UVic and SDG 12, Responsible Consumption and Production
Ethical sourcing, from policy to supplier
UVic spends millions of dollars each year on goods, services and construction, and the university treats those decisions as an instrument of public accountability. The Purchasing Policy (FM5105), approved by the Board of Governors, states that procurement at UVic is "first and foremost, in service of the public good." It requires that purchasing decisions optimize resources "using sustainable stewardship practices in concordance with life cycle assessments and triple bottom line considerations that recognize financial, social and environmental impacts," and that all procurement be carried out ethically. The accompanying procedures bind Purchasing Officers to the Supply Chain Canada Code of Ethics, and the university-wide Sustainability Policy (GV0800) sets the same life-cycle and triple-bottom-line test for decision-making across campus.
The operational core of UVic's ethical sourcing commitment is the Supplier Code of Conduct. It sets the minimum ethical, social and environmental standards required to do business with the university, and it is written to reach beyond the immediate vendor. Suppliers may not employ children under 15, may not use forced, bonded or prison labour, may not charge recruitment fees or retain workers' identity documents, and must respect freedom of association, pay at least the local minimum wage, and provide safe working conditions. On the environmental side, suppliers must ensure production waste is treated and disposed of responsibly, must pursue industry practices that conserve biodiversity, cut carbon emissions and increase recycled content, and must respect land use agreements including those protecting Indigenous use. The Code is aligned with the International Labour Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Failure to comply may be treated as a breach of contract and grounds for termination.
Commitments only matter if they are checked. UVic was the first Canadian university to partner with EcoVadis, the world's largest provider of business sustainability ratings, which assesses supply chain partners against 21 criteria grouped under Environment, Labour and Human Rights, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement. The resulting scorecards let Purchasing Services locate compliance gaps and agree corrective action plans with suppliers rather than simply walking away from them. UVic reserves the right to investigate any supplier it believes has breached the Code, to demand proof of compliance, to use independent third parties to verify it, and to require disclosure of factory and production facility locations for suppliers and their subcontractors. This work began before Canada's supply chain transparency legislation took effect, and it now supports the university's reporting obligations under the federal Act.
Extending the standard to services on campus. Contractors, consultants and service providers working on UVic property are bound by university policy as a condition of their contract. The On Site Contractor Work schedule, updated in October 2025, requires that a contractor's workers, subcontractors and agents comply with the Sustainability Policy (GV0800) and the Environmental Health and Safety Policy (SS9200), among others, at all times while on campus, and allows UVic to terminate the agreement for non-compliance. The same schedule makes contractors responsible for removing their own waste and expressly forbids them from disposing of material in any UVic waste or recycling receptacle, which keeps contractor waste out of the university's diversion streams and out of its numbers.
Extending the standard to suppliers of goods. The Supplier Code of Conduct applies by its own terms to subcontractors, and UVic expects suppliers to work with their own suppliers to meet the same principles, pushing the standard a further tier down the chain. That expectation is backed by category-specific criteria: all electronics purchased through University Systems are EPEAT-certified; furniture suppliers are selected through competitive processes weighting Greenguard, ISO 14001, ISO 9001, BIFMA and Cradle to Cradle certification alongside labour reputation; Facilities Management's Green Cleaning Policy (2021) requires products meeting or exceeding Green Seal, UL EcoLogo, FSC and EPA standards; UVic Printing Services prints on 30% post-consumer recycled paper by default and recycles toner through Ricoh. In food, University Food Services is a FEED BC partner, with close to half its suppliers based in British Columbia and many within 50 km of campus, and UVic tracks and reports its expenditure on certified Fairtrade products to maintain Fair Trade Campus designation. UVic's Indigenous departments have also worked with Purchasing Services on collaborative procurement guidelines that lower barriers for Indigenous artists and businesses. The effect of these criteria is measurable: as reported in UVic's 2024 Climate Change Accountability Report, orders of 30% post-consumer recycled office paper nearly tripled between 2023 and 2024, rising from 744 reams to 2,144.
Managing waste, from the loading dock to the lab
Hazardous materials. UVic's Environmental Health and Safety Policy (SS9200), approved by the Board of Governors and effective March 2021, commits the university to a campus-wide EHS Management System built on the principles of CSA Standard Z1000-14. The policy applies to students, employees, visitors, separately incorporated organizations and contractors, and it assigns the Occupational Health, Safety and Environment (OHSE) department responsibility for developing core programs, interpreting environmental legislation, acting as UVic's representative with regulators and auditing the university's environmental performance.
