The University catering service Aramark has won the Green Kitchen Standard Award for the third year running for their sustainability ethos across the University.
The award was achieved for the University’s four campuses, which serve meals to over 20,000 students and 2,000 staff each day.
In 2018, the University was the first London university to achieve the standard, and in 2019 it won the Green Kitchen Standard Champion award at City Hall.
The Green Kitchen Standard Award is accredited by The Soil Association, the UK’s leading membership charity campaigning for healthy, humane and sustainable food, farming and land use. The award recognises caterers that are making positive steps to sustainably manage their energy, water and waste. For customers this means eating somewhere that they know is going further to ensure they minimise their environmental impact.
Caterers must prove their environmental credentials and provide a clear point of difference to set their service apart from the rest, which can mean cost savings as well as aligning with the energy, water and waste requirements of the Defra Plan for Public Procurement and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Chelsea Lear, the Food Sustainability Coordinator at Aramark, said about the award: “We are incredibly thrilled with the outstanding Green Kitchen Standard result, having achieved a higher score year on year, it truly commends the incredible sustainability efforts of our catering team. It further reflects the commitment and passion we have, working in close partnership with the University of Westminster’s sustainability team, to advance efforts towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
“The application and inspection process ensures we transparently present in-depth evidence demonstrating our sustainable practises across our kitchen operations, focusing on energy, water and waste. We advocate the rigorous criteria of the Green Kitchen Standard, shaped by our Vice-Chancellor, Dr Peter Bonfield’s Defra report for sustainable public procurement, and aim to continually strengthen our sustainability practises.”
Katherine Bojczuk, Head of Sustainability at Westminster, added: “We are delighted that for the third year in a row, we have continued to improve our already high score for the Green Kitchen Standard. This is a great example of collaboration with the Aramark Team, who have made a real commitment to environmental best practice. This represents a great step forward and contribution to Westminster’s Sustainable Development ambitions.”
Learn about Corporate Social Responsibility at the University of Westminster.
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