St John’s College Environmental Committee sets Environmental Targets

In 2016 the St John’s College Environmental Committee conducted a review of the College’s Environmental Strategy in the light of the University’s Environmental Sustainability Vision, Policy and Strategy ('ESV'). It was agreed that the College should set itself environmental goals that would guide investment and operational decisions to significantly improve the College’s environmental performance over time.

The first area is buildings, where significant improvement in energy saving can be achieved by retrofitting College hostels to improve their EPC ratings. A pilot had been conducted at 15 St John’s Road to reduce both gas and electricity consumption by 50% while improving the living conditions for residents. This suggested that sustainable energy savings could be achieved by an appropriate combination of insulation, double or secondary glazing, energy switches, motion sensors, high efficiency boilers and thermostatic controls rather than relying on short term initiatives such as Green Weeks. Similar benefits had also been achieved through the Cripps refurbishment, which had improved the energy rating of a large 1960s building from F to C with a commensurate enhancement of the living environment for residents. The Committee agreed therefore that the College’s first environmental target should be to deliver over time a minimum energy rating of C for all existing and new buildings.

The second area of focus is sustainable sourcing of food, where the College is already leading the way across the university and Cambridge itself after being awarded 2 stars by the Sustainable Restaurants Association. The Committee noted that the College is becoming so advanced in its sustainable sourcing that for any members wishing to promote the College’s environmental policy, one of the best ways of doing so would be to eat more in the BDR and Hall: eating-in is the Green option. The Committee agreed therefore that the College’s second environmental target should be to achieve 3 stars from the Sustainable Restaurants Association and use this to encourage greater dining in college facilities.

The third area of focus is the collection and removal of waste. Currently 50% of the College's annual waste goes to landfill and 50% is recycled. The charge for landfill collection is double the cost of recycled waste. Currently Housekeeping are responsible for emptying landfill bins in College and students are responsible for emptying recycled bins. In practice, this means that when the recycled bin is full, students put recycled waste in the landfill bins. As a result, it is estimated that more than half of the waste going to landfill could in fact be recycled. Last year a trial was conducted in Corfield Court where Housekeeping emptied the recycled bins and students emptied the landfill bins with the result that recycling percentages increased significantly. The Committee agreed therefore that from the Michaelmas Term 2016 the Corfield Court model should be rolled out across all parts of College and that a target should be set of recycling 75% of all waste.