Reducing plastic waste on campus

Plastic waste has become highly topical lately. We’d like to make students and staff aware of what we’re doing to reduce single-use plastics on campus and we’d love to hear your feedback.

Catering Services initiatives

  • We offer a 20p discount on hot drinks and soup when served in a re-usable container
  • We currently sell reusable Starbucks cups for £2, or for £3 with your first drink included
  • We’re currently designing University branded Keep Cups made of rice husk, which should be launched in our cafes during the next academic year
  • For customers dining in, we serve on crockery in International Kitchen, which is our busiest food outlet
  • We provide water coolers or water jugs in all our outlets so customers can choose to refill their own containers
  • We only provide coffee stirrers made of 100% wood from well-managed forests.

  

What else is happening on campus?

  • We’ve marked water bottle refill stations, including water coolers and fountains in public areas, on the national Refill App
  • Our Cleaning team has switched to a system of microfibre cloths, together with a concentrated chemical dilution system for areas that still need chemicals. This has significantly reduced the need for chemicals and associated plastic packaging waste
  • We’ve developed green wall displays, including posters to encourage everyone to bring reusable mugs and bottles to campus.

 

Why reduce your plastic waste?

You may have heard this before, but it’s worth saying again. Plastic waste never degrades and has a devastating effect on wildlife and the environment when it ends up in inappropriate places. Plastic is also one of the most difficult materials to recycle, so it’s best to avoid using it in the first place. If you want to know more about plastics and the environment Plastinography is a great resource.

Thanks for your interest and support. We are working on further initiatives to reduce plastics, but it would be great to hear your feedback. Please send any comments or queries to sustainability@hud.ac.uk.

The Sustainability Team and Catering Services
Estates and Facilities

image for estate's campaign to reduce plastic on campus
image for estate's campaign to reduce plastic on campus