UCC launch plastic-free cafe and gain prestigious accolade

25th September 2018

University College Cork (UCC) has had a hugely impressive sustainability start to the new academic year already. This week they have opened Ireland's first plastic-free café and been announced as the first and only institution awarded a gold rating under the of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s (AASHE)  STARS programme outside of the US and Canada.

UCC Green Campus teamed up with KSG in launching Ireland's first single-use plastic free cafe in their Biosciences Institute earlier this month.

This step demonstrates that it is possible to eliminate single-use plastic from staff and students' daily lives. Though it comes after months of hard work on the part of KSG in sourcing products with as low an environmental impact as possible. 

This move follows the amazing work of University College Cork Library in #ditchthedisposables and UCC Students' Union in providing reusable coffee cups to all incoming students. 

The college also announced this week their achievement of the STARS gold rating, joining the likes of Princeton, Cornell, and UC Berkeley. This accolade speaks to the priority UCC places on sustainability, enabling their university community to work towards meeting the global challenges of the 21st century.

Here at the EAUC, we are looking forward to continuing our engagement with UCC - a truly impressive institution showing just how much they have to contribute to the sustainability agenda.