Sustainable campus operations

We are dedicated to minimising our impact on the environment both locally and globally. With a campus of more than 250 buildings, 12,500 students and employing more than 2,000 staff, energy consumption is a key factor and something that we are determined to minimise.

Plans and policies

We achieved our 2020 carbon reduction target of 34% against a 1990 baseline a year early and are now putting in place ambitious plans to become Carbon neutral by 2030. We have a renewable energy park installed on our campus, with 12,500 solar PV arrays, two wind turbines and large scale battery storage which will reduce our emissions by 1,500 Tonnes of CO2e annually and provide 50% of the campus electricity.

Through considerable investment in infrastructure and the implementation of an internationally recognised Energy Management System, we’ve managed to reduce our carbon footprint significantly compared to 1990 despite having grown considerably in both size and student numbers.

We are committed to continual improvement including a specific focus on improving the energy efficiency of campus buildings, replacing our reliance on fossil fuels with low and zero carbon generation and the implementation of a Smart Energy Network Demonstrator (SEND). The SEND project in particular is an exciting development that will see the deployment of emerging technologies on campus which will inform the future shape of the national and international energy sector.

Energy efficiency funding

Since 2010, The University has invested more than £3m in projects that have reduced both our energy consumption and carbon emissions. These projects include the installation of new efficient boilers with the ability to switch to electric powered boilers to utilise renewably sourced energy, the replacement of inefficient lighting systems, improved insulation, and more - providing an expected lifetime carbon savings of over 35,000 tonnes. We've been so successful that we were shortlisted for a Green Gown Award in the carbon reduction category in 2016.

Energy efficiency case studies

• Energy Efficiency Case Studies: Student Union Lighting‌
• ‌Energy Efficiency Case Study: Air Source Heat Pump

Our sustainable procurement goal is to procure goods and services in ways that maximise efficiency and effectiveness while minimising social, environmental and other risks.

Since September 2017 Keele University has had access to an innovative, online Supplier Engagement Tool which:

• Supports suppliers to develop a Net Positive Sustainability Action Plan for their business
• Helps suppliers understand the contribution their business makes to the environment, society and the economy
• Gathers data on the sustainability actions being undertaken by suppliers to Keele University
• Enables Keele University to demonstrate progress in relation to our suppliers’ actions to eradicate Modern Day Slavery

Further information can be found on our Procurement webpages.

Waste management within the University has a key role to play in meeting our sustainability objectives, through minimising waste generated, maximising the potential of materials through reuse, recycling and energy recovery, and reducing carbon emissions by diverting waste from landfill.

Keele University introduced a full waste and recycling scheme in 2010 and since then has seen our recycling rate rise from under 10% to now over 50%. We have also introduced various initiatives to reduce waste and recycle, such as our partnership with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) to encourage students living in Halls of Residence to donate unwanted items.

Keele University campus is set on 600 acres and waste is generated from a range of sources including academic teaching buildings, laboratories and central services buildings, Halls of Residence, Campus grounds, and construction activity. The University’s main waste streams include:

• General
• Dry Mixed Recycling (DMR)
• Food
• Green / campus grounds
• Glass
• WEEE
• Confidential
• Construction and refurbishment

We aim to improve the environmental impact of waste generated, primarily through ensuring that materials are treated as far up the waste hierarchy as possible, i.e. trying to prevent waste being created in the first instance, then prioritising reuse, recycling and recovery of materials over their disposal.

Our key objectives

Objective 1: To manage waste responsibly and in line with all relevant legislation and regulation.

Objective 2: a) To work in partnership with our contractor to continually reduce the environmental impact of our waste, by using the waste hierarchy as a guiding principle, and as a result, control waste management costs.
b) Our waste contractor provides accurate monthly waste consumptions (Kg) data relevant for all waste streams so that the University can understand the quantities of its waste sent for re-use, recycling, recovery or final disposal.

Objective 3: Make our waste management system easy to use and understand for all people at the University.

