Manchester Metropolitan University - our vision to become one of the most sustainable universities

We are excited to share with you our recently published Environmental Sustainability Statement 2015-16. At Manchester Metropolitan University, our vision is to become one of the most sustainable universities in the world. In 2014, the development of a new Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2014-2020 helped us identify our important environmental and social impacts, and importantly, what we could do limit our impacts, protect the environment, ensure we are able to mitigate against and adapt to climate change, and to positively contribute towards sustainable development at the university and beyond.

Our annual Environmental Sustainability Statement for 2015-16 outlines the steps we have taken to progress towards the ambitious targets set in the University’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy. Here are some of the key highlights:

23.5% reduction in carbon emissions since 2005-6 baseline year.
Our energy consumption influences significantly our carbon emissions reduction, and so using energy efficiently, and consuming low carbon and renewable energy is essential.

46.3% of our waste is now reused and recycled.
This means that we are well on our way to achieving our 60% target by 2020 thanks to students and staff recycling on campus.

60.6% of students say they are gaining the skills and knowledge to understand key global sustainability issues.
Whilst at studying at university, our students can access and engage in activities, projects and research to understand sustainable development.

48.0% of the university’s core fleet vehicles are electric or low-carbon emissions.
Awarded the ‘Go Ultra Low Company’ status in 2016, we are working to introduce more low emission and electric vehicles to meet our 75% target by 2020.

First UK University to achieve the ISO14001:2015 certification.
An Environmental Management System, which provides a framework to manage our impacts and continuously improve our environmental performance.

Top 3 University for environmental and ethical performance.
Placed in the top three performing universities in the People and Planet Green League for four consecutive years.

Level 3 Flexible Framework achieved.
This allows organisations to measure and monitor progress on sustainable procurement, we have met level three out of five.

86.0% of students and 75.8% of staff think that Manchester Metropolitan is an environmentally sustainable university.

Read about a variety of sustainability initiatives and projects, and find out more about Manchester Met’s impacts in the 2015-16 Environmental Sustainability Statement.