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Bournemouth University gains 'First Class' honours in green university ranking

14 June 2013

  • Placed 11th among the 45 most ethical and environmental-friendly UK universities
  • Marked Excellent for Environmental Policy, Environmental Auditing & Management Systems, Sustainable Food, Education & Learning, and Waste & Recycling

Bournemouth University has been awarded a First Class Award and ranked 11th out of 143 universities in the People & Planet Green League 2013 - the UK's only comprehensive and independent green ranking of universities unveiled today (11 June) in The Guardian.

The People & Planet Green League, an annual ranking by the UK's largest national student campaign group, assesses the environmental and ethical performance of all universities, awarding First Class 'degrees' to the greenest and 'Fails' to those doing the least to address their environmental impacts. Bournemouth University is among 45 institutions to achieve a 'First' in 2013, for the fourth year running.

Key green initiatives at BU include:

  • Implementation of the EcoCampus environmental management system
  • a challenging carbon reduction target with over 30 carbon management plan projects completed to date
  • significant investment in a 500kW biomass boiler to provide space heating to the University's Poole House complex using renewable carbon neutral woodchip
  • recycling 52 per cent of campus generated waste, including the roll out of a food waste recycling scheme; and zero waste to landfill with residual waste now going to produce refuse derived fuel
  • a wide ranging programme of behavioural change campaigns, from the annual Green Week celebrations to the Village Green inter-halls competition
  • Fairtrade University Status since 2006
  • initiatives to reduce the University's impact across all areas, including energy management, travel, sustainable procurement, water consumption, sustainable construction, sustainable food and biodiversity management
  • a gold award for the Students' Union at BU in the Green Impact Union Awards in 2013

Jim Andrews, Bournemouth University's Chief Operating Officer said: "As part of our strategic plan, BU2018, we committed to reduce the impact BU has on the environment. I am delighted that the commitment both staff and students give to this agenda has been recognised once again and that as a result BU has achieved a 'first' for the 4th year in a row."

Amanda Williams, Environment & Energy Manager, said: "We are delighted that our work to reduce the environmental impact of Bournemouth University has been recognised again by People & Planet in 2013. Our strong performance and good practice in this area is acknowledgement of the importance that we place on sustainability here at BU.

"With so many exciting projects already underway and many more to come, we look forward to making further improvements in our environmental performance over the coming year and would like to thank students and staff for their on-going support."

Louise Hazan, who compiled the People & Planet Green League, said: "The first class award represents an incredible achievement by the staff, students and management at Bournemouth University. There's a lot they can all be proud of in this year's Green League scorecard, particularly the improvements in renewable energy and sustainable food. Bournemouth is among the few universities to be consistently in our top 20, and is setting a great example for the rest of the higher education sector in many areas."

For further information, please visit: http://peopleandplanet.org/greenleague or email gfrog@bournemouth.ac.uk

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