We have also made a commitment of “Zero waste direct to landfill” which means that any waste that doesn't get reused or recycled is sent for disposal to energy from waste plants. Less than 1% of the University's waste is disposed of to landfill (excluding construction waste).

What you can do as a student

Recycling on campus

The University's waste contractor collects dry mixed recyclables from external bin stores on campus, which is sent for sorting and processed into the individual waste recycling streams. Internal recycling bins are available across all academic, central services buildings, and the Keele Business Park.

Dry mixed recycling should be segregated from General waste. Cardboard, paper, plastic bottles, tins and cans can be recycled in mixed recycling bins.

Recycling in halls of residence

• Mixed recycling should be segregated from general waste and glass within the kitchen bins.
• Use recycling bins with clear bags for paper, cardboard, tins and cans and plastic bottles.

*please note, we can only recycle plastic bottles, not all types of plastic. If a plastic item isn't a plastic bottle, it needs to go into the general waste bin. Please don’t contaminate the recycling bins with the wrong type of waste and don’t put any plastic bags into recycling bins: Dry Mixed Recycling

• You need to segregate glass and take it directly to your nearest bin store.
• The Great Donate- As students move out 'The Great Donate' collects usable items that studnets don't/can't take home with them.
• Donate clothes to the British Heart Foundation via the big red donation banks at each Hall - all year round!
• Donate unopened non-perishable food items via donation trays that are placed in each Hall kitchen at the end of term (mid May)
• Donate kitchen equipment and other items via your nearest Halls social space or to the SU ground floor from mid May onwards 

 Campus map of donation and collection points

Bulky cardboard, such as boxes used for packaging, should be placed directly into the bins located in external bin stores. 'Cardboard only' eurobins are found in most bin stores, in addition to the Dry Mixed Recycling eurobins. Cardboard can also be placed in the Dry Mixed Recycling bins but the preferred option is to place them in the 'cardboard only' bins. This helps reduce costs and improve the efficiency of recycling.

Information for staff can be found on the Sustainability Staff Intranet pages.

What we have done

• The Great Donate scheme
• Working with the Student Union and student volunteers We collect and redistribute kitchenware and other items to students starting University in the following semester.
• Working closely with staff from the Trussell Trust (local food bank) and our Accommodation team we provide collection boxes within all of the Halls of Residence kitchen diners at the end of term. We have nearly 3,000 students and over 400 bedrooms across campus and the overall donations amount to 2.5 Tonnes annually, equating to around 7,000 meals to be provided to people in crisis.
• We have British Heart Foundation (BHF) donation points at each of the Halls of Residence where students can donate unwanted items such as clothing, shoes, accessories, CDs, DVDs, books, kitchenware and small electrical items. 100% of the profits raised will go towards the fight against heart disease and fund the BHF’s life-saving research. Since starting to work with the BHF in 2013 donations have now raised over £100,000.
• Schools and Directorates can exchange surplus furniture and other items by placing the items on Warp- it. Warp-it makes it very easy for staff to give and get surplus items to/from other staff. If items are not required within Keele University then we offer them to our partner charities. Since launching Warp-it in 2017 we’ve saved over £25,000 in procurement and waste disposal costs, saved over 5 Tonnes of waste and 11 Tonnes of CO2e.

Keele University is committed to providing sustainable food options, by promoting healthier options, reducing environmental impact, and fostering social responsibility.

From drastically reducing food waste across our campus and developing carbon calculated conference lunches, to growing our own herbs and produce on-campus and eliminating the use of single-use plastics wherever possible, we are constantly monitoring how we source, provide, and promote sustainable food options and practice within the University’s community of students, staff and external visitors.

As part of establishing a long-term plan to help source, produce and deliver sustainable food options, our newly-developed Sustainability in Food Code of Practice focuses on the following key areas:

• Sourcing and suppliers
• Carbon
• Health
• Education
• Waste (food and packaging/disposables)
• Society

The Sustainability in Food Code of Practice can be found here and below.

