Waste Auditing - Notes for All
1.What happens if it’s raining?
You either get wet (if you haven’t brought suitable waterproof clothing) or you don’t! We audit in all weathers so please come prepared for the weather each day. A lot of the recycling and waste is kept under cover but this tends to be the science buildings which have more rubbish so there’s not necessarily an advantage to auditing inside these buildings.
2.Are there any hazards in the waste?
We CANNOT GUARANTEE that there will be no sharp objects in the waste so we will provide everyone who is looking through the waste with a pair of returnable puncture-proof gloves. The team have a very limited budget so it’s important that they are returned at the end of each day. In-between audits they are machine washed so they are lovely and clean at the start of the week.
3.What MUST I do whilst waste auditing?
You absolutely MUST have your gloves on if you adopt the ‘auditor’ role and/or are looking in the rubbish bags or if you are picking the bags up and moving them.
Everyone MUST wash hands very thoroughly at the end of the audit session every day.
4.Is there any risk of infection with swine flu from waste auditing?
The University has developed a swine flu protocol and risk assessments of how to deal with incidents of swine flu and a pandemic. The risk of contracting swine flu is through physical contact between germs on the hands and touching your face/eyes/mouth. To counter this, good hand hygiene and the wearing of gloves is the recommended safeguard. Scientific evidence shows that basic face masks do not protect people from becoming infected.
This means that anyone waste auditing MUST wear the gloves but MUST NOT make contact with the face whilst wearing the gloves. If basic hand hygiene is adhered to (wash hands thoroughly once gloves have been removed) then there will not be any increased physical risks of contracting swine flu.
For more information you can look at the University’s response to swine flu atwww2.le.ac.uk/institution/swineflu.
5.What clothing do I need to wear for auditing?
You will be given either an Environment Team t-shirt or a hoodie to wear whilst you audit. This helps other people to identify you as working for the team. In addition to this you will need:
(a)Warm clothing suitable for the current weather patterns with waterproofs if necessary
(b)Comfortable but heavyweight shoes to protect feet
6.What MUST I do before Monday’s Audit?
You must read through the University’s A to Z of waste which is found at the Environment Team website. It’s here ( but if you go to the main Environment Team website there is a quick-link on the right-hand side of the page.
Waste Auditing Roles - Notes for Recorders
1.What are the most important things I need to be ABLE TO DO?
You need to have CLEAR NOTE-WRITING that you (and others) will be able to read when you write the data onto the sheet. You need to be ABLE TO MULTITASK so you can take notes from multiple auditors simultaneously. The reason someone else will need to read your notes is because the Environment Team will do some double-checking of transferred data to make sure that it is accurate once it’s been transferred.
2.The data are only as accurate as you make them.
It is important that you make sure you write down what the auditors are telling you in the right box.
The data will mean more for your own analysis purposes if it makes sense and is accurate. If someone shouts a figure out and you’re not sure what they said then check with them. It can be quite confusing!
3.You must transfer the data from the spreadsheet onto an electronic spreadsheet every day to ensure you can remember what you have written
It is easier to transfer the data DAILY to make sure you don’t forget any special notes.
4.What do I do with the datasheets once I have filled them in for the whole week?
Phil Ball (Waste Officer) in the Environment Team will want all of the hardcopy datasheets to be given to him in the office (L017 FJB Estates) by 5pm on Friday 6th November. You can send the electronic data to him at .
5.How do I get hold of the electronic version of the spreadsheet to put the data on?
You need to email and ask Phil Ball to send you, your electronic copy of the spreadsheet – he will make sure he has sent it to you by 2pm on Monday 2nd Nov, so you can start to put the data on it after then.
6.What are the most important things I need to KNOW?
You need to learn the ‘key for waste’ to make it easier and quicker to record what types of waste are being found (see attached). This is not essential but you may find it helpful as there is little space on the audit sheets for making notes on the types of waste coming out of buildings as we reserve the bulk of the space for the quantitative data.
7.What happens if I lose the hardcopy audit sheet?
PLEASE DO NOT LOSE THEM. It is essential that you keep the paper copies of the waste audit data very safe as we will need these submitting to the team to keep for our records. We will need you to submit all paper copies for the week to the Environment Team Office (L017 FJB Estates) on Friday 6th November after you have completed transferringall the data onto the spreadsheet.
8.What MUST I do before Monday’s Audit?
You must read through the University’s A to Z of waste and familiarise yourself with the University’s recycling scheme which is found at the Environment Team website. It’s here ( but if you go to the main Environment Team website there is a quick-link on the right-hand side of the page.
Waste Auditing Roles - Notes for Auditors
1.Do I have to be strong to pick the waste bags up?
Yes. You don’t have to be big to do this but you do need to be strong enough. Sometimes you may have to weigh bags of up to 15kg in weight with just one hand. Anyone with persistent arm, shoulder or back injuries should not do this part of the audit. However, we have conducted many waste audits so far and no- one yet has sustained an injury from the process – even the smallest people!
2.Can I pick up the bags , move them or look through them without my gloves on?
No. Not at all – it is essential that you wear your gloves at all times and you must not touch your face/eyes/mouth.
3.I have long hair – can I wear it loose whilst auditing?
No. To avoid brushing the gloves over your face it is better if you have your hair tied back before you start.
4.Does the waste smell?
In most cases it does not smell that bad because it has only sat for 24 hours or less before being moved. Monday’s waste can be slightly fruitier!
5.How do I tell the difference between bags of paper, plastic or metals recycling?
The bags that the recycling are collected within are transparent to make it easier to see the difference between the different types of recyclate.
6.I’ve found lots of recyclable materials in a landfill bag – what should I do?
In some cases we have found whole office paper-based clearouts which have ended up in landfill bags rather than in the clear recycling bags. Each team will be given some spare clear bags in case you find whole bags of recycling that can be saved easily. However, every team has many bags to assess every day so there is a limit to the amount of recycling that can be saved as we audit. The general rule is just to audit and move on unless a special case which can be easily recycled is found.
7.What order do we do the auditing tasks in?
(a)Line bags up
(b)Weigh them
(c)Assess the contamination levels (recycling bags closed/landfill bags opened)
(d)Close landfill bags and dispose of in containers if relevant
8.There are lots of auditors working together but we only have 1 set of scales? What can I do whilst someone else is weighing their waste?
It’s helpful to group the rubbish together and line the bags up so they can all be weighed before the contamination is investigated. If you are at a loose end then just line up some bags of landfill or recycling ready for when they can be weighed. If they are already lined-up and are recycling bags, then you can start to make the assessment of how much contamination is in them which you can do easily because the bags are clear.
9.How do we measure the amount of contamination?
A very small amount is considered to be 5% e.g. this could be a plastic sweet wrapper in a whole bag of clean paper. If a bag of recycling is wet and mucky with food or drink then it would be rejected by our contractors – we consider this to be 100% contaminated even if by volume the contamination is small. In most cases, you will need to guess the approximate volume of space taken up by the contamination and tell this to the recorder.