Budgeting for Sustainability
The University supports sustainability through a number of budgets.
The Sustainability Team and small projects are all supported through the University's operational staffing budgets.
The Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor (Sustainability) post has been created to build upon and enhance the University’s sustainability credentials. They seek to embed sustainability throughout our culture, community, campus, and curriculum, working towards a sustainable and resilient future, where Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå°æ positively impacts Wales and the wider world.
Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå°æ has committed to holding itself accountable to the prestigious external accreditation for environmental management systems, ISO14001:2015 since 2014.
Budget for Student and Staff Sustainability Projects
Any larger projects that can enhance sustainability at Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå°æ or support the achievement of our ambitious annual targets are taken to the Sustainability Implementation Group for approval of funds.
Examples of funding for numerous waste reduction schemes that have taken place over the last few years.
25 by 25 Sustainability Campaign
This staff and student campaign launched in November 2022. In February 2023, a number of staff and student ideas received University funding. See more information on our 25 by 25 website.
Circular Economy Capital Fund 2020-21
In 2021 we were successful in applying for over £200,000 to further develop our current position as a Resource Efficient Institution. This enabled us to redevelop one of our composting facilities, the introduction of ‘on-the-go’ recycling litter bins (made from recycled content), and purchase 4 electric vehicles and charging points.
Energy Efficiency
We invest many hundreds of thousands of pounds in carbon reduction, with a dedicated annual budget of 5% (circa £120,000) of our energy bills set aside for specific projects and initiatives each year, for items not addressed through the maintenance budget for replacing assets due to normal wear and tear.
Between 2018 and 2019, Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå°æ invested £2.5 million in energy efficiency improvements as part of the Welsh Government’s ReFit Cymru scheme. In total, the scheme is projected to reduce the University’s energy consumption by around 12%. For more information, see the ReFit Case Â鶹´«Ã½¸ßÇå°æ page.