Pass it on: moving out guide
Moving out can create a lot of waste. Before you throw things away, find out how to pass useful items on to other students, donate to charity, recycle correctly and dispose of anything left over responsibly - helping to keep Sheffield clean.
Pass it on before you throw it away
Every summer, thousands of students move house in Sheffield, from University residences into private rented accommodation, or from one private rented house to another.
Moving out is a good opportunity to sort through your belongings and clear out anything you no longer need. But lots of useful items are thrown away at the end of term, when they could be reused by other students, donated to charity or recycled.
We’re encouraging students to Pass it on first. If you have items in good condition that another student could use, please donate them at one of our student reuse points:
- The Community Hub, Students’ Union
- The Edge, Endcliffe
- The Common Room, Ranmoor
Items donated through these points will be passed on to students through Free Shops in the next academic year, helping others save money and reducing waste.
You can also donate clothes, shoes, books and small household items through British Heart Foundation donation banks in student areas and at local charity shops.
Please do not leave donations on the ground around donation points or banks. Items left outside can be damaged by rain, blown around or strewn across the street, causing litter and making them unsuitable for reuse. If a donation point or bank is full, please take your items to another bank, charity shop or return at another time. Please do not put duvets or knives in these donation banks.
Why this matters
Since 2013, students in Sheffield have donated 89,726 bags of useful items through the city’s move-out schemes. That is equivalent to 717 tonnes of items, with an estimated donation value of £1,269,400 and a saving of 15 tCO2e compared with sending these items to landfill.
Students have also donated more than 12 tonnes of food to S6 Foodbank since 2015, equivalent to 17,465 meals, and more than 11,500 items of kitchenware have been passed on to new students through Free Shops since 2021.
By passing useful items on first, you can help other students save money, support local charities and community groups, reduce waste and keep Sheffield’s streets clean and tidy during the busy move-out period.
Move-out checklist
Follow the below steps to help you minimise your environmental impact when moving accommodation.
- 1. Ensure your bins get emptied
Check you know which bins go out when in the weeks running up to your move out date. Make sure you get them emptied on schedule so you have plenty of bin space for your move out.
Check your bin schedule
Your bins should be put out the night before collection and returned to your property each morning. Only put the correct items in each bin to ensure it is emptied and to prevent recyclable material from being contaminated by other waste, which can result in the entire load being sent for incineration.In Sheffield, each house should have three types of bins:
- blue bin (for paper and card)
- brown bin (for glass, tins and plastic)
- black bin (for general rubbish)
The black bin is collected every two weeks and the blue or brown bin collected four-weekly on an alternating basis. If you don't have the correct bins, or they are damaged, contact your landlord.
Only put the indicated items in each bin. Your bins might not be collected if they have incorrect items in them.
- 2. Pass it on to another student
Moving out? Pass it on.
Finished with it? Pass it on.
Don’t wear it? Pass it on.
Help another student get started.Moving house is a good opportunity to sort through your belongings and clear out anything you no longer need. But lots of useful items are thrown away at the end of term.
Give your unwanted items another life by passing them on to another student. Donate clothes, books, kitchenware, homeware and unopened food so they can be reused by other students and local communities.
Useful things should not go to waste - pass them on. Only recycle or bin what you have to.
Donate your unwanted items at the Students' Union Community Hub, Edge Reception or Ranmoor Common Room and we'll make sure it gets given to another student.
- 3. Donate items to charity
If you can't bring your items to campus, you can also donate clothes, shoes, books and small household items through British Heart Foundation donation banks in student areas or at local charity shops.
Please do not leave donations on the ground around donation points or banks. Items left outside can be damaged by rain, blown around or strewn across the street, causing litter and making them unsuitable for reuse. If a donation point or bank is full, please take your items to another bank, charity shop or return at another time. Do not put duvets or knives in these donation banks.
- 4. Donate unwanted food
Help to ensure your unwanted food is not wasted when you move you. The University of Sheffield collects unopened, non-perishable food for S6 Foodbank at the Students' Union and Residences. You can also find food donation points at most supermarkets.
Endcliffe and Ranmoor student villages are also home to community fridges, where you can donate unwanted food for other students to use.
- 5. Recycle!
Please recycle as much of your waste as possible before moving out. Sheffield’s recycling rules changed in April 2026, which means more items can now go in your brown bin.
Use your household recycling bins as follows:
- Blue bin: clean and dry paper and card.
- Brown bin: glass bottles and jars, tins, cans, foil, aerosols, plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, plastic and metal tubes, and cartons such as Tetra Pak.
Please put recycling loose into your bins, not in bags, and make sure items are empty and reasonably clean.
The Students’ Union also has a recycling point for hard-to-recycle items such as batteries, printer cartridges and bras. Many supermarkets also have collection points for soft plastics and other hard-to-recycle items.
- 6. Council excess waste collections
Your last resort for anything you can't reuse, donate or recycle, or that won’t fit in your black bin, is Sheffield City Council's excess waste collection service.
In 2025, this service will run from 22 June - 6 July. During this period, the Council runs an additional service in areas with a high student population to collect any additional waste you have.
If your street is highlighted on the below map you should securely tie your waste in sacks and leave them outside your property and it will be collected within three days. If you are not on a highlighted route, please put your bags out on your normal (black) bin day. Try to avoid leaving bags with food waste out on the street, as this could attract vermin and cause bad smells for your neighbours - ensure this type of waste is either donated to our food bank or put in your wheelie bin.
Do not place bagged waste out other than during the above collection period, doing so could be considered fly tipping for which fixed penalty notices could be issued to those responsible.
The contents of these sacks are not sorted and will be sent directly to an Energy Recovery Facility where they are burnt and turned into electricity and heat, so only use these as a last resort!
Keeping our communities clean and tidy
Unfortunately, the waste produced when students moving out of and into their accommodation can have a negative impact on our local communities and environment. Litter and waste is not only unpleasant for other residents to look at and be around, it can attract vermin and find its way into our waterways, causing pollution and damage to marine life.
Please ensure that you do everything you can to keep your property and street clean and tidy at this time. Waste left on the street might be treated as flytipping and Sheffield City Council's Environmental Protection team will investigate serious reports where the large-scale dumping of waste occurs and try to identify those responsible and hold them accountable.
Report an issue
If you spot any issues relating to waste and student properties, this can be reported to Sheffield City Council. Please remember that bags tied neatly outside a property may be awaiting collecting and this will be carried out within three days.
Get involved
Litterpicking is a great way of helping to give something back to our local communities and protect the environment. The University of Sheffield has litterpicking equipment available to borrow if you would like to arrange a litterpick in your area, or alternatively there are several active community litterpick groups in the city.