Purchasing and consumption can have far reaching impacts; production drives natural resource depletion and poor working conditions, whilst waste disposal pollutes natural habitats. As a leading university, we are rethinking our behaviours to address unsustainable consumption.
What is UCL doing?
We want to choose products that are best for people and planet – as a result, we’re aiming to reduce waste per person by 20% by 2024 and become a single-use plastic free university. We do this by:
Maintaining certification in the Responsible Procurement Code;
Engaging our top 500 suppliers in sustainable pracice;
Complying with Modern Slavery audits;
Introducing sustainability ratings for products on the e-marketplace and canteens;
Training purchasing staff in sustainable and ethical procurement best practices;
Reducing food waste, and expanding existing waste food redistribution schemes;
Establishing a logistics hub and tracking deliveries;
Launching a high-profile recycling communications campaign;
Rolling-out key single-use plastic alternatives in catering and laboratories;
Putting Electronic Records Management System in place;
Central to “The Loop” is taking drastic and innovative steps to address and minimise slavery and exploitation throughout our supply chain. See what actions we are taking.
An exciting cross-faculty aiming to use UCL's expertise to improve the design of buildings and products, their re-use and recycling, and the return of their constituent materials back to the economy.