Following on from the success of their University Farm initiative in 2016, KSG Catering has once again partnered with University College Cork for an exciting project.
The new Bio Green Café has opened after its refurbishment in August and has started the transition away from single-use plastic items at the college. The café is officially Ireland’s first plastic free café.
Michael Gleeson, CEO of KSG said: “It has been great to work on this project in collaboration with UCC and both students and staff have embraced the changes in a really positive way. It feels like we have made a significant step forward in turning things around and reducing plastic use on campus.”
KSG and UCC Green Campus Committee have joined forces to launch a number of initiatives in the cafe. All plastic drink bottles have been replaced with glass bottles and cans and all plastic condiment sachets have been replaced with reusable crockery containers.
All the café’s fresh produce is delivered daily from the Univesity Farm alongside produce from local suppliers. All the produce arrives without plastic wrapping and is in reusable containers.
The café promotes using ‘Keep Cups’ and crockery during meal times. If customers want take away options, certain charges will apply. For example, a disposable compostable cup is 10 cent, wrapping for deli items is 5 cent and a compostable food container is 40 cent.
Patrick O’ Shea, UCC President said: “It was once said that that there was ‘a great future in plastics’. Now we know that a sustainable future must judiciously use renewable and sustainable resources. We are delighted to partner with KSG to develop the Bio Green Café for our students and staff, and as a model for a sustainable future for all.”
Professor John O’Halloran, Deputy President and Chair of the Green Campus Forum UCC, added: “UCC is delighted to be part of this latest pioneering initiative on removing plastic from our restaurants at University College Cork. Our partnership with KSG has been both transformative and critical in working with our students and staff in advancing sustainability, one of our key values.”
For more information, visit www.ucc.ie
