In a survey of Oxford colleges by Corpus’s waste contractor, of all the colleges using this service Corpus came top. The College recycled between 58% and 63% of its waste each quarter last year. The Oxford colleges’ average is 46% and the University target is 40% by 2025. Well done everyone for their efforts in recycling – let’s see if we can raise the bar again next year!
At the beginning of September, Peter Nitsche-Whitfield joined Corpus as its first Sustainability Coordinator, a post shared with Lincoln and Exeter. This is the first time that any Oxford college has created a post solely dedicated to sustainability. By creating a shared role, it will be possible to capitalise on learnings from each of the three historic institutions.
Peter’s role is to guide Corpus along its journey towards sustainability. He says: “It is vital to address sustainability holistically by tackling all the dimensions of our ecological crises from the climate emergency, biodiversity collapse, land and resource use, to waste and pollution.” Reducing the ecological impact of Corpus’s operations will thus be Peter’s main field of work. This will mean addressing the College’s energy use and building stock, travel patterns, food procurement and waste, as well as land use and biodiversity.
Peter is returning to Oxford after completing his undergraduate degree in PPE at St Benet’s Hall in 2019. Between 2019 and 2020, he worked for GermanZero, an NGO which campaigns for Germany to become climate-neutral by 2035. Following this, he completed a master’s in economics, focusing on sustainable development and the ecological transition in Vienna, Paris and Brussels.