March | 2023 | Sustainability

The International Day of Zero Waste aims to promote zero-waste initiatives and approaches that will contribute toward the progression of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. A move toward a zero-waste society is a necessary process due to overconsumption and excessive production across a large portion of the world. To reduce the amount of waste that is being produced globally, new waste management initiatives are required to influence change at every level across society.

The United Nations Environment Program organised #ZeroWasteDay to raise global awareness to facts that demonstrate the environmental impact of waste.

“Every minute, the equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic is dumped into the ocean”
“Resource extraction is responsible for half of the world’s carbon emissions”
The United Nations Environment Programme

What is ‘zero waste’?

The zero-waste approach refers to a move away from mass consumption and waste disposal towards a reduction in waste with the development of a circular economy. The concept of a circular economy aims to redesign products so they are durable, repairable and recyclable to ensure less materials and resources require extraction and energy to produce new products.

How is Newcastle University addressing waste?

Circular Economy

A movement towards a circular economy would go a very long way when attempting to tackle waste pollution. The concept of a circular economy uses the core principles of the Waste Hierarchy such as reducing production and re-using our existing materials, which the University is attempting to embed within our waste management processes. Embedding a circular economy approach will contribute to reducing the scope 3 carbon emissions from treatment of waste in addition to emissions related to purchased goods and services at the University. To learn more about this you can read the Circular economy section in our Climate Action Plan.

A diagram of the waste hierarchy of most to least preferred waste
management actions from our Climate Action Plan.

Introducing labs at the University to the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework

LEAF was made and is managed by University College London (UCL), and is a framework designed to improve the efficiency and sustainability of laboratories. LEAF provides a standard for labs to work on decreasing their carbon emissions and environmental impacts. Newcastle University has been using the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) for the last year, and there are labs making huge strides to improve their sustainability.

The online platform has actions for lab users to complete relating to waste, travel, energy, water and more. Lab users create Lab Groups and work through Bronze, Silver and Gold criteria.

We currently have 20 labs on the LEAF platform, and 14 awards have been given for labs completing the criteria!

If you work in a laboratory at the University, register with LEAF to reduce the carbon impact of your laboratory work.

Furniture Reuse

There is a dedicated mailing list for furniture reuse available to all Newcastle University colleagues, which currently has over 600 members! Small amounts of furniture that needs a new home can be listed for another member to claim to reduce the need for purchasing new furniture or equipment, and to prevent it going to waste.

By sharing equipment and furniture that is no longer required saves money, resources and energy, and contributes towards embedding the circular economy principles into university practice.

If you would like to join the mailing list, just send an email to sustainable-campus@newcastle.ac.uk with the subject ‘Join Furniture Reuse’.

We share ideas and resources related to waste management across multiple channels

This blog

Our blog, Sustainability includes posts that introduce subjects that are related to sustainability and social & environmental justice in an approachable and digestible way. Our blog is a great resource if you would like to explore topics such as reducing waste in everyday life through small sustainable swaps for your bathroom and kitchen alongside an introduction to the problem of food waste.

Twitter

Over on Twitter, we share our own information and resources amongst outlining our progress in achieving targets. You will also find that we retweet resources shared by other universities, environmental charities and organisations such as the United Nations that introduce new ideas, tips and tricks for individuals and other organisation to use to begin their journey to zero waste.

Sustainability Network

Our Sustainability Network is a newsletter to keep you updated on all things sustainability at Newcastle University. We also share relevant opportunities and events that are happening on campus and in the city that colleagues and students alike can get involved with.

If you would like to join the Sustainability Network, you can sign up here.

There are many ways that energy is created across the world, and these are grouped into renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Non-renewable energy refers to natural sources that take thousands of years to form and produce harmful greenhouse gases when they are burned for energy. The most used non-renewable energy sources are coal, oil, and gas, also known as fossil fuels.

When fossil fuels are burned, they produce greenhouse gas emissions which trap in the world’s heat and raise the global temperature. The world is currently experiencing a climate crisis due to increased global temperature. There are numerous negative impacts that are being felt internationally due to the climate crisis, such as increased natural disasters and accelerated loss of species.

Renewable energy refers to various natural sources that replenish themselves rapidly, unlike non-renewable energy sources. Sources of renewable energy include solar, wind, wave, geothermal, tidal, and hydro-electric.

Within this post we will be outlining what solar energy is, how solar energy works, and we will explore solar energy’s presence on Newcastle University’s estate.

What is solar energy?

Solar energy is initially generated by the sun in a constant and renewable process of nuclear fusion. This energy is what lights and warms our planet during the day.

How is solar energy turned into usable power?

Solar energy can be harnessed using multiple methods, the most common method uses photovoltaic systems. Photovoltaics are used in solar cells and panels which form what is known as arrays when they are placed together in groups. Photovoltaics use semiconductors such as silicone to absorb sunlight and generate electricity in the form of a direct current. When the energy has been generated, it is then converted into an alternating current so that it can power objects within a building, which is completed by an inverter.

Why is Newcastle University investing in solar energy?

Newcastle University has invested in solar energy for a plethora of reasons. The installation of solar panels on our current infrastructure such as roof tops is relatively simple, whereas the installation of small-scale wind energy infrastructure is difficult on our campus due to the vast amount of space required. Solar energy is also scalable, the number of panels required depends on the amount of energy required by the University, as this ensures that we can generate this energy on campus instead of buying it. Solar energy is also incredibly efficient and has a medium cost level to high efficiency and production ratio, meaning it is a desirable form of energy to produce for Newcastle University’s needs.

Current use of solar energy on Newcastle University’s estate

Newcastle University currently has 13 solar arrays in a variety of sizes. The energy created by these solar arrays contributes towards the energy usage of the University. Some of the arrays on campus are made up of a few panels on smaller buildings, but we also have a number of larger arrays on buildings like King’s Gate, Henry Daysh, and the Frederick Douglass Centre.

We use a software called Solar Edge to monitor the amount of electricity being created across the arrays. The system also recognises if one of the panels becomes damaged and informs us.

Thank you for reading this post, if you have any questions please email us at sustainable-campus@newcastle.ac.uk