Annual Report on Sustainability Performance 2015/16
Environmental Management System and ISO14001
In 2010, the University successfully achieved the international standard ISO14001:2004 for its
Environmental Management System (EMS) with re-certification being achieved in October
2013 as approved by Lloyds Register Quality Assurance UK (LRQA). The University’s
ISO14001:2004 certification expires in October 2016 and a decision was made to transition to
the new version of the standard ISO14001:2015 at this time. A transition audit was conducted
by LRQA in June 2016 as a gap analysis and a number of both major and minor nonconformities against the requirements of the new standard were identified. These were
addressed by the Environment and Sustainability Manager over the summer 2016 in order to
meet the new requirements and be on track for re-certification scheduled for September 2016.
As part of the transitioning process a review of our environmental impacts was conducted in
July 2016 which showed that our significant aspects arising from our activities, products and
services remain the same. The impacts from these are managed and mitigated within the
system and they are themed into the following; waste management, travel, procurement,
pollution prevention, natural resources and land development and refurbishment.
The new standard recognises the indirect environmental impacts that arise and expects
businesses to take a life-cycle approach and consider impacts that occur during the use of
products and services, and at end-of-life. At UCLan the products and services that can be
influenced through the EMS have be given greater prominence; these include supporting
suppliers through supply chain management and influencing students through both the formal
and informal curriculum.
The revised standard also includes the requirement to consider the internal and external
drivers for environmental management so that the context in which the organisation operates
is formally recorded. To meet this requirement an externally facilitated workshop was held in
June 2016 with internal stakeholders to help identify the environmental risks as well as
opportunities that are relevant to higher education sector.
Procedures detailing operational controls to manage or mitigate our six significant impacts
continue to be implemented with relevant operations regularly audited by the SHE Section to
ensure compliance. In addition, to meet the new requirements the internal audit programme
will include audits against the clauses detailed in ISO14001:2015. Six monthly surveillance
audits undertaken by LRQA will also continue to ensure that the University remains on track
for the three year ISO14001 re-certification audit cycle.
Clair Engl, Environment and Sustainability Manager, December 2016
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Strategic Commitments
The Vice Chancellor, Mike Thomas and the Students’ Union president, Sana Aqbal approved
the revised Environmental Sustainability Policy in July 2016. The publically available Policy
forms the framework for environmental management at UCLan and is applicable to the day to
day activities of all staff and students with implementation centrally coordinated by Facilities
Management. The University published a new 5 year Strategy 2015-2020 in which the
University commits to the transformational change of the Preston campus underpinned by a
commitment to environmental sustainability. The University also announced a £200 million
Masterplan for Preston which includes the objective of creating a healthy, safe, active and
sustainable campus.
Progress against Agreed Targets
Within the EMS, the three-year Environmental Management Plan (2016-2019) drives continual
improvement. There are 8 areas under which an Objective, Target and a series of Actions
have been agreed in order to continually improve on our environmental performance in these
areas. At the end of the reporting year 2015/16 the following metrics apply.
Objective
Energy; Absolute carbon emissions
associated with the consumption of electricity
and gas by 2020 to be less than 2013/14
Target
Building Energy Intensity to be
reduced by 1.5% each year
Potable Water; Reduce water consumption
by 50% by 2020 based on the 2006/7
baseline
Reduce water consumption by 2%
every year
Construction & Refurbishment; Manage
and minimise the environmental impact of the
alteration and or construction of buildings
including the enhancement of biodiversity
New buildings to obtain BREEAM
Excellent. Full building
refurbishments to obtain BREEAM
Very Good
Pollution; Minimise the potential to pollute
the environment with hazardous materials
Reported Local incidents, nonconformities or near misses to be
less than 5 per year
Sustainable Procurement; Fully embed
sustainability across the University’s
procurement practices through
implementation of the Flexible Framework
Achieve Level 4 of the Flexible
Framework by 2017
Waste & Recycling; Reduce the total mass of
operational
waste
generated
through
implementation of the waste hierarchy
embedding a culture of reduction, re-use,
recycling
Commuting & Business Travel; Reduce
the carbon emissions associated with
business and commuting travel through
implementation of the Travel Plan
Total recycling and composting
rates to reach 65% by 2018
Environmental
Management
System;
Ensure the significant environmental aspects
of the University operations are continually
reduced and mitigated via the EMS
Obtain University certification to
ISO14001:2015 by 2016
On Track/
Off Track
Solo car commuting rates (staff) to
meet 47% by 2018. Set University
business travel modal split targets
for domestic solo car use by 2018
Clair Engl, Environment and Sustainability Manager, December 2016
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Governance
Actions within the Environmental Management Plan are tracked via a series of Sustainable
Development Improvement Groups to ensure that continual improvement takes place and
that Targets are met. Progress is reported both to the Environmental Management Review
chaired by Paul Morris, Director of Facilities Management and to the Safety, Health and
Environment Committee chaired by Michael Ahern, Chief Operating Officer to ensure that
senior management are kept informed and that adequate resources are provided.
The FM Green Team has been active throughout the year providing a shared mailbox
[email protected] to facilitate communication on environment and sustainability
issues to staff and students.
