Termez State University’s Sustainable Procurement and Purchasing Policy includes office supplies, laboratory equipment, IT infrastructure and construction materials within its scope. Its environmental purchasing criteria address minimal packaging, recyclability, durability and whole-life costs. This brings the categories identified in the indicator into the university’s published procurement framework.
The institutional basis for waste reduction is reinforced by the Policy on Waste Management, Resource Minimization, and Sustainable Practices, effective from 1 January 2025. The university’s Reduce, Reuse and Recycle programme connects purchasing products with minimal packaging, restricting single-use plastics and using reusable items with repair, redistribution and recycling. These measures address the materials entering university operations and their subsequent use and management.
The procurement policy provides for sustainability clauses in supplier contracts, vendor assessments and environmental information in tender documentation. It also provides for screening new suppliers and communicating requirements through orientation and continuing dialogue. These are the stated policy mechanisms for extending environmental expectations into purchasing relationships. They apply within a framework covering departmental acquisitions and capital projects.
For stationery and paper-based materials, the university reduces demand through electronic administration and academic processes. Official correspondence is prepared, registered, approved, distributed and archived electronically. Digital systems also support applications, staff performance submissions, research administration, conference registration and student records. The paper-reduction programme uses these systems to reduce printed forms, reports, photocopies and physical document storage. This addresses the demand for purchased paper before it becomes a waste-management issue.
The 2025 paper-waste account records 31.0 tonnes, compared with 34.0 tonnes in 2024. The reduction was 3.0 tonnes, equivalent to approximately 8.82% of the previous year’s volume. These figures measure university paper-waste generation. They provide an operational result for the paper-saving programme alongside the purchasing framework for office supplies. Paper is separately identified in the annual material account, allowing its performance to be reviewed as a distinct stream.
Equipment management follows the reuse element of the university’s programme. Suitable computers, furniture, educational equipment, books and other materials are repaired, redistributed, donated or retained in use. These practices extend useful service life and reduce demand for replacement resources. The programme treats equipment as an asset with continuing value through maintenance and reuse, linking the use of purchased goods with the prevention of avoidable waste.
At the end of its usable life, electronic equipment enters a separate controlled waste stream. The 2025 records identify 0.45 tonnes of electronic waste generated and 0.43 tonnes handled through the university’s controlled treatment, recovery or authorised-transfer arrangements. The remaining 0.02 tonnes were kept in controlled temporary storage. The equipment pathway therefore includes continued use where suitable and separate handling when an item reaches the waste stage.
The university’s hazardous-waste programme describes identification, source separation, safe containment, temporary storage, documented transfer and specialised processing. Electronic waste is separated from chemical waste and general refuse. Formal agreements with specialist operators support collection, transfer, recovery and disposal. These arrangements address the downstream management of purchased equipment and materials through external organisations, while maintaining a university record of the quantities and handling route.
Building materials are also subject to institutional oversight. A university report dated 4 October 2025 records a review of construction and renovation activity, including examination of material quality at the tennis-court complex. It also describes natural granite being laid along campus paths and basalt thermal-insulation materials being installed on the façades of student residences 3 and 5. This is a dated example of university scrutiny of material selection and building work within the categories covered by the procurement framework.
Supplier packaging is explicitly included in the university’s public 3R monitoring scope. Packaging received with university supplies is considered alongside office waste, laboratory residues and canteen disposables. This makes externally supplied packaging part of the university’s material-management arrangements. The reduction programme’s preference for minimal packaging addresses the amount of material introduced, and separate collection provides a route for recovering recyclable packaging after delivery and use.
The university’s recycling cooperation with TechnoBioEko LLC supports this recovery route. Its documented arrangement covers collection, transportation, sorting and processing of recyclable materials generated on university premises. Materials are gathered at designated collection points and transferred to the processing enterprise. Campus waste-separation facilities support the collection of paper, plastic, glass and other recoverable materials, connecting university material use with external processing.
The procurement policy’s review arrangements envisage supplier-compliance monitoring, quarterly internal reviews, procurement audits and annual sustainability reporting. It also schedules formal policy review every three years. These provisions establish how the university intends to assess and improve sustainability performance in purchasing and supplier relationships over time.
Operational waste monitoring includes annual measurement of paper and plastic, review of separation and recycling practices, monitoring of reusable assets and documentation of transfers to recycling organisations. The Vice-Rector for Finance and Economic Affairs coordinates implementation with relevant administrative and environmental units. The records support decisions about material demand, continued equipment use and the handling of waste associated with university purchases and services.