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  1. Queen Mary University of London
  2. About us
  3. Sustainability
  4. Sustainable development goals
  5. Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
  6. Operations

Operations

Buying goods and services more responsibly

Queen Mary’s Sustainable Procurement Policy, approved in September 2024, sets out how the University purchases goods, services and works in a responsible and sustainable way. Procurement decisions consider environmental, social and economic impacts, including human rights, Modern Slavery, whole-life costs, waste, repair, maintenance and opportunities for reuse. 

The policy applies across major purchasing areas including food and catering, construction and refurbishment, IT hardware and equipment, uniforms and textiles, and cleaning supplies and services. Queen Mary also expects suppliers to comply with relevant environmental and Modern Slavery requirements and considers risks of human rights abuses within the supply chain. 

Waste minimisation is also built into procurement. Queen Mary encourages take-back schemes with suppliers, repair and maintenance support, longer product life and circular-economy models. These requirements apply to suppliers of goods and works, including equipment and building contractors, providing direct evidence that waste-minimisation measures extend into the supply chain. 

Managing hazardous waste safely

Queen Mary has formal arrangements for managing hazardous waste generated through research, teaching and other University activities. Waste producers are required to classify, segregate, store, transport and dispose of hazardous materials safely, and hazardous and non-hazardous waste must not be mixed. 

Separate procedures cover chemical, clinical, radioactive and other hazardous waste streams. Hazardous waste leaving the University must be collected through authorised waste carriers and approved disposal routes. Queen Mary’s hazardous-waste procedure was already part of its Environmental Management System during the 2021–2022 period, which falls within THE’s required policy review window. 

Clinical-waste arrangements also include reusable sharps containers. These can be emptied, sterilised and reused up to 70 times before replacement, reducing single-use plastic as part of the University’s clinical-waste contract. 

Reducing plastic and disposable items

Queen Mary has been working to reduce single-use plastics and disposable items across its campuses for several years. Its Environmental Sustainability Action Plan 2020–23 included measures to reduce single-use plastic and water bottles, install water dispensers and fountains, and encourage the use of reusable cups in catering outlets. This provides evidence that action to minimise plastic and disposable items was already in place before 2024. 

Current waste-management plans continue this work. Queen Mary is phasing out single-use items in parts of its catering operations through the ReUser scheme. Reusable cups and lids are collected, professionally washed and returned to circulation, with each cup expected to be used up to 1,000 times. The scheme is intended to expand to food containers and additional campus outlets. Queen Mary is also looking at alternatives to single-use plastics in laboratory and medical procurement, alongside opportunities to share equipment and resources where this can reduce unnecessary purchasing and waste. 

Measuring, reducing and recycling waste

Queen Mary measures the amount of waste generated and recycled across its operations and tracks how different waste streams are managed. This includes monitoring total waste, recycling, food waste and the routes used for waste treatment and disposal. In 2024, Queen Mary’s recycling rate increased from 37.3% to 45.7%, while the total amount of waste generated also fell. The University operates on a zero non-hazardous waste to landfill basis, with recyclable materials sent for recycling and residual non-hazardous waste managed through other recovery routes. Queen Mary has set a target to reduce operational waste by 10% by the end of 2027/28 against a 2023/24 baseline and to achieve an annual recycling rate above 50% for non-hazardous waste by the end of 2026/27. 

Turning food waste into energy and fertiliser 

Queen Mary collects food waste separately so it can be treated through anaerobic digestion. Food-waste collection expanded across residential and non-residential buildings during 2024/25, increasing the amount separated from general waste. The collected food waste is used to produce biogas, which is fed into the National Grid, while the remaining material is used as fertiliser. Separate collection also gives Queen Mary clearer information about where food waste is generated and where further reductions can be made. 

Extending waste reduction into the supply chain

Queen Mary’s Sustainable Procurement Policy applies sustainability requirements to suppliers and contractors as part of the procurement process. Environmental specifications can be included in relevant tenders, and the University plans to include sustainability performance reporting within service-level agreements with major contractors. The policy also asks Queen Mary to minimise waste arising from purchases through supplier take-back arrangements, repair and maintenance support and circular-economy models. This directly extends waste-minimisation measures to suppliers of goods and works, including equipment and building contracts. 

Making laboratories more sustainable 

Queen Mary uses the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) to help research and teaching laboratories reduce their environmental impact. The framework covers waste, water, procurement, energy and equipment use. It gives laboratory teams a structured way to review everyday practices, reduce unnecessary resource use and identify opportunities to cut waste and single-use materials. 

 

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