It’s no surprise that progress on plastics reduction was hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic. But we’ve reintroduced key initiatives, including a cup levy, promotions on refills and bring-your-own cups and bottles.

We’ve also relaunched our plastic action group, and we’re looking closely at deposit return and reverse vending options.

Our Plastics Action Plan was approved in May 2022 with specific actions set out to reduce unnecessary single use plastic. And in May 2021, we took part in the Great Plastic Count.

We also kickstarted our LEAF sustainable labs programme, which covers the efficient use of all lab consumables.

Single use coffee cup levy was re-introduced (20p per cup across campuses) and promotions on reuse options including reusable cups for sale.

In October 2021, we carried out a one-week waste compositional analysis of three accommodation blocks (Cotswold Court, Wallscourt Park and Glenside). Around 17% of the waste being placed into general waste was plastic, and that 41% of that plastic could have been recycled.