Stationery re-use & recycling

The Furniture Store now has an official scheme/process in place for the re-use and recycling of unwanted stationery.

Unwanted items can be returned to the Furniture Store in the Simon Building so that they can be re-used/redistributed to staff, students and local charities free of charge. We can also arrange the recycling of certain items not suitable for re-use.

Please note that we also accept/redistribute unused toner cartridges.

Items we will accept

Paper, pens, pencils, rulers, staplers, staples, card, post it notes, note pads, folder dividers, tape, masking tape, erasers, scissors, tape dispensers, labels, pencil sharpeners, highlighters, white board markers, permanent markers, bulldog clips, paper clips, drawing pins, calculators, hole punchers, blu-tack, unused toner & printer cartridges.

Items we cannot accept

Unfortunately, due to limited capacity and a lack of demand we are unable to accept the following items:

A4 Lever arch folders, box files, hanging file folders and A4 ring binders*.

Staff Guidance on how to donate surplus items of stationery.

  • Small amounts of stationery can be placed in an envelope or jiffy bag and sent in the internal post to Furniture4Reuse, B.31 Simon Building

  • Larger amounts can be placed in a clear bag (available from House Services). Please put a sticker/note on the bags stating “For re-use/Furniture Store”. These can then be left next to your nearest internal recycling bins. They will be collected by House Services staff and transported to the Furniture Store by the Campus Cleansing team.

How to obtain stationery

Please visit the Furniture Store during opening hours (12 - 3pm, Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout the year) and speak to one of the staff. All items are free of charge.

*Recycling of items

If you have large numbers of the following items it may be possible to get these recycled. Please email Furniture4Reuse@manchester.ac.uk for advice:

  • A4 Lever arch folders
  • A4 ring binders
  • box files
  • hanging file folders

Stationery amnesties

During November/December 2024 we ran a successful stationery amnesty in the Beyer Building in conjunction with House Services. Should you wish to run a stationery amnesty in your building we can help with this by providing a cabinet to store items whilst the scheme is running and we can arrange collection of unwanted items. Local input is required with these schemes but if you are interested in running one in your area/building please e-mail Furniture4Reuse@manchester.ac.uk with contact details and the location of the proposed scheme/amnesty and we will contact you to discuss what is required.