South Staffordshire College joins elite group in sustainability standards

South Staffordshire College joins elite group in sustainability standards

South Staffordshire College has become the only FE College in the UK to achieve Gold EcoCampus status and the demanding ISO14011 standards.

During the past few years South Staffordshire College has achieved pre-eminence in the FE sector, being awarded the internationally recognised ISO accreditation at its Rodbaston Campus.

Under the programme leadership of Mark Phillips, the College’s Environment and Sustainability Manager, the Campus has recently passed the relevant surveillance audit and upgraded its EcoCampus status from Silver to Gold.

A number of factors are taken into account in such assessments, including responsibility, competence, training, communication documentation, operational control and emergency measures.

The Gold level audit confirms that an effective environmental management system is in place at the College with many examples of sustainability being incorporated into both the new build and refurbishment projects which are taking place across all the campuses.

Mark Phillips said, “ISO14001 requires a commitment towards demonstrating continual improvement in our sustainability performance, so it’s a powerful driver and benchmark that proves we are meeting targets, legislative compliance and reducing our environmental impacts.

We will be audited for full recertification by May 2013 with a view to achieving ISO14001 across all campuses.”