Social and Environmental Responsibility

House Services are contributing to two key University Agendas:

Social Responsibility

Social responsibility is one of our three core strategic goals in our Manchester 2020 strategy (PDF document, 105KB), sitting equally alongside our commitments to world-class research and outstanding learning and student experience.

Skills and employment levels in our most local communities are some of the lowest in the UK. We are helping address this through our leadership of The Works - a new and different kind of employment and training initiative at the heart of our local communities in Moss Side and Ardwick. This is transforming the life-chances of local residents, within some of the most deprived areas of the UK. It provides opportunities and support to job-seekers, pre-recruitment training and job matching to local employers, including the University.

House Services have employed in excess of 200 staff through The Works and have provided them with NVQ training and Health and Safety training. This is ongoing with all vacancies being recruited to via this method.

Environmental Responsibility

One of the University's three core goals is social responsibility, and sustainability is a crucial aspect of this. We are therefore committed to minimising the impact of our activities on the environment and are putting this commitment into practice in a range of areas:

Waste and recycling

The University is committed to the development of sustainable waste management practices and the principle of 'reduce, re-use and recycle'. We re-use or recover resources wherever possible and thanks to the establishment of appropriate recycling schemes, staff and students can contribute towards making the University more sustainable.

Where disposal of waste is the only viable option, the University will actively seek to use more sustainable waste treatment technologies with the aim of reducing the landfilling of waste to a minimum.

House Services is committed this initiative by:

  • reducing the amount of chemicals used in the cleaning process
  • including environmental sustainability within all service contracts
  • managing the recycling schemes and maintaining segregation through to disposal
  • implementing and managing cardboard balers around campus
  • operating the University "Bin the Bin" scheme
  • operating the furniture recycling initiative - furniture4reuse
  • review all vehicles in Operational Services with a view to transferring them to more sustainable options