Goodbye Polystyrene Say Hello to Bagasse in Catering

On Monday 20th August catering are introducing the next step in our program to embed the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle environmental concept on campus. On Monday we will stop providing polystyrene takeaway boxes for takeaway food and replace them with bagasse containers, a natural and sustainable by-product from the sugar cane industry. Bagasse containers are more expensive than polystyrene and we can’t absorb the cost so there will be a 15p charge to cover their cost. If you want to avoid this charge then you are welcome to bring along your own takeaway box.

Many people are using their own cups or keep cups now which is helping reduce paper cup use and waste as these can’t be recycled. When stock levels of Quad cups have reduced enough we will be switching to a 100% recyclable cup that can be disposed of in the paper recycling bins around campus after use. We are also introducing a new eco rice husk cup in September and part of this scheme will see the launch of a drop off and wash service so you don’t need to carry the cup around all the time, but more on that closer to the time.

A final note to add that we are also switching to bagasse plates and containers for hospitality services so it really is goodbye to polystyrene in the catering department.