Energy and Carbon Investments
During the last academic year the University invested £300,000 in carbon reduction projects
across the campus. We continued with the LED lighting upgrades and this year included
Vernon Lecture Theatre, Eden Halls of Residence, the Students’ Union Opportunities
Centre, Adelphi Conference room and corridor and all photocopier rooms across
campus. We have also installed air toilets in Foster which used 80% less water per flush
than a standard toilet and new energy and water efficient water stills in the
laboratories. Despite these investments, year on year, absolute carbon emissions continue
to rise as a result of an increased estate size, extended opening times in some buildings and
a greater reliance on electrical equipment. The estate will continue to increase as part the
Masterplan project making the carbon targets we had set for 2020 unachievable, therefore
new targets have been set and detailed in a new Carbon Management Plan 2015-2020.
However, meeting these new targets will still be challenging with a reduced budget for
investment into carbon reduction projects proposed for 2016/17.
The HESA submission for 2014/15 showed that total scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions had
slightly increased (less than 1%) and the emissions per m2 had increased from 80.90
kWh/m2 to 81.54 kWh/m2.
Implementing the Waste Hierarchy
FM’s waste and recycling team have continued to collect recycling at source throughout
2015/16. This ensures that high quality recyclates can be collected and provide an income
stream for the University. Building Managers have helped distribute hundreds of desk top
recyclers to staff offices and removed personal waste bins to encourage the source
segregation of waste and recycling. In our halls of residences new Recycling Bags were
distributed to student kitchens.
The University tendered for a new external waste contractor in early 2016 to collect general
waste and this was awarded to Bagnall and Morris (B&M), a carbon neutral company
committed to recycling led waste management. B&M collect general waste which is recovered
as Refuse Derived Fuel meaning less than 5% of our waste goes to landfill.
Clair Engl, Environment and Sustainability Manager, December 2016
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Waste Disposal Routes 2015-2016
Landfill
Refuse
Derived Fuel
Hazardous
waste (inc
Batteries,
WEEE)
Food waste composted
Recycled
Re-use externally
Re-use is a key element of the waste hierarchy and in support of this the University now has
three permanent stationery ‘shops’ across campus which distribute unwanted stationery to
students with lever arch files and box files being particularly popular items. The FM Waste and
Recycling team also relaunched the end of year re-use scheme with the British Heart
Foundation, siting new larger donation banks outside halls of residences resulting in the
number of donations increasing by over 100% compared to 2015. The FM Estates team also
continued to store furniture for re-distribution internally, reducing the need to purchase new
items and also donated in bulk to local charities. Disposable coffee cups continue to make up
a significant portion of general waste and to reduce this waste stream china mugs have been
trialled in the Coffee Cube, KeepCups are on sale and discounts on hot drinks continue all
designed to encourage staff and students to use re-usable cups.
Travel Plan
During 2015-16 sustainable travel initiatives continued to progress in support of the
University’s Travel Plan. Improvements included replacement of worn cycle racks across
campus and additional cycle lockers bringing the total number of individual bike lockers for
hire to 46. Dr. Bike, providing free bike maintenance and repair service, has been on campus
most months and has been particularly popular in 2015/16. Discounted bus tickets for staff
and students continued with both Stagecoach and Preston Bus.
However, despite these investments results from the annual staff travel surveys were
disappointing. Staff solo car commuting at 54% and student solo car commuting at 22%
meaning staff and student targets were off target by 4% and 6% respectively. It is envisaged
that as central car parks close, as the Master Plan develops, and parking is moved to the
periphery at Fylde Rd then more staff may switch to sustainable modes.
Clair Engl, Environment and Sustainability Manager, December 2016
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Staff Commuting Modal Split
Car Solo
11%
6%
12%
AIR
Car Share
54%
7%
% Modal Split Domestic Business
Travel
BUS
TAXI
Bus
Rail
10%
CAR HIRE
Cycle
RAIL
GREY
FLEET
Walk
Domestic business travel modes and carbon emissions are also measured via the Travel Plan.
Modal split analysis shows that rail travel is the most popular mode followed by private vehicles
(referred to as grey fleet) with grey fleet accounting for 42% of carbon emissions associated
with domestic business travel.
Engagement
Green Week again took place in February 2016 and was delivered by the FM Green Team
and SU Green Ladder. The week was organised around 5 daily themes; food, travel, waste,
water and energy. A focus for the week’s events was on individual responsibilities to ‘be the
change’ using an on-line DoNation pledge scheme for students and staff to make a
commitment to carry out easy environmental actions for a period of 3 months so that they
become habits for life.
The University agreed to financially support staffing of the SU Green Ladder project in 2015/16
in order that the remaining funds from the 2 year NUS Green Fund were utilised. The real
success of the project has been the recruitment of student staff who have worked on projects
from Green Impact, helping the SU secure a Gold Award and work done to embed
sustainability across the curriculum. Student staff not only bring their creative skills and
enthusiasm to the different projects but they also themselves move up the Green Ladder to
ensure legacy of the project both on campus and in their future careers.
In 2015/16 the new Welcome Village served to eco-welcome students to UCLan with the FM
Green Team staff and SU Green Ladder attending the Good to Know days to distribute
freebies such as unwanted stationery, re-usable bags and water bottles to encourage
sustainable behaviours.
Clair Engl, Environment and Sustainability Manager, December 2016
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