University of Leeds achieves ISO 14001: 2015 accreditation

21st March 2017

The University of Leeds is celebrating achieving accreditation to the new ISO14001: 2015 standard following a successful external audit by AJA Registrars.

The Environmental Management System is at the heart of embedding sustainability at the University of Leeds.  It offers a systematic and transparent way of managing environmental objectives and targets, reducing the impacts and supporting compliance against environmental legislation.

The accreditation is a huge accomplishment as it covers all activities within the University of Leeds campus, University residential portfolio and University sports and conferencing facilities.  Achieving the 2015 standard further demonstrates the commitment and leadership for sustainability which exists at the University.

Supported by a series of guides, procedures and standards there is particular focus on:
- energy and water use
- managing our reuse, recycling and waste
- enhancing biodiversity
- reducing travel impacts
- use and disposal of hazardous substances
- reducing construction impacts
- purchasing impacts/opportunities

On receiving the accreditation, Director of Sustainability Services, Dr Louise Ellis says: “This is an amazing achievement and is a huge step for the University to achieve accreditation to the new standard across such a large and diverse organisation.”

To enhance understanding of the environmental management system even further, the University has created a dedicated training module for all staff to complete. This helps staff to understand the objectives of the system and consider their responsibilities towards it.

For more details on the work of the Sustainability service at the University of Leeds visit here