At Swansea University, we strive to produce fresh, healthy and sustainable food that you can trust. Our Catering Services team use environmentally responsible, ethically sourced and local ingredients. We integrate health, wellbeing and sustainability criteria into our catering, as outlined in our Sustainable Healthy Food Policy.
Sustainable Food Accreditations
We implement the comprehensive Soil Association Food for Life Framework. Our Sustainable Healthy Food Policy commits us to increasing Food for Life “Served here” offerings at our catering outlets.
Zero Waste and Emissions
At Swansea University, our Catering and Sustainability teams work in partnership to prevent waste from our campus catering outlets. We achieve this in a number of ways:
- The University has an on campus Zero Waste mini-supermarket called Root Zero run by the Students' Union, which offers a range of products with zero waste or plastic free options.
- The joint Catering Team and Discovery initiative: “Waste Free Wednesday”, prepares and provides community meals on campus, utilising surplus food donated from supermarkets from across Swansea, including our Singleton Campus supermarket.
- We work closely with the University-based, volunteer-led charity Discovery to find new and innovative ways of working with the local community and to reduce waste by redistributing surplus food.
- Our catering outlets apply a discount on hot drink takeaways in a reusable cup.
- We have switched to lower impact packaging, crockery and cutlery on our mission to cut out single use plastics.
- We use segregated at source recycling bins at all our food outlets and throughout campus. You can find out more about our recycling facilities over on our waste pages.
- Separate recycling bins are provided at our outlets, specifically for the collection and recycling of single use cups.
- Our food waste is collected and sent for anaerobic digestion.
- Our campus catering fleet includes several Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEV).
Healthy food
Sustainable and health food share many attributes. We are proud to hold a Welsh Government Silver Corporate Health Standard, which means we are delivering and striving for healthier catering and vending practices together with sustainability.
Growing food on campus
Our campus growing project “Tyfu Tawe” backed by Community benefits funds and NUS Student Eats provides our community with space to learn about growing vegetables on campus. The benefits to mind, body and our environment from going your own are well known so please Get Involved with Tyfu Tawe.
In addition to Tyfu Tawe, The Sustainability Team have been working throughout 2021 to create and provide a community orchard for staff, students and visitors to enjoy. To date, a total of 28 fruit trees across both our campuses have been planted with the help of staff and students including apple, plum, pear, damson and fig trees. Funding for this project was a mix of allocated Sustainability University budget and the Welsh Circular Economy Fund.
Ben, our Biodiversity Officer has also been working with the project team and staff in IMPACT to develop and manage a living green wall. The living wall supports native species and is the pilot scheme to demonstrate how we can develop more living walls with sustainable food as a key component.