Tag: Sustainability

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Green Flag Winner 2022

July 26, 2022

The gardens and grounds at Penryn Campus have been recognised by the international Green Flag Award Scheme as among the very best in the world, for the sixth year in a row.

The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity sKeep Britain Tidy under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.

Penryn Campus is shared by Falmouth University and the University of Exeter Cornwall and the historic grounds are open to the public.

Oliver Lane, FX Plus Director of Residences and Facilities, said: “We are delighted to have retained this award for a sixth year. It highlights the hard work of our teams and volunteers – both students and staff. Particular thanks should go to Toby Nenning, Grounds and Gardens manager, and Casey Thomas, Head of Facilities Management, and to their teams.

“Both Falmouth University and the University of Exeter are dedicated to sustainability under their Climate Emergency declarations and a key part of this involves supporting green spaces and the biodiversity on our beautiful campus.”

Keep Britain Tidy’s Accreditation Manager Paul Todd said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved in making Penryn Campus worthy of a Green Flag Award. It is testament to all the hard work of staff who do so much to ensure that it maintains the high standards demanded by the Award.”

Penryn Campus blends historic sub-tropical planting with newly created landscapes. and are a haven for a diverse range of plant and animal species. The gardens are open to everyone include a walled garden; herbaceous beds; sub-tropical planting; fruit producing orchard; Italian garden and terraces; an 18th Century lime avenue; parkland; a drive with Pinetum native woodlands and historic rare rhododendrons which were cultivated on the site in the Victorian era.

A six-person Grounds Team manages about 150 acres there as well as the smaller, equally beautiful Falmouth Campus.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Solar panel project

June 7, 2022

We are significantly increasing the amount of photovoltaic (PV) panels on roofs at Penryn Campus this summer.

This is part of continuing work to support the declarations of climate emergency, by Falmouth University and the University of Exeter.

Sarah Roby, FX Plus Director of Estates and project sponsor, said: “This is one of several pieces of work, large and small, that we are carrying out to support the ambitions of our partner universities to achieve net zero carbon emissions and making our campuses more sustainable. This will save energy and money for future investments and improvements.”

Starting in July, more than 1700 new panels will be fitted on the roofs of Daphne Du Maurier (DduM), Peter Lanyon and the Sports Centre. These will add to existing panels already installed on DduM, Stella Turk and AIR; with the existing Sports Centre panels also being upgraded and expanded.

Chris Piper, Head of Estates Operations, is managing the project for FX Plus and Cornwall-based ZLC Energy will be carrying out this work, with project management support provided by Devon-based KingWelsh Consultants.

Once complete, the newly installed solar panels will have a total capacity of 775 kW with an estimated 700,000 kWh per year generated; carbon savings of 149 tonnes CO2 per year and energy cost savings of about £150,000 per year (based on current energy costs).

The panels will be placed to the roofs with weights to keep them in place. This system means they are easy to reposition and they will not disturb any turf roofing underneath.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Food Waste Separation Trial

May 17, 2022

We’ve launched a pilot project to reduce more waste on our campuses by separating food waste in our halls of residence.

The Facilities team has teamed up with Cornwall Waste Solutions for this trial, which is underway in Glasney View blocks L and M, at Penryn Campus.

It is estimated that about a third of our household waste is food and we are aiming to divert this from general waste to anaerobic digestion facilities, where it can be turned into electricity, fuel and fertiliser.

Casey Thomas, Falmouth Exeter Plus Head of Facilities Management, said: “This is a key priority for the waste management team and supports both Falmouth and Exeter universities in their declarations of climate emergency and the plans to make our campuses more sustainable.”

There are 12 flats with about 80 student residents involved, with food caddies in each kitchen and waste bins close to the blocks. These larger bins are collected by a specially equipped truck that lifts, empties and then sprays the bins clean.

If successful, this scheme will be rolled out to other student residences at Penryn Campus.

Our main campus catering outlets at Falmouth and Penryn already have food waste collection in place.

For tips about how to reduce your own food waste, see https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/ .

Bins being emptied into waste disposal truck
Waste Collection Caddy

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Face covering recycling

May 6, 2022

If you have single-use face masks lying around then please feel free to drop them into the recycling bin in the Exchange foyer, Penryn Campus, or the Fox Café, Falmouth Campus. From here they will be combined with other ‘hard to recycle’ plastic items and sent to ReFactory, a company which will turn them into ‘stormboards’ that are then used for shopfitting, children’s furniture and new recycling bins.

Table made from recycled material
Colour coded recycle bins

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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New EV Charge points

April 25, 2022

Twelve new electric vehicle (EV) charging points are going to be installed at Penryn Campus.