> Sustainability in Food Code of Practice

Keele University is committed to managing water use efficiently whilst also ensuring robust plans are in place to minimise the risk of pollution from water related activities. We implemented our first Water Management Plan in 2019 and have seen water consumption in the 19/20 academic year reduce by 20% year on year. To build on this success we launched a Water Efficiency Strategy that details our objectives, targets and actions to reduce water usage on campus.

The Keele University campus is similar to a small city. As such, we look after a vast network of privately owned utilities including more than 16km of mains water pipes. We provide water for Halls of Residence, Staff Flats and Housing, Academic and Central Services Buildings, including laboratories, and the Science Park buildings.

During the 2018/19 academic year Keele University campus consumed 332,336m3 of water (That’s 330 million litres!).

Electric vehicles 

To encourage campus users to travel to the University in a sustainable way, we have installed a number of electric vehicle charging points that are available to all staff, students and visitors. 

All of our charging units utilise type 2 connectors and are located at: 

• Students Union
• Sports Centre
• David Weatherall
• Nursery
• Vet School
• IC7
• Home Farm Sustainability Hub (please note only one dedicated parking bay)
• IC3 (Science Park users only) 

EV campus charging map

The points are currently free to use although we regularly review this and may introduce charging in the future. Please note that you will still be required to Pay & Display or be in possession of a valid university parking permit for all campus car parks. 

We do ask that users of charging points are considerate to other users. Please only use if you need to charge and once complete consider moving to a standard space to allow others to use the charger. 

If you experience any problems whilst charging, please contact the estates department either by emailing estates@keele.ac.uk or by phoning 01782 733137. 

Cycling 

Many staff and students cycle from home to Keele University campus. The campus has plenty of cycle racks, and there is plenty of help and support on campus – we even have a basic toolkit outside the Sports Centre you can use! 

The Keele Bicycle Users Group can help fellow cyclists with advice on cycling to campus. More information on cycling here. 

Staff can take advantage of the Cycle2work scheme to hire a bicycle on a long term basis through contributions made directly from their salary. More information about the Cycle2work scheme here.

Car share 

We do not currently operate a Car Share scheme. 

Public transport 

Information on travelling to Keele can be found here.

Travelling around Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme? 

Exclusive to Keele Card holders, the Keele Key Bus Ticket is ONE ticket that can be used on any First Potteries or D&G bus in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent. If you need to use both a First Potteries bus and a D&G bus on the same day, this ticket is ideal for you! Find out more here. 

Walking to campus 

Keele University campus is within walking distance to the local community in Newcastle-Under-Lyme. Both Silverdale and the Westlands areas are accessible by public footpath which include beautiful countryside and an opportunity to enjoy nature! 

The University’s Environment and Energy Policy commits to “Ensure Environmental and Energy best practice is properly considered and appropriately applied within all new build and refurbishment projects.”

The overall aim is for all developments to achieve the following standards:

New buildings (> £1m)

• BREEAM rating Excellent or equivalent and,
• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Asset Rating of A and,
• Display Energy Certificate (DEC) Operational Rating of C or above in the first year following completion

Refurbishments (>£1m)

• SKA HE Gold rating or equivalent or,
• BREEM refurbishment rating Excellent

Keele University uses BREEAM as the primary standard to achieve its sustainability aims in new builds and major refurbishments. BREEAM credits provide a universal measurement of the efficiency and environmental impacts of a development. Comprising of two key parts; a design stage assessment and post construction assessment, developments must demonstrate standards against the following themes:

• energy and carbon emissions
• energy management
• materials and waste
• commissioning and handover
• customer awareness
• water consumption and management
• pollution
• travel
• health
• ecology

What we have done

A number of buildings have been built on campus over the last few years that have achieved BREEAM Excellent standard. These include:

• Lennard Jones Wet Labs – BREEAM Excellent
• Barnes Halls of Residence Y and Z blocks – BREEAM Excellent
• Smart Innovation Hub (SIH) – BREEAM Excellent

The Estate and Campus Services Directorate Projects team are responsible for the management and supervision of new building and refurbishment works on campus. Further information on current and future new build and refurbishment projects can be found here.