A Plymouth University student could have a direct influence on the institution’s award-winning sustainability agenda by helping to develop its waste management tender as part of his dissertation.
Will Cane, currently in the final year of his BSc (Hons) Public Management and Business degree, is working to analyse staff and students’ current waste disposal habits and the ways they could be influenced and enhanced.
The results of his work will be fed into the development of the University’s waste management tender, which will be drawn up in the coming months with companies then invited to submit bids for the multi-year contract.
Plymouth University is one of the world’s leading green higher education institutions, having been consistently ranked in the top 10 universities globally in the annual UI Greenmetric rankings, and winning three accolades at the 2014 Green Gown Awards. It was named Most Sustainable Public Sector Organisation in Education at the 2012 Public Sector Sustainability Awards, also becoming the first higher education institution to earn a Social Enterprise Mark in the same year.
Samantha Price, Plymouth University Sustainability Manager, said:
“Our recent success in the Green Gown Awards and the People and Planet Green League has cemented our commitment to achieving sustainability. But we are constantly looking for ways to improve what we do, and are really excited to have Will working with us. Student cooperation is a key element of our current and future efforts, and his research will help in developing a tender which will have a lasting impact on the university and the South West. It could also become a model for sustainable tendering throughout the HE sector.”
Will Cane is currently in the final year of the BSc (Hons) Public Management and Business degree, which includes a second-year module relating to sustainability and commissioning in the public and private sector.
The module is taught by programme leader Dr Gregory Borne, who uses examples of Plymouth University’s world-leading green credentials and pioneering work on sustainability education throughout his teaching.
Will said:
“The experience of being part of a working tender process is something that does not ordinarily happen to a student. This is a brilliant opportunity to build on the research skills I have already learned during my degree and potentially make a real difference to the University as well. Sustainability is such an important issue, so to work with the University in helping them embed sustainability is very exciting and something I hope will benefit me as well as the University and the wider HE Sector.”