The points, which will be in Car Park A, are in response to a growing demand as more people choose to buy electric vehicles meaning the two chargers currently installed don’t provide sufficient charging capacity.

They will be run by supplier Pod Point, a company which offers an app to make use and payment easier.

David Lawrence, Falmouth Exeter Plus Energy Manager, said: “This project will help to make our campuses more sustainable while also offering greater choice to users. While we try to encourage walking, cycling, or using public transport, we recognise that this is not always practical in Cornwall. These EV points will therefore support owners of more sustainable vehicles.”

The charging points will be installed in April and should be ready for use by the end of that month.

Further information on how to use the new electric vehicles charging points and location will be provided ready for use after upon completion of the installation.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Self serve refill launch

February 15, 2022

The Penryn Campus Shop has launched a new Bring Your Own (BYO), self-service refill section. This will help to reduce unnecessary packaging and waste.

The new refill range includes cereals and breakfast food; pasta; rice and snacks.

Customers can bring along their own refill container, weigh it, fill it up with their desired item, reweigh and pay.

To mark this launch, the Shop team is giving away free, reusable #oureffect food containers to the first 50 customers.

The new refill range includes:

  • Muesli
  • Porridge Quaker Oats
  • Quinoa
  • Banana Chips
  • Chickpeas
  • Couscous
  • Pumpkin Seeds
  • Basmati Rice
  • Penne Pasta
  • Fusilli pasta
  • Popcorn Kernels
  • Oriental Rice Crackers

For more information about Penryn Campus Shop, including opening times, please see our website.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Community furniture donations

February 3, 2022

Communities and organisations have been benefiting from furniture donations from our campuses as part of our commitment to sustainability.

The working styles of many people at Falmouth and Penryn campuses changed during COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Furniture was taken out of rooms to allow for more space and social distancing.  As restrictions lift and people return to the campuses to work, many prefer the less cluttered office style.

Rather than throw away unwanted but good quality furniture, our Caretaking team has been busy finding new homes for it with community organisations and schools.

Lynn Storey, Falmouth Exeter Plus Facilities Operations Manager, said: “With our commitment to avoid disposal of any furniture that still has life left in it, we have been reaching out to local communities to see if we can find new homes for our furniture.

“Over the last few months the Penryn caretaking team has donated items to Cornwall Business School at their new space on Kernick Industrial Estate and the Dracaena Centre and Princess Pavilion in Falmouth. The Falmouth Caretaking team has also been busy supporting local schools and community projects, recently delivering sofas, seating and tables to Constantine Primary School and Camborne Contemporary Crafts Hub.”

Oliver Milliner, Head of Sustainability, added: “We are committed to making our campuses more sustainable via a variety of initiatives and this is a perfect example of repurposing and reusing. With thought and care, our Caretaking team has found a great way of supporting local communities while reducing waste.”

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Vegetarian/vegan move for cafe

January 21, 2022

As a result of student feedback, we are pleased to announce that the Sustainability Café is now 100% vegetarian/ vegan.

Newly opened in September 2021, the vibrant café, which boasts spectacular views and contemporary indoor and outdoor seating, has been built using sustainable materials including Forest Stewardship Council certified timber, and furniture fabric made from upcycled, discarded ocean plastics.

The Food and Drink team actively engages with suppliers to reduce the environmental impacts of its operations. Fairtrade and south-west suppliers are sourced for bread, milk, cakes, confectionary, fruit, and vegetables, whenever possible.

The menu has been recently updated to include more vegan and locally sourced produce. Students, staff and campus visitors can enjoy a slice of vegetarian Homity Pie, Mediterranean Pie or gently spiced Chickpea and Spinach Vegan Pie, baked by Devonshire bakers, Peck and Strong. 

Organic vegan/vegetarian soup is made by Rod and Ben’s in Exeter, who only use locally sourced ingredients. Freshly prepared local Prima rolls are available with flavoursome fillings and are plated with seasonal salad and crisps.

Quench your thirst the Cornish way with Jolly’s soft drinks, or enjoy quality Cornish Coffee and Cornish Tregothnan loose leaf teas. A tempting selection of cakes is available including vegan options made by The Exploding Bakery in Devon. Confectionary includes Buttermilk vegan chocolate, made locally in Bodmin with sustainable packaging, and Fairtrade Divine chocolate, and Fairtrade Green & Blacks organic chocolate.

No single-use plastic bottles or disposable cups are available in the café and reusable cups are for sale with a hot drink included on first purchase.

To minimise plastic wastage on campus, a new sustainable milk refill initiative is open to all customers. Buy a litre of Cornish Trewithen Dairy semi-skimmed milk in our branded glass bottles for £3, then bring back your empty bottle and purchase a fresh bottle for £1.10.