In practice, hazardous waste is handled through OHSE's hazardous waste management program, which collects and disposes of all hazardous waste generated on campus in compliance with local and provincial regulation. Waste is logged in a central inventory database, stored in labelled OHSE-supplied containers, and removed on a weekly collection cycle by a licensed contractor, with extended notice periods for large lab clean-outs and decommissioning. Source control and environmental protection are coordinated with the Capital Regional District's Sewer Use Bylaw, including industry-specific codes of practice for laboratories, photographic imaging, food services and vehicle washing, and CRD permits for controlled waste and non-domestic wastewater discharges. Purchasing reinforces this at the point of acquisition: under the Purchasing Policy, dangerous goods and hazardous waste disposal are Restricted Goods and Services that cannot be bought without OHSE approval, regardless of dollar value. Green Labs initiatives, a chemical inventory system that encourages sharing rather than duplicate ordering, and laboratory glass recycling protocols work to reduce the volume of hazardous waste generated in the first place.
Measuring waste sent to landfill and recycled. UVic's Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 2030 commits the university to a zero-waste campus, to reducing total waste produced per campus user, and to developing the policies, processes and infrastructure needed to get there. Measurement underpins all of it. Facilities Management's Waste Reduction Services manages recycling, compost and landfill collection for the campus and calculates diversion rates monthly from contractor volume data and material data sheets, supplemented by periodic physical waste audits. The most recent audit recorded 343 metric tonnes of aluminum, cardboard, mixed paper, steel, scrap wood, glass and plastics recycled, and found that roughly 79% of campus waste is currently diverted against a technical potential of about 93%, with the gap driven mainly by food scraps, paper towels and paper cups placed in landfill bins. Construction and demolition waste is tracked separately under the LEED rating system on new building projects, which routinely exceed 90% diversion.
These figures are reported publicly and externally verified through the AASHE Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System. In 2024, UVic earned a STARS Platinum rating, three years ahead of the target set in the Climate and Sustainability Action Plan and one of a small number of institutions worldwide to hold it. Waste has also been identified in UVic's 2024 Climate Change Accountability Report as a priority Scope 3 emissions category for baseline development. Measurement is paired with infrastructure and reuse: more than 300 multi-stream sorting stations inside campus buildings, outdoor Sort-It-Out stations replacing standalone garbage bins, the UVic Recyclepedia search tool, specialty collection streams for soft plastics, polystyrene, batteries and pens, a Free Store for redistributing usable goods, and a surplus asset program through which Purchasing Services reallocates, donates or resells equipment and furniture rather than replacing it.
Designing out plastics and disposables
UVic's commitments on single-use items are set out in the Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 2030, which directs the university to engage suppliers and Purchasing Services on alternatives to single-use packaging and containers, to phase out the sale of plastic bottled water, to ensure to-go utensils, dishes and packaging are compostable, to apply a surcharge to single-use food containers and beverage cups, and to pilot reusable containers in Food Services outlets. The Supplier Code of Conduct carries the expectation into the supply chain, and UVic operates within the BC Single-Use and Plastic Waste Prevention Regulation, in force since December 2023, and the District of Saanich's Checkout Bag Regulation Bylaw. The Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability works with food service providers to move ahead of compliance deadlines rather than meet them at the margin.
The measures already in place are specific. UVic neither sells nor distributes plastic shopping bags. All food service utensils, including forks, spoons, knives, chopsticks and stir sticks, are uncoated wood or bamboo. Straws are FDA and EU compliant paper products that break down in 45 to 60 days. No polystyrene foam is used in food or beverage packaging, and compostable and oxo-biodegradable plastics were phased out entirely by July 2024. Accessories such as lids, sleeves, napkins, wet wipes and straws are no longer handed out by default and are available only at self-serve stations. Procurement has shifted to prioritize easily recyclable resins by default, and PVC film wrap will be eliminated by July 2028 in line with provincial legislation.
Reduction works better when the alternative is easy, so UVic has invested in reuse. The Eco-Box program offers a reusable container exchange for all takeaway meals at the Cove dining facility and Mystic Market kiosks, with residence students receiving an Eco-Card free in their welcome package and everyone else joining for $5. A reusable beverage cup pilot launched during student orientation lets customers at the Port and Boardwalk cafés borrow stainless-steel travel mugs using a digital Reuser ID, with an app that sends return reminders, maps drop-off points and tracks both individual and campus-wide impact. Anyone bringing their own mug to a campus outlet receives a $0.25 discount, and 89 water refill locations across campus, plus a seasonal outdoor station, support reusable bottles over purchased ones.
This work is being consolidated rather than left to individual outlets. In spring 2024 the Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability convened a cross-campus working group to develop a comprehensive single-use reduction strategy, bringing together the Vice-President Finance and Operations portfolio, Purchasing Services, University Food Services, Waste Reduction Services, Residence Services, Occupational Health and Safety, faculty and student groups. The group's mandate is to identify the single-use items that dominate UVic's waste stream using supplier contracts, service agreements, spend data, historical waste audits, Scope 3 emissions work and the AASHE STARS 3.0 technical manual, then set reduction targets and apply the right mix of procurement rules, education and pilot projects to each of food service, catering, retail and vending, events and offices.