Trinity College Dublin
Trash to Treasure - Circular Campus Initiative
Finalist, Creating Impact
About
Trash to Treasure is an initiative that allows students to donate their unwanted items for re-sale when they leave college. It is a circular economy initiative led by Trinity students with staff collaboration. Since its inception in 2019, it has grown greatly each year. Particularly in the last two years, where funds have been allocated for students to work on the initiative which increased both size and scale of the operation. It has seen great cross-collaboration between several areas of college.
Rather than ending up in landfill, students’ items are given a new home. They are stored after the donation drive on campus from May/April until the sale event in September and sold to incoming students at a low price. Its main aim is to promote a circular economy mindset amongst Trinity’s students but also our staff, in their operations and management of the university's resources and waste.
Top 3 learnings
- We have seen a real interest from our students to get involved in circular economy / sustainability
initiatives. - We have shown the benefits of a circular economy vs linear economy i.e. less items in landfill.
- We have seen the positive impact of effective collaboration between students, staff and other key
stakeholders
What it means to win
A huge win for our institution - we hope our project shows true leadership, student engagement and impact.
Sustainable Development Goals
| 2026 | |
| Creating Impact | |
| Finalist, UK and Ireland |
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