No bins under your desks

In a bid to cut down on general waste within campus buildings and improve recycling, ANU is rolling out changes to cleaning arrangements that include a move to cleaners clearing rubbish from communal bins within buildings rather than from individual desks.

Over the next few weeks, under-the-desk bins within each building will no longer be emptied by cleaners, however the cardboard paper recycling bins will continue to be emptied on a regular basis.

New centralised bins will be distributed within each building on campus in central locations such as kitchens or similar communal areas, corners of corridors and next to entrances and exits.

As under-the-desk bins are owned by individual buildings, they won’t be removed unless building occupants place a request with their respective building custodians. Those who wish to continue using their own under-the-desk bins will need to empty these bins themselves at their nearest communal bin on their floor.

As part of the changes, there will also be changes to the times that cleaners will be cleaning offices. They will now be cleaning offices between the hours of 6am and 10am (rather than between the hours of 4am to 8am).

Each year, all ANU buildings will also receive a ‘spruce up’ that will involve cleaning the external facades of windows as well as the shampooing of carpets.

ISS Facility Services will continue to provide the cleaning service for the next three years.

The review of the cleaning services contract is about the University looking to save money where it can so resources can be spent on other initiatives.

The University understands that it may take some time to adjust to the new cleaning procedures.

ANU Facilities and Services welcome any continued feedback on the new procedures. If you have further questions about the initiatives that are being implemented as part of this contract, please email waste@anu.edu.au.

You can find more information in the Cleaning Contract FAQ (PDF, 131KB).