Moving on and moving out
When students get ready to leave university accommodation, they often have to decide what to keep and what to leave behind. Transport challenges can make it difficult to take items to charity shops and space constraints make it hard to take everything home.
Research from Lovespace shows that one in three students throw away usable items when moving out.
The most common items left behind or discarded are kitchen equipment, clothing and electronics.
For universities, this puts added pressure on their general waste volumes at peak times in the academic year. Yet many of these items can be reused or their materials recycled.
Hundreds of items saved
Through our charity partner, Shelter, we teamed up with the University of Birmingham to set up ‘Pack and Pass’ donation stations on campus.
Over four weeks, students donated pots, pans, crockery, clothes, stationery and electronics. A three-day drop-off event just before term ended made it easy for students to give items in person.
Over 600 bags were collected, weighing approximately 2.65 tonnes
1,026 items were sold through Shelter’s retail shop in the first three weeks, raising £2,180
This funding is enough to support 95 web chats for people facing homelessness, providing help and advice when they need it
1.2 tonnes of CO2e were saved from diverting items for reuse rather than going to general waste
“The Pack and Pass event is a great example of how the University can reduce waste, increase reuse and embed a circular economy approach into the way we manage resources. By diverting over 2.65 tonnes of items from disposal and ensuring they were reused within the local community, the event eased end-of-term pressures on campus while highlighting our role as a civic university. Working in partnership with Veolia and Shelter, the programme delivered environmental benefits and meaningful social value, demonstrating the positive impact that collaborative, community-focused action can achieve.”
Rosie Davies, Sustainability Manager at the University of Birmingham
"Thank you to our partners, Veolia, and the students at the University of Birmingham for raising vital funds for Shelter. At Shelter, we are doing everything we can to provide frontline services and campaign for long-lasting change for those hit hardest by the housing emergency. We believe everyone has the right to a safe and secure home, and we couldn’t do this vital work without the support of our partners.”
Lauren Thompson, Head of Corporate Partnerships at Shelter
“This event demonstrates the value of collaboration in driving material loops whilst delivering genuine social value. By working with the University of Birmingham and our charity partner Shelter, we've shown how circular economy solutions can ease pressures on students, support our communities, and help reduce waste. Meaningful partnerships are essential to how we operate as a business and how we drive environmental security.”
Maddie Hall, Head of Sustainability at Veolia
The housing emergency
Hundreds of thousands of people across the UK lack safe, secure homes or live in temporary accommodation.
Through our waste, water and energy services, we see the impact of homelessness in communities.
Initiatives like this help Shelter support more people at risk of homelessness and housing insecurity.
Importance of reuse
Keeping products and materials in use for as long as possible is the most effective way for businesses to reduce waste and cut carbon emissions, whilst also delivering social value within communities.
Prioritising the reuse of functional electrical goods is especially important as this minimises the consumption of raw materials to create new products. Discarding faulty electronics incorrectly poses a severe fire hazard, threatens public safety and can damage critical recycling infrastructure.
Across the UK, we have 60 household waste recycling centres with reuse outlets where materials are donated or sold locally.
In 2025, we collected over 4,000 tonnes of material for reuse.
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