What Is Lincoln Recycles?

Lincoln Recycles is a student-run initiative to encourage students at Lincoln College, Oxford to recycle more within college accommodation, thereby reducing the college’s environmental footprint. The basic concept is very simple: 

  1. We ask students to increase their recycling by 8% (but as a share of the same amount of overall waste, so not throwing away any more)
  2. We encourage students to recycle more, and explain how (including through this website)
  3. If they have hit their targets, we reward them with an incentive

Lincoln Recycles is run concurrently but separately by Lincoln College JCR and MCR, through their Environment & Ethics Rep and Environment Rep respectively.

Incentives

JCR Incentives

Social and Sustainable drinks event, free of charge, in Trinity Term. Alternatively, retail vouchers are available.

MCR Incentives

The MCR is planning to hold sustainable wine and cheese parties to celebrate hitting the targets, as well as looking at offering supermarket vouchers that could be used to buy essential groceries. 

In Detail: the Targets and How we Measure Them

This scheme will measure how much we recycle in College accommodation (therefore it does not cover people who live in University-provided accommodation or who rent privately). College’s recycling contractor already provides data on recycling rates (the percentage of waste collected which is recycling or food waste) from each College accommodation site, every month. 

Our target is an 8% increase in the recycling rate at each site in Hilary term, relative to the average recycling rate in that site in Hilary Term 2021, plus no overall increase in total waste generated, with a tolerance of 1%. For each site, that means the following absolute targets: 

  • Main College/Lincoln House/The Mitre – 48.3%
  • Bear Lane – 30.6%
  • Museum Road (EPA Centre) – 36.1%
  • Little Clarendon Street – 42.2%

At the end of Hilary Term, we will collect the recycling rate figures, and see which sites hit their target. 

Because the recycling is measured by site, students are taking part in this initiative on a site-wide basis, not an individual or college-wide basis. Every site that hits its target will receive a site-wide incentive. 

Although the data is measured by accommodation site, the JCR and MCR are running their separate halves of this initiative. This creates a slight mismatch, because not all our accommodation sites are purely undergraduate or postgraduate. The EPA Centre is roughly half and half, and Bear Lane has a small number of undergraduates. However, for the purposes of this initiative, the three sites other than Main College/Lincoln House/The Mitre (whose recycling is measured in one block, and is therefore treated as one site) are considered to be MCR sites, and people living at those three sites will, if their site meets its target, receive an MCR incentive, even if they are JCR members. (However, this doesn’t mean your friends in the JCR can’t celebrate alongside you – see ‘Lincoln Recycles FAQs’ for details.) 

Recycling Guide

Everything you need to know about recycling in college accommodation, in under five minutes (we timed it) 

N.B. This explains the rules in college accommodation, NOT elsewhere. If you rent from the University or privately, the rules are slightly different. See Recycling FAQs for relevant links. 

There are four types of waste collected from accommodation sites: 

  1. Dry mixed recycling (plastic, paper and card, foil, metal cans)
  2. Glass recycling
  3. Food waste (not collected from undergraduate accommodation in the main college site)
  4. General waste (the bit that doesn’t count as recycling)

Food waste counts as recycling in our recycling figures. See the Recycling FAQs if you want to know what happens to it. 

You should have bins for dry mixed recycling, food waste and general waste in your kitchen; glass has to be taken to the glass recycling wheelie bins. College-branded reusable recycling bags are also in the process (as at the start of 2023) of being delivered to rooms, to help you collect recycling from your room. Depending on where you live, you may have to empty some of these kitchen bins yourself and take the contents (with the bag tied in a knot) to the big bins for your accommodation. If you live on the main college site, in Lincoln House or in the Mitre, these bins are in the garage, through the big green metal garage door on Turl Street (use your fob to open; it closes automatically). First-year undergrads can also access it via staircase 15. 

The leaflets you may have seen from our recycling contractor, Select, have five types of waste on them – paper & card are listed separately. However, in fact, they collect paper and card as part of dry mixed recycling, so these all go in the same bin. 

Three Quick Recycling Rules

If you remember nothing else, remember this: 

If it’s not clean, it’s not recyclable

All soft plastics (eg plastic bags) are not recyclable (see FAQs if you want more info, but TL;DR they are not recyclable through the normal recycling bins)

Anything that is not explicitly listed as recyclable is not recyclable

Dry Mixed Recycling

Yes Please

  • Plastic pots, bottles, tubs and trays and plastic caps and lids, unless they are black or flimsy e. plastic film
  • All plastics with the numbers 1-6 inclusive inside a triangular recycling logo, unless they are black
  • Paper and card, including newspapers and magazines
  • Aluminium foil (clean)
  • Food and drink tins and cans 

