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:
Outsourced suppliers and the supply chain
Suppliers to the University of, for example, equipment, stationary and building contracts are required to minimise their use of disposable materials through procedures in the award and management of university contracts through our approach to responsible procurement. For example, as part of our Supplier Engagement Tool we receive information from suppliers on their management of waste and single-use/disposable items.
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. Any project exceeding £100,000 in value or that of an environmental nature is required to complete our environmental sustainability project tracker. The tracker outlines the sustainability targets projects are expected to meet. External consultants such as Environmental Sustainability Advisors are appointed to manage the targets throughout our large-scale developments.
Waste disposal
Our training procedures provide regulation and guidance to ensure the correct disposal of waste, covering hazardous materials. We provide guidance for hazardous waste identification, moving hazardous waste and record keeping in relation to hazardous waste.
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 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 – mapping out our progress on plastic minimisation so far and our targets to achieve by 2025.
- 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.
Disposable items
We have policies around use minimisation of disposable items. These include:
- Responsible Plastics Action Plan – covering disposable items used across our catering facilities, offices, events, and laboratories.
- 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.
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, 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.