Lincoln University Catering’s drastic reduction in plastic use in its kitchens was recognised at last night’s Selwyn Responsible Business Awards for sustainable practice, with it claiming the top Lincoln area award.
This year, Catering started making its own yoghurt, eliminating over 2000 plastic one litre containers. Additionally, by changing from individual PCU jams to bulk jams and spreads, it saved around 29,000 plastic PCU containers from landfill.
Plastic milk bottles used by Catering and the cafes on campus are also now returned to Fonterra and are recycled into fence posts. It has audited all the ingredients used to ensure that none contain palm oil, and stopped using any that do.
Catering, which also received a platinum award, shared the accolades with other university bodies.
The Lincoln University Recreation Centre received a gold award for supporting community health initiatives, reducing waste and managing energy, and Lincworks (now called Facilities Management) received a platinum award for providing support for the many sustainable initiatives on campus.
The Lincoln University Early Childhood Centre (in the Crescent) also received a platinum award for its continued focus on teaching the younger generation how to be eco-friendly and sustainable.
The awards are run by the Lincoln Envirotown Trust (with financial support from the Selwyn District Council).
Congratulations to all those involved.