No Thanks

  • All soft plastics (e.g. plastic bags, cling film, bubble wrap, film lids, plastic wrappers, crisp packets)
  • Anything dirty (e.g. dirty pizza boxes or takeaway cartons)
  • Rigid plastics (e.g. plastic cutlery, plastic casings of unwanted electrical and electronic items, hinged plastic lids of shampoo etc bottles)
  • Disposable coffee cups (except the lid, if clean)
  • Books (these can go to charity)
  • Plastic coated or waxed paper
  • Black plastic
  • Plastic foam
  • Polystyrene
  • Aerosol cans
  • Tetra Pak cartons (used for fruit juice, iced coffee etc)
  • Any composite items made of several materials that are not all recyclable, g. padded envelopes containing bubble wrap

Anything else not listed on the left

Glass Recycling

Yes Please

  • Glass bottles and jars, without the cap/lid 

No Thanks

  • Metal caps and lids of glass bottles and jars
  • Pyrex
  • Broken glass

Food Waste

Yes Please

  • Food waste (duh) – including egg and nut shells
  • Teabags (see FAQs if you don’t believe it)
  • Coffee grounds

No Thanks

  • Garden waste g. plants
  • Coffee filters (but do put the actual coffee grains in the food waste bin)
  • Food packaging of any kind 
  •  

N.B. Food waste needs to be put in a food waste bin liner made of biodegradable material – not a plastic bin liner or bag. This should be provided by your scout. 

As well as accommodation, the MCR room contains two food waste bins at the far end as you go in, on the right. These are two small grey caddies labelled ‘food waste only’. 

General Waste

Everything not listed as recyclable above, e.g. plastic bags, plastic coated paper and card, and anything dirty. N.B. Hazardous items such as batteries and aerosol cans should not go in general waste, as this is dangerous. They can be put in the red ‘Haz-Box’ bin in the garage opposite the college main gate on Turl Street (open it with your fob; it closes automatically) 

Where to Recycle

Waste at Lincoln is divided into four types: dry mixed recycling, glass recycling, food waste (which is counted as recycling) and general waste. Each is collected by our recycling contractor in a different type of bin. 

N.B. If you put recycling in the bin in a plastic bag, it needs to be a clear bag, not a black one, as recycling facilities have trouble with black plastic. 

The leaflets you may have seen from our recycling contractor, Select, have five types of waste on them – paper & card are listed separately. However, in fact, they collect paper and card as part of dry mixed recycling, so these all go in the same bin. 

If you do not have a Kitchen

If you live on the main college site, in Lincoln House/Staircase 15 or in the Mitre, you need to take recycling to the bins in the garage, through the big green metal garage door on Turl Street (use your fob to open; it closes automatically). First-year undergrads can also access it via staircase 15. 

If you do have a Kitchen

You should have bins for dry mixed recycling, food waste and general waste in your kitchen; glass has to be taken to the glass recycling wheelie bins. Depending on where you live, you may have to empty some of these kitchen bins yourself and take the contents (with the bag tied in a knot) to the big bins for your accommodation. 

College-branded reusable recycling bags are also in the process (as at the start of 2023) of being delivered to rooms, to help you collect recycling from your room. In the meantime, you might want to use a carrier bag for the same purpose. 

Recycling FAQs

No, except the plastic lid (if it’s clean). Disposable coffee cups are made of waxed paper, and this can’t be recycled like paper and card can. Coffee cups go in general waste. 

No. Tetra Pak cartons are commonly used for selling fruit juice, iced coffee and other drinks, and due to their composite nature, are not recyclable in college accommodation, even if they claim to be. (Tetra Pak’s official line, that its cartons are recyclable “where waste management and recycling infrastructure are in place”, is misleading at best) 

No, even if they say they’re recyclable. But please scoop out the coffee grounds and put that in the food waste bin, before putting the filter in the general waste bin. 

Yes, in food waste. Although some teabags contain plastic material, this is removed when food waste is processed. 

Not in college you can’t. Unwanted clean clothes can be taken to the charity bin at the back of the EPA Centre on Museum Road. Clothes, shoes and textiles (again clean, but they can be ripped/worn) can be taken to the big recycling bins in Cambridge Terrace, just off St Aldates and less than 10 minutes’ walk from the main college site (map here).  

No. Soft plastics are accepted at certain big supermarkets, such as Tesco in Magdalen Street and Sainsbury’s in Cowley.

Not unless every part of them is recyclable. An example of this is a non-black plastic tub with a foil lid. Plastic coated paper and card, or any sort of packaging containing card and soft plastic stuck together, is not recyclable. If you can’t separate out the recyclable (paper, card, firm plastic) and non-recyclable (plastic coated paper/card/metal, soft plastics) bits, then put it in general waste. If you’re not sure, put it in general waste. 

No, unless you can separate out the paper (which is recyclable) from the bubble wrap (which is not). Some padded envelopes are designed to make this easy to do; the others have to go in general waste if you’re unable to separate the parts. 

No. Soft plastics are not recyclable in college. They are accepted at certain big supermarkets, such as Tesco in Magdalen Street and Sainsbury’s in Cowley.

Not in college. Books in readable condition can be taken to the charity bin at the back of the EPA Centre on Museum Road, or to a charity shop. For more info about these, see the JCR or MCR environmental guides. 

