Sustainability

Sustainability is a major part of our planning in Campus Services. We are committed to helping the environment and increasing awareness within the University community.

As one of the largest departments in the University, we have changed the way we do things in our Halls of Residence, in our Cafes, in our Restaurants, and in our shops. We are constantly working to reduce emissions and improve the sustainability of the service we provide for students, staff, visitors and other customers on a daily basis.

Among the key initiatives we have introduced are:

• replacement of single-use plastics in catering outlets, adopting compostable cutlery, compostable food containers, and paper straws instead of throwaway plastic alternatives.
• incentivising customers to use refillable drinks containers with the introduction of a charge for disposable cups (as at 2023 this was 40p).
• sourcing of sustainable ingredients in our delivered catering and food court offerings, including fish from sustainable sourcs and free-range eggs
• gradual moving to increase the availability of plant-based menu options, ensuring that now over 50% of options in our RockSalt Food Court are vegan or vegetarian
• plumbed in water fountains are available at locations across campus including the Sir Duncan Rice Library, Student Union, and the Suttie and MacRobert cafes
• tackling food waste by moving to an 'on demand' custmomer ordering system that minimises the unnecessary pre-preparation of food 
• a continuing commitment to fairly traded teas and coffees across campus

On an annual basis, Campus Services accommodates over 3000 new students in our Halls of Residence, who continue to make their carbon footprint distinctive in today’s shrinking world, is a real challenge.

A small change to their everyday behaviour would contribute significantly to a greener Scotland and we are focused on getting that message across to them.

Our new ‘Vending’ contract has requested the requirement to reduce emissions through reduced running costs, more efficient insulation, reduced materials used in construction, lighter machines using less fuel to transport and improved reliability requiring less site maintenance visits.

Additionally, in Campus Services we have reduced the number of deliveries by consolidating the number of suppliers; for example, we are about to introduce an initiative where by our daily dairy supplier who currently delivers in their own vehicle, will have their milk and produce delivered to us via our Fruit & Veg supplier. This one example alone reduces the number of vehicle movements to our sites by over 3,750 a year!

Campus Services are extremely proud to say that we have achieved the Healthy Living accolade within the Student's Union Building and are striving to achieve this within our other sites around Campus.

We are committed to making the food we serve to you healthier.

• Carrier bags in the University shops
• Switched to energy saving light bulbs
• Recycling bags in students flats
• Online induction (a paperless system)
• Replacement of paper towels with hand dryer
• Current recycling and biodegradable products on campus such as the Tiki cups etc
• The compactors at Hillhead
• BYOB – Environmental reusable cotton carriers for all students and staff