Environmental sustainability in estates management

Environmental sustainability in estates management

General Waste Management

As with all institutions, many of our activities at LSTM create waste. 

At LSTM have made considerable efforts to reduce non-recyclable waste through reforming practices and following the waste hierarchy principles of Prevention, Reduction, Re-use and Recycling. Nevertheless, some degree of non-recyclable waste is unfortunately unavoidable, and requires safe disposal. It is of great importance that we ensure our waste does not contribute to pollution, is compliant with all legislative requirements, and we are committed to continual improvement and development of our waste handling.

Since 2010 LSTM has had a zero waste to landfill policy.  All our waste is processed by a Materials Recovery Facility, with approximately 65% of our monthly waste sorted into recyclable fractions; the remaining 35% is taken to a renewable fuels Energy from Waste plant where it is incinerated with energy recovery. The school has non-recyclable (general waste) and dry mixed recycling bins around all LSTM buildings in communal and open office areas since 2019.

Our confidential waste is managed by Shred-iT facility in Warrington, where it is recycled into copy paper or tissue paper. LSTM offices have 20 photocopiers across the school, and while we are encouraging staff to print and copy less, all old cartridges are collected by the RICOH returns service for reuse. Similarly, all waste batteries are taken to a recycling facility before they are broken down into their component metals for recycling. All sanitary waste, from bathrooms and nursing rooms, is collected by Shorrock Trichem Ltd, with data on usage returned to LSTM for auditing purposes. LSTM uses the waste contractor SUEZ for our white goods disposal e.g. fridge-freezers, and use CDL for our WEEE waste such as laptops and other computing equipment.

Green Energy and Efficiency Improvements

Committed to our transition to becoming a greener institution, in October 2020 LSTM switched from brown electricity – containing fossil fuels – to 100% certifiable renewable energy.

LSTM is fully committed to operating in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner and has introduced a new Environmental Policy and established an Environmental Working Group. The group will provide coordination and guidance to LSTM for the integration of sustainability principles and practices throughout core teaching, research and operational activities.

All refurbishment and capital projects incorporate environmental and or energy efficiency improvements whenever practicable such as replacement windows, improved insulation, LED lighting and improvements to the automated Building Management Systems.

40 solar panels were installed in 2015, producing electricity savings year on year.

There has been an improvement in recent years as a result of the energy efficiency improvements which has seen a reduction in the independently assessed energy ratings and this is evidenced in the Display Energy Certificates.

Our latest certificates:

Original school building
CTID building
Wolfson building

The Building Management System (BMS) manages and monitors building services and will:

Ensure that an optimal level of efficiency and comfort is achieved by continuously maintaining the correct balance between operating requirements, external and internal environmental conditions and energy usage. 

Facilitate the link to our metering systems to measure utility consumption to identify usage patterns, manage these against expected or desired levels and then assist in being able to adjust, control or remove waste.  

Water Usage

Estates monitor the water consumption throughout LSTM campus and all refurbishment and capital projects incorporate water efficiency improvements whenever practical.  Our meters and submeters are read monthly to monitor water consumption.