Goal 12: Policies, processes and practices

The following page outlines specific policies, process and practices in support of Sustainable Development Goal 12 Responsible consumption and production.

Ethical sourcing policy 

We have policies on ethical sourcing of food and supplies. These include:

• Sustainable Food Policy (2023)
• Animal Welfare Policy (2023-24)
• Fairtrade Policy (2022)

Disposable policy: extensions to services

Our environmental policies extend to outsourced services and the supply chain through our approach to responsible procurement, which ensures our outsourced suppliers of services, and supplier outsourced services, are responsible for a full range of social, economic and environmental considerations, including minimisation of plastics and disposable items.

Our Sustainable Procurement Action Plan (reviewed 2023) details how our policies extend to our services. Our ES website showcases our policies around minimising disposable plastics and items, and states these policies also extend to the outsourcing of services, including construction. Contractors for Construction and refurbishment are required to consider environmental sustainability across every stage of construction works, to ensure resource efficiency in design and operation and limit negative environmental impact. For any project exceeding £100,000 or of environmental significance, suppliers must complete an Environmental Sustainability Project Tracker, which sets clear targets for resource efficiency, energy use, and environmental impact. Additionally, we require that building contractors build to a minimum BREEAM “Excellent” rating for new builds, and “Very Good” for refurbishments. BREEAM is a leading sustainability assessment that measures a building’s environmental performance. To ensuring adherence to these high sustainability standards, the University appoints Environmental Sustainability Advisors who guide and monitor large-scale developments.

Minimisation policies extended to suppliers

Suppliers to the University, including those providing equipment, stationery, and building contracts, are required to minimize their use of disposable materials through the procedures established for awarding and managing university contracts, following our approach to responsible procurement. This ensures that outsourced suppliers and our supply chain address a full range of social, economic, and environmental considerations as outlined in our Sustainable Procurement Action Plan (reviewed 2023).

In addition, our Supplier Terms and Conditions (ESG) include specific provisions requiring suppliers to minimize any negative impact on climate and biodiversity, as well as reduce their own greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We track and monitor behavior and actions throughout our supply chain to ensure compliance.

As part of our Supplier Engagement Program, particularly through the UOM Supplier Engagement Tool, we collect and track suppliers’ sustainability credentials, including supply chain emissions data and carbon reduction plans. The tool supports suppliers in reducing their carbon footprint, minimizing waste, and encouraging reuse, contributing to building more sustainable supply chains.

For example, our contract with Computer Disposal Limited (CDL) ensures that this outsourced supplier reuses equipment with local charities and developing countries. Additionally, we are the first UK university to meet Level 5 of the Government’s Flexible Framework for responsible procurement, which includes outsourced suppliers, and we employ an award-winning Net Positive Tool.

Waste disposal

Our training procedures provide regulation and guidance to ensure the correct disposal of waste, covering hazardous materials.

Our university has established processes, policies, and practices to ensure hazardous waste is managed responsibly. The 2024 Environmental Sustainability Code of Practice for Professional Services outlines operational priorities, including the safe handling and disposal of hazardous waste. The Environmental Sustainability Strategy sets specific targets and initiatives related to waste management, including hazardous materials. We follow ‘Control of Substances Hazardous to Health‘ (COSHH) regulations, offering training and guidance on safe usage and disposal of potentially toxic substances, particularly in our laboratories. To track chemicals, we use the mandatory Lab Cup inventory system, alongside the LEAF (Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework), ensuring proper chemical labelling, storage, and disposal in line with our Hazardous Waste Policy.

We also have policies to measure the amount of waste sent to landfill and recycled, with commitments to reducing overall waste production. These policies are outlined in our 2023 Environmental Sustainability strategy (Sections 5.1 and 5.4). Our waste disposal policy aims for zero waste to be sent to landfill. The strategy also includes programmes and targets for recycling and landfill diversion, supported by our waste contract, which contains mandatory requirements for achieving zero waste to landfill. Our ES website provides links to initiatives that align with these policies and targets.

The University is committed to developing sustainable waste management practices and upholding the principles of reduce, re-use, and recycle across the organisation. We aim to recycle 45% of the waste produced through campus operations by 2025 and to divert 100% of waste—including general, clinical, and offensive—from landfill through our new waste contracts starting in 2023.

Where disposal of waste is the only viable option, we actively seek to use more sustainable treatment technologies to reduce waste sent to landfill. Our policy and current waste contract ensures that zero waste is sent direct to landfill. This is achieved by taking all non-recyclable (residual*) waste to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Trafford Park where it is shredded before it is transferred to a facility in FerryBridge in West Yorkshire run by Multifuel Energy Ltd where it is used as a Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF). For more details visit our operational web pages.

Waste measurement

Our university as a body measures the amount of waste generated and recycled across the university. In 2022/23 the amount of waste produced across the whole University, including residences and construction waste is 2,423.7 tonnes. Of this, 2,397.4 tonnes were recycled (including composting, anaerobic digestion, and energy recovery) and 26.3 tonnes were sent to landfill.

Over the same time frame, the amount of waste that was produced solely on campus, and its end of life, can be found here: Waste and Recycling (The University of Manchester).

Plastic minimisation

We have multiple policies which cover minimising plastic usage. These include:

• Responsible Plastics action plan (reviewed 2024) – outlines our commitment, progress, and targets for minimizing plastic waste, and exploring opportunities for plastic reuse and recycling.
• 6R Responsible Plastics Protocol – a campus inititative designed to promote the plastic waste hierarchy of reduce, and reuse.
• Targets for more sustainable laboratories (LEAF) – a set of laboratory standards which include the minimisation of plastic.
• Material Resources Management Group – oversee the development of proposals to drive efficiencies and embed whole life cycle considerations into decision making and operations across the University.

Disposable items

We prioritize responsible procurement to minimize disposable items and support a circular economy. Our commitments are outlined in the Resource Management section (5.4) of our Environmental Sustainability strategy (2023 – 2028) which encourages reuse. We ensure compliance with these policies internally and extend them to outsourced services and our supply chain through our Sustainable Procurement Action Plan and Supplier Engagement  procedures.

Our policies around minimisation of disposable items include:

• Plastic 6R approach – a campus wide initiative to always promote the waste hierarchy of reduce, and reuse.
• Targets for more sustainable laboratories (LEAF) – a set of laboratory standards which include the minimisation of disposable items.
• Material Resources Management Group – oversee the development of proposals to drive efficiencies and embed whole life cycle considerations into decision making and operations across the University.
• Responsible Plastics action plan – outlines our commitment, progress, and targets for minimizing plastic waste.

The University also has specific initiatives which minimise wastage through reuse. For example, the Bee Cup scheme, a reusable cup scheme, aims to reduce the number of single-use paper cups used at our campus café locations. Our Furniture Reuse Store diverted 99.6 tonnes from landfill through reuse by the University and local schools and charities. The IT Reuse Centre diverted 5 tonnes through internal reuse during the same period. Our Give It Don’t Bin It student reuse scheme sent 53.7 tonnes of unwanted resources to the British Heart Foundation.