Eco-friendly food containers introduced to cut waste at Wrexham Glyndwr University

New eco-friendly food containers aimed at cutting single use waste are being introduced at Wrexham Glyndwr University’s catering outlets.

The university’s new Eco Club launched in conjunction with Glyndwr’s catering partner Aramark earlier this week.

The club offers staff, students and visitors dining in the university’s United Kitchen canteen on the Plas Coch campus the chance to get their hands on a container which can washed and re-used each meal time.

Under the new scheme, club members can purchase a tag for £5 – this tag is then exchanged for a reusable container each meal time and returned when the container is deposited for cleaning. For every nine uses of the container, club members will receive a free meal.

As part of the move towards reducing single-use items across Glyndwr’s catering outlets, a levy of 30p will be placed on single use containers.

Aramark Catering manager Jamie Lovell said: “As caterers we produce very ‘visible’ waste, and therefore we are committed to working closely with clients to champion behavioural change and raise awareness of sustainable initiatives.

“Our new eco boxes are the latest step towards helping Wrexham Glyndwr University reduce the overall volume of waste which is being sent to landfill.

“Staff and students will be able to become part of our Eco Club through the purchase and exchange of our new re-usable food containers – and will also benefit from a range of great rewards, seasonal offers, and incentives.”

The new Eco Club scheme follows on from the successful introduction of reusable cups at Glyndwr over the past year.

The Glyndwr branded cups, which staff and students get the chance to pick up at regular giveaways across the university’s campuses – have proved to be a hit with users.

Wrexham Glyndwr University Director of Operations, Lynda Powell, said; “It is great to see the take-up of our reusable cups – nearly one in four of the hot drinks we have served since their introduction has been in a reusable cup which has helped stop 23,752 cups from being dumped.

“We’re looking to build on that success with the introduction of these new Eco Boxes – and we will continue to work to drive down waste right across the university estate.”

The launch took place as part of Glyndwr’s Go Green Week, where staff and students are invited to take part in a range of environmentally-friendly activities. More on the university’s work on sustainability issues, can be found here.