Industries we serve
Education.
Food waste, paper, card and recycling collections for schools, colleges and universities across West London, Surrey and the Thames Valley.
- Same week start
- HVO fuelled fleet
- Carrier CBDU91900
About
Why education choose FJL.
Schools, sixth-form colleges and universities have been explicitly in scope for Simpler Recycling since 31 March 2025, regardless of staff count. Catering and maintenance teams count towards the headcount as well as teachers, which puts every meaningful school well over the ten FTE line. The waste profile is distinctive: a huge canteen food waste stream in term time, paper and card from teaching and admin, modest general waste, and almost nothing during the holidays. FJL brings 28 years experience and we work with primaries, secondaries, independent schools and university campuses across West London, Surrey and the Thames Valley. We size the round for term time, dial it back for holidays without renegotiation, and run our collections around drop-off, pick-up and the canteen rush rather than across them. Most new customers find us cheaper than what they had before, with paperwork that satisfies bursars and trust auditors and a real person at the depot if a sports day or open evening means an extra lift.
What they need
What education need from a waste partner.
Canteen food waste
School and university canteens are typically the biggest single waste stream by weight. Sealed food caddies in the kitchen, separate collection from general waste, and a frequency that matches lunch service rather than a generic weekly lift.
Term and holiday volumes
Six weeks of summer empty and a September spike. We design the round so capacity scales back in holidays and steps up in term time, without rewriting the contract or paying for empty lifts in August.
Paper and card from teaching
Worksheets, exercise books, packaging from deliveries, library and admin paper. It needs to be separated from plastic, metal and glass under Simpler Recycling, and the bin store has to handle a daily flow rather than a weekly tidy.
Safe collection windows
Bin lorries do not belong on a school site during drop-off, pick-up or the lunch rush. We agree the access window with the site manager and stick to it, usually before 8am or after the gates close.
How we help
How FJL helps education.
Every education site we quote starts with a walk of the bin store and a conversation with the site manager or estates team. The canteen volumes set the size of the food waste service, the teaching activity sets the paper and card frequency, and the access window sets the time of the round. Most schools we work with have a bin store designed thirty years ago for a quieter waste profile, so we resize what is on site and remove capacity that is not earning its keep. The Simpler Recycling streams are non-negotiable on an education site, so we set them up cleanly and label them in a way that the catering team, the cleaners and the older children can all follow without a briefing.
The round itself is built around the school calendar. Term time gets the full schedule, holidays drop back to a maintenance frequency, and we do not invoice for lifts that did not happen. For a sports day, an open evening, a parents evening or a one-off event we add an extra collection without rewriting the contract. University campuses get the same treatment at a bigger scale: shared service yards, halls of residence with different volumes to the academic buildings, and event weeks that double the load. The depot in Uxbridge takes the call and the round adjusts.
On the commercial side, education customers want predictable budgets, clean paperwork for the bursar or finance director, and agreements with terms spelled out up front. One clear price per term, waste transfer notes for every lift, carrier licence on the invoice, and notice periods that fit the academic year.
FAQ
Common questions about education waste.
Are schools in scope for Simpler Recycling?
Yes, from 31 March 2025, and the regulations name schools, universities and sixth-form colleges explicitly. Catering and maintenance staff count towards the ten FTE threshold, so in practice every meaningful school is in scope from day one rather than waiting for 2027.
Do we have to separate food waste in the canteen?
Yes. Food waste must be collected separately from general waste and dry recyclables. In most schools the canteen is the biggest single waste stream by weight, so the food caddy frequency drives the round. Sealed caddies in the kitchen keep smells and pests under control between lifts.
How do you handle the summer holiday?
We dial the round back to a maintenance frequency over the holidays, usually one or two lifts to cover the site team and any summer school activity, then step back up for September. You do not pay for empty lifts in August.
Can you work around drop-off and pick-up times?
Yes. Our drivers know education sites and we agree the access window with the site manager. Most school collections run before 8am or after the gates close at the end of the day. Lorries do not appear during the lunch rush or in the middle of pick-up.
We are a small independent prep school with fewer than ten staff. Are we in scope?
Most likely yes once you count catering and site staff, who are included in the ten FTE headcount. Even before that the regulations name schools explicitly, so the safe position is to set the streams up now rather than rely on a small-FTE exemption that may not actually apply.
Can you service a university campus with multiple buildings?
Yes. We work with university estates teams across the Thames Valley to design one contract that covers academic buildings, halls of residence, sports facilities and shared service yards, with collection frequencies tuned per zone rather than a single frequency for the whole campus.
What about confidential paperwork from the school office?
Locked shredding consoles can sit in the school office and bursar area, with sealed transit and a certificate of destruction. Pupil records, safeguarding paperwork and HR files get handled with the same care as any high-sensitivity office.
What does it cost?
Education quotes are keyed off pupil numbers, the canteen volume and the streams you need. Most new customers find us cheaper than what they had before, with one clear termly or monthly price and no auto-renewing contract.
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Prefer to talk? Call 0330 024 9180