Living lab: Zero Waste
In 2023, more than 60 percent of the university’s garbage was incinerated or landfilled. As a part of its wider circularity goals, Utrecht University aims to reduce this number to zero by the year 2030. With hundreds of laboratories, restaurants, classrooms and offices, this is no small task. That’s why the university established the Zero Waste Programme. A fundamental part of this initiative is experimentation and transdisciplinary learning.
With this living lab, we aim to contribute to UU's transformation to a zero-waste organisation by using insights from research, mainly student-led. The Centre for Living Labs guides and coordinates this living lab, matching emerging issues surrounding the road to zero waste experienced by university operations to relevant courses, research masters, internships or applied research.

Over the years, students and researchers from all backgrounds have worked on over twenty-five research questions to help address UU's waste challenges. The results have led to wide-ranging changes within the university. Examples are the development of separate waste bins, the use of recycled paper in printers and the transition from paper student cards to digital ones.
You can find examples of research topics below. For a full overview, please contact the Centre for Living Labs.
More information?
Contact the Centre for Living Labs via clu@uu.nl.