The university won the Sustainability in Education Award title from Footprint which annually runs industry awards for sustainability in the supply chain.
The university’s ‘MyCup’ initiative involves students and staff using their own, or buying a reusable ECoffee bamboo cup from any of the campus outlets.
Since its launch last September customers have used their own mugs 75,000 times, saving as many disposable cups from being thrown away.
The idea has won praise from celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: “It’s fantastic seeing the University of Brighton joining in the war on waste by tackling the issue of disposable cups with their MyCup initiative.”
David Hicks, Deputy Director of the university’s Accommodation and Hospitality Services, said: “Many congratulations to everyone who has contributed to this fantastic achievement, including our brilliant front of house teams for selling the virtues of reusable cups.
“Thanks also to the Environment Team for their expert advice and invaluable help from the very start. Over 75,000 paper cups have been saved from waste and incineration in less than nine months and we are planning to push on with increasingly ambitious targets through 2018/19.
“I also want to thank students and staff at the university who have supported the scheme from the start.”
Receiving the award were (centre) Safa Qadi, Duty Hospitality Manager, and Mo Fathollahi, Event Supervisor.