05 October 2018 
Emma Keenan, Procurement Specialist
The Responsible Procurement Group were pleased to hear from Amy Staff the Sustainability Officer for the students’ union at UWE at their last group meeting.
After successfully campaigning to get the UWE Students’ Union to commit to stocking only Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil certified palm oil products in their shops, Amy has worked with those more widely in her institution to write the first in-depth palm oil policy of any UK university (to their knowledge). The policy states that by 2020, all palm oil products purchased (including both cleaning and catering) will be RSPO certified where possible.
Amy has asked me to share details of this initiative and has asked that I also share an invitation to all institutions to join forces with UWE and pledge to include sustainable RSPO certified palm oil within strategic plans. The end goal will be to implement strong and impactful sustainable palm oil policies across the UK. 13 institutions have already signed up to hear more and a working group is being planned.
If you would like to understand more about how you can take the pledge and shape the way your institution considers the use of Palm oil please contact amy2.staff@live.uwe.ac.uk