Not in college, but broken electricals are accepted at the big recycling bins in Cambridge Terrace, just off St Aldates and less than 10 minutes’ walk from the main college site (map here).  

If you live in private accommodation in Oxford, you can check the Oxford City Council website’s recycling guide here. It will tell you what types of waste go in each bin. You can also use the ‘waste wizard’ here to find out whether a specific item or material is recyclable. If you live outside the city but in Oxfordshire, you can find information from the county council here. If you live in University-provided accommodation, please contact your accommodation manager. 

We are looking into it, but since the college’s recycling contractor, Select, does not handle soft plastics, there is no easy answer. While some large supermarkets do accept soft plastics, there seems to be a limit as to how much they can accept. And someone would still need to organise collection. 

No, the bin is lying to you – or things have changed since it was installed. You can put all dry mixed recycling in it. As mentioned above, Select, our waste management contractor, divides waste into four types, and one of them is dry mixed recycling, including paper and card. 

No. Anything that is not listed on here as being recyclable in college accommodation is almost certainly not recyclable by Select. Not all waste management companies recycle the same things; different colleges use different contractors; and outside the university, different councils pay for different recycling services. Just because something is recyclable in your home town or at another college doesn’t mean it’s recyclable here. 

Food waste is taken to an anaerobic digester which generates electricity fed into the national grid. The leftover digestate contains nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which are all used in fertilisers. 

Lincoln Recycles FAQs

The JCR and MCR, i.e. the undergraduate and graduate students of Lincoln College, through the JCR Environment & Ethics Rep, Amy Pryce-Jones, and the MCR Environment Rep, René Lavanchy. This initiative and the communications associated with it, like this website, are their responsibility. The views expressed therein do not necessarily represent the views of Lincoln College. 

We are applying to the Annual Fund, which is a fund available to Lincoln students, to fund the incentives. Part of the initiative relating to the JCR is also to be funded from the JCR Environment & Ethics Rep’s budget. 

No. The scheme is designed to discourage that. We will only meet our targets if there is no overall increase in waste (above a certain tolerance). So, if people were to continue generating the same amount of general waste but a significantly increased amount of recyclable waste, the targets would be missed. The point is not to have more stuff going in recycling bins, but to be more sustainable by increasing the proportion of waste that’s recyclable (including food waste). 

We receive monthly data from Select showing what percentage of our waste is recyclable. Our plan is to look at the data from the months after the scheme has started and measure that against data from the same period last year (2021-22). If we’ve hit our target by achieving the required increase in the recycling rate compared to last year, with no overall increase in waste, then we’ll know.

They are, but we are offering incentives for an increase in the recycling rate; we are trying to encourage behavioural change. The fact is, colleges in general and Lincoln in particular are not that good at recycling, despite the fact that everyone knows why we are supposed to do it. Our recycling rate has been below 50% overall in recent years. Simply bossing people around is not, we think, the most effective way to achieve this change; what is needed is to align the incentives of college and students. 

As described above, the MCR will hold social events in Trinity term for those accommodation units (Bear Lane, the EPA Centre and Little Clarendon Street) that meet their target. There will be a signup sheet for this, with limited numbers. If the event does not reach capacity, then those attending will be invited to sign up friends. 

Tips to Help Meet the Target

  • College is planning on delivering reusable recycling bags to student rooms, to make it easier for us to take dry mixed recycling to the nearest recycling bin. However, as at January 2023, this is delayed. In the meantime, use a carrier bag to collect up recyclables in your room until you’re ready to take them to the bin, either outside or in your kitchen. 

  • Get a KeepCup to reduce how many disposable hot drinks cups (which are not recyclable) you throw away. These can be used to carry hot drinks around; some coffee shops offer a discount for using them instead of disposable cups, and they are also the only way you can take hot drinks into the college library or the Bodleian Libraries. In 2022-23, the JCR Environment & Ethics Rep is ordering branded KeepCups for JCR members to buy.

  • Use the Lincoln branded recycling bag provided in student rooms across college to store your recycling waste and carry it to the suitable wheelie bin. 

  • Take a hand towel with you to the bathroom, to save on paper towels. Towels can be washed on the high temperature setting on the washing machines in order to keep them clean and germ-free, but to save energy, please wash them with other items also washable at high temperatures, like bed linen.

  • Don’t throw sponges (kitchen or bathroom) away if they start to get dirty or smelly. You can make them good as new by washing them with your laundry.

  • When you empty your food waste bin, use a cloth or an old rag to wipe the inside dry, rather than a paper towel. You can wash it in soap and water to keep it clean.

  • Consider using compostable sheets to cover your food instead of cling film

Contact Us

Lincoln Recycles is run by the JCR and MCR of Lincoln College, through the JCR Environment & Ethics Rep and the MCR Environment Rep. For more information, you should email them. 

JCR Environment & Ethics Rep

(Trinity 2022 – Trinity 2023)

Amy Pryce-Jones

MCR Environment Rep

(Michaelmas 2022 – April 2023)

René Lavanchy