks, such as submitting written accounts, photographs and video content.

Secondly, two participants from each of the five areas were then invited to take part in one of two online co-design workshop sessions, aiming to take participants through a series of activities to co-design solutions for encouraging better waste management.

Finally, a nationally representative survey of students living in private rented accommodation was carried out online, via YouGov, achieving a total sample size of 259. The survey aimed to quantify some of the insights gathered in the qualitative phases of the research.

Outcome 

Current waste management behaviours
Almost half of students (47%) say their household often has extra rubbish and/or recycling that doesn’t fit in their bins or boxes for collection. A third of students in private-rented accommodation also say they have taken items to a charity shop in the past 12 months.

Drivers of waste issues
Drivers of waste issues at these properties include: rubbish left behind from previous tenants, excess packaging waste from moving in and out of the property, lack of awareness of correct disposal, lack of waste information and feedback, and a lack of indoor and outdoor recycling bins. 

Sources of waste information
Nearly a fifth of students (18%) reported not receiving or accessing information about what to do with their waste. 29% of students accessed information from their local council website, and 24% from their landlord. 

Recommendations 

• As a result of the research, Keep Britain Tidy has made, amongst others, the following recommendations to our local authority partners: -Student specific communications should be produced, and reach students where they are, rather than relying on students to seek this information out.
• Students expect to receive waste information from their landlords. HMO licensing schemes should be reviewed, and should include conditions which hold landlords and letting agents accountable for encouraging correct waste management at their properties. 
• Bins or containers provided inside the properties for separating general waste and recycling, matched to the separate council collection streams, are likely to significantly improve recycling rates.