What is Sustainable Procurement
Sustainable procurement follows sustainable practices when choosing suppliers. Through an assessment of an organisations environmental and social impact, suppliers are then chosen. Understanding the origins of supplied goods allow us to make more informed choices when recycling, restoring, or repurposing goods.
What is Sunway Doing?
Leadership
The Last Straw Campaign
The Last Straw Campaign at Sunway University aims to reduce the amount of single-use plastic on campus. While it initially started with driving out plastic straws supplied by vendors on campus, it has now progressed to NO single-use plastic including plates, cups, cutlery and any sort of single-use supply effective December 2022.
Research
Research in Sustainable Tourism
From the School of Hospitality and Management, an article titled ‘Consumers’ intention to visit green hotels – a goal-framing theory perspective.’ The research on green hotel literature can be found here.
“Planet Saving Meals”
The meat industry is the single largest contributor to agriculture-related greenhouse gas emissions. As the Malaysian diet mainly consists of meat, this proves to be a difficult task for the nation. Hence, a video-series of Planet Saving Meals, were developed by the University to promote sustainable food choices. A cooking series based on meat-free meals, it aims to encourage sustainable food choices by offering plant-based alternatives that would taste equally flavourful. The School of Hospitality and Management and the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health features several local dishes which use fruits as alternative to meat.
The first episode was released in preparation for the Eid celebrations, exploring jackfruit as a plant-based alternative to beef and chicken for the must-have rendang. Jackfruit is a sustainable crop, easy to grow in Malaysia’s tropical climate and even proposed as an ideal replacement for wheat, corn and other staple crops under threat from climate change.
Education
Micro-credential in Sustainable Management and Operations
Sunway Business School offers this micro-credential to integrate sustainability from a business operations perspective. Also, the BSc (Hons) Global Supply Chain Management offers an elective Green Supply Chain Management which discusses distribution practices and sustainability.
External Engagement
Sunway X Farms One-for-one May Campaign
Sunway X Farms carries out donation Programmes to underprivileged families in Malaysia. This campaign was to lend a helping hand to donors as they carried out the donation process. For the entire month of May 2023, with every purchase of their Salad Lettuce Mix Bag, Sunway XFarms will give another fresh sustainably grown vegetable bag to a family in need where each bag can last a family of 5 for up to a week. The collection process took place at Sunway Makerspace located at Sunway University. Sunway XFarms plans to continue this campaign in the coming future.
JSC - Extended Producer Responsibility Policy Review Report 2021
Owing to ubiquitous plastic pollution globally and in Malaysia, an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme is proposed for better handling of packaging waste. By following the ‘polluter pay principle’, producers or importers of packaging would be charged for the packaging they put into the Malaysian market. The EPR fee would then be used for establishing and strengthening the recycling infrastructure. A third important impact of EPR is the changes in product design to increase its recyclability.
This report details the science and industry behind the management of Municipal Solid Waste in Malaysia, identifying its gaps and examining the lessons learned from selected countries for policy comparison to Malaysia. It proposes several recommendations for the implementation of EPR and charts a model for the way forward for waste management in Malaysia.
Related Policies
The University is committed to establishing a best-practice approach to sustainable procurement in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. The purchase of goods and services as well as supplier selection process will favour suppliers that adopt sustainability practices that minimises the environmental impact of producing those goods and services.
Read the Sustainable Procurement policy here.
Activities/Student-led Initiatives
OPACK - Smart Returnable Food Container
To facilitate the no single-use plastic behaviour within our campus community, OPACK offers staff and students the sustainable alternative to single-use plastics via the rentNreturn programme. A start-up business aimed at addressing waste reduction, specifically single-use plastic packaging for takeaway food, OPACK is a smart returnable container logistics system. Reusable containers are made available at food kiosks on campus, so students and staff can rent a container as opposed to paying for a single use packaging option. Users can drop off the used containers into collection bins where it will be washed and sanitised for the next use.