To celebrate Veganuary, the Food & Drink team is also offering a small hot box value vegan curry in the Stannary exclusively in January for £2.50 for those wanting to try a vegan offer. Every day our chefs also prepare a hot vegan special in both the Stannary and Fox Café.

If you are craving pizza, Koofi provides vegetarian and vegan pizza as well as a gluten free option.

Our Penryn Campus Shop also has a dedicated vegan section and will be sharing vegan recipes throughout the month – online and in-store. Keep your eyes peeled on the food and drink social media for details and offers.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Sustainability highlights 21/22

November 29, 2021

Our Top Ten Sustainability Highlights for the 2020 – 2021 Academic Year

It’s been over two years since the University of Exeter and Falmouth University declared a climate and environment emergency. Even in amongst a global pandemic, both institutions have been actively transforming themselves to raise the climate agenda across the student curriculum and life on campus. At FX Plus, our operations are pivotal for this to happen, so here are our top ten sustainability highlights:

  1. Launched the FX Plus 2030 Sustainability Strategy & Policy. These two files outline our climate and environment targets, objectives and projects. The strategy ultimately outlines how we’re going embedding sustainability across FX Plus and how this supports the universities independent sustainability strategies.
  1. Last academic year we recorded a 47% drop in energy emissions per m2 for Penryn Campus based against our 2005 to 2006 AY baseline. This follows the integration of energy efficient infrastructure we are implementing across campus.
  1. Sustainability Week 2021 was another great success – we hosted 35 events open to all staff, students and the local community. Recordings for these sessions can be found here.
  1. We produced our first comprehensive carbon emission profile for the University of Exeter including Penryn Campus. The same profiling system was used in collaboration with Falmouth University, working together on shared climate reduction and sustainability targets.
  1. Following campus lockdown, we dedicated 4.5 acres of land on Penryn Campus for wildflowers. Last year, we maintained and improved the quality of these areas through volunteering events.
  1. As part of the grounds biodiversity agenda, we have also designed and installed four customised biodiversity signs as well as a series of signs illustrating areas for regeneration and wildflowers, which we hope to help educate our campus community about their local natural environment and inspire them to engage in conservation and sustainability.
  1. Our procurement team partnered with Net Positive Futures to initiate data collection and climate action plans amongst our supply chain. Our aim is for 100% of our supply chain to have completed this by the end of 2022. 
  1. We launched our flagship Sustainability Café with the new building extension to the Daphne du Maurier building. The café along with its outstanding views of the ocean, offers seasonal and locally sourced produce, organic where possible and a variety of vegan and vegetarian options.
  1. Our Penryn Campus was awarded the bronze award with the British Hedgehog Preservation Society Hedgehog Friendly Campus program. This follows a series of initiatives implemented by the grounds team to protect and raise awareness on hedgehog safety across campus.
  1. Penryn Campus was also awarded the Green Flag zone award for the fourth year running. This continues the campuses excellent approach to the protection and regeneration of ecology.

Any questions or if you would like to learn more, please email sustainability@fxplus.ac.uk.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.

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Biodiversity signs

October 28, 2021

Four new biodiversity signs have been installed at Penryn Campus to highlight the variety of natural habitats, unique ecologies and the conservation plans in place. 

The signs have been placed at Lime Avenue, the Walled Garden, the Ox Eye Daisy Bank (near the Chapel Lecture Theatre) and in woodland near The Lodge.

They complement the existing wildflower signs which highlight even more ways in which biodiversity is encouraged on our campuses.

Our Grounds and Sustainability teams work hard to encourage biodiversity on our beautiful campuses. This includes creating bee hotels; planting bee friendly plants; leaving areas unmown and seeded with wildflowers; leaving dead trees in situ so creatures can make them their homes and joining the Hedgehog Friendly Campus initiative. Recent planting has included herb and daisy beds outside The Exchange and herb and flower beds near The Stannary extension.

Wildflowers encourage more insects which, in turn, support more birds and bats. We have seven species of bat on campus, including pipistrelle, long eared and horseshoe and they regularly feed on insects in the wildflower areas around Glasney Village (the student and holiday accommodation).

This combination of efforts also contributes to Penryn Campus holding the international Green Flag award for five years in a row. Green Flag recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for their management across the United Kingdom and around the world.

About FX Plus

Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus) delivers shared services for Falmouth University and the University of Exeter in Cornwall to ensure a top quality experience for students, staff and all users of Falmouth and Penryn campuses.

Our vision is to provide ‘Exceptional environments that enable talented and creative minds to thrive’.