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Solutions to improve waste recycling

Answers to the quiz and survey on waste management at CERN

Poster for the recycling campaign
(Image: CERN)

Recycling champions are all around us, as is evident from the quiz and survey answers submitted during the recent recycling campaign.

  • Some 300 of you participated in the quiz and 56 of you answered all five questions correctly. The winners were picked at random and have been contacted.

Here are the answers, along with links to sites where you can find more information:

Question 1 – What categories of waste are recycled or repurposed at CERN? At CERN, we recycle or repurpose metals, wood, PET, Nespresso coffee capsules and many other kinds of waste. (For further information: https://smb-dep.web.cern.ch/en/Introduction-Waste)

Question 2 – Where should used office furniture be sent for re-use or recycling? The Recuperation and Sales service in Building 133 (on the Meyrin site) recycles office furniture that is in a poor condition and recovers furniture that is in a good condition for re-use. (For further information: https://smb-dep.web.cern.ch/en/Waste/What_goes_where#Bulky_waste)

Question 3 – To what percentage of their maximum capacity should the bins be filled before they are emptied? For safety reasons, bins should never be filled to more than 75% of their capacity before being emptied, whatever their size. (For further information: https://smb-dep.web.cern.ch/en/Waste/Skips_Containers_Bins)

Question 4 – Are lead batteries sorted in the same way as other batteries? Lead batteries are sorted in Building 133 and other batteries in Building 262. (For further information: https://smb-dep.web.cern.ch/en/Waste/What_goes_where#Batteries)

Question 5 – How are PET plastic bottles recycled? PET bottles are recycled to make new ones. Recycling PET bottles is 74% more environmentally friendly than incineration. (For further information: https://smb-dep.web.cern.ch/en/Waste/What_goes_where#PET)

  • The survey was completed by 247 people. Few of them (33%) knew about the SMB department’s website dedicated to waste management, where you can find all kinds of information relating to waste sorting at CERN and the experts to contact if you have any questions. Some 78% of the respondents indicated that the campaign had taught them new information about waste management at CERN. The information that was deemed the most useful was that relating to recycled waste (for 34% of the respondents) and battery sorting (for 28% of the respondents). Around 55% of the respondents indicated that they would be interested in the creation of a “zero waste” club. A meeting will be held this autumn to launch the club under the auspices of the Staff Association.

The waste.management@cern.ch campaign team would like to thank all those who participated in the survey. They received numerous suggestions that will greatly help them to improve waste management at CERN. All the proposals will be taken into consideration in order to offer you new solutions in the near future.