UPP, the leading provider of on-campus student accommodation infrastructure and facilities management services in the UK, has published its second annual sustainability report, setting out the progress made towards their environmental, social and governance commitments.
The report, Building Sustainable Futures, demonstrates UPP’s tangible steps forward on its sustainability journey and has been published in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative standards.
Environmental achievements over the last year include:
- gaining verification of net zero carbon targets by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).
- recycling 40% of waste at source and sending only 3% of waste to landfill.
- a reduction in Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions by 487tCO2e compared with 2021/22.
- an innovative new partnership with Architype, a multi-award-winning sustainable architectural practice to support sustainable campus development.
Sustainability is not just about environmental performance. In the social and governance space, UPP has also made real progress:
- £521,825 of social value generated in 2022/23. In the last two years over £1 million of social value has been created towards a target of £6 million by 2030.
- The UPP Foundation announced funding of £160,000 for eight innovative pilot projects with charities and universities, on diverse topics including student mental health, energy, biodiversity and student transition into university.
- 15% of UPP people trained as Mental Health First Aiders.
- £42,000 raised and matched for charity and 716 volunteering hours delivered by UPP people.
- A new supply chain charter on environmental and ethical procurement.
Elaine Hewitt, CEO of UPP said:
At UPP we are committed to operating sustainably for the benefit of our student residents, our people, our partners and the communities within which we operate. As a student accommodation provider working with leading universities across the country, we are conscious of the impact we have on the places in which we operate and on the young people who call our accommodation home.
Our second annual sustainability report reiterates the pledges we have made as a business and shows, with full transparency, the positive progress we have made in the last year. This covers environmental improvements, delivering significant reductions in waste, energy and water consumption. We have also generated over £1 million in social value over the last two years, through the great work of the UPP Foundation in the Higher Education sector, charitable giving, volunteering and the creation of a pathway to support disadvantaged people into employment at UPP.
These are just a few examples of the positive steps we are taking towards real sustainability. There is much more we can do, and we are committed to this for the benefit of people, place and planet.
