New environmental partnership puts waste to work

Turning trash into treasure, a new partnership between the University of Newcastle and Newcastle city’s first five star hotel, Crystalbrook Kingsley, will put students, researchers and waste to work in a bid to drive sustainability in our community and reduce waste in the hospitality industry.

The partnership will see an annual $5,000 Crystalbrook Kingsley Environmental Scholarship granted to a University of Newcastle student with a passion for practical solutions to improve environmental sustainability. Scholarship recipients will have the opportunity to work directly with the hotel to implement world-leading environmental practices and to collaborate in the discovery of new ways to reduce waste through research.

Crystalbrook Kingsley will also donate restaurant and bar waste to the University of Newcastle’s Food Science Research Group in a collaboration that will see waste upcycled into new products for use in the hospitality industry.

Our innovative collaboration with Crystalbrook Kingsley will ensure that our students and researchers stay at the forefront of waste utilisation research while finding new and creative ways to reuse waste products and reduce our environmental footprint.”

Professor Lee Smith, Pro Vice-Chancellor Engineering, Science and Environment

Daily decisions deliver big change

The University of Newcastle has been named #1 in the world for partnering for a more sustainable future in the 2021 Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings. Our collaboration with Crystalbrook Kingsley will unite our shared vision to deliver tangible change through innovative environmental solutions.

From removing the tiny shampoo bottles in guest bathrooms to serving locally sourced food in its bars and restaurants, Crystalbrook Kingsley is leading the hospitality industry with a commitment to sustainability and an appetite for opportunities that reduce its environmental impact. They are the first to introduce 100% waste free bathroom amenities across their portfolio. In two years the hotel group has saved over three million plastic bottles from entering landfill.

Together, the research partnership and scholarships will improve sustainability in our community and the hospitality industry worldwide while creating timely innovation to lead change and reduce our environmental footprint across other industries.

No. 1 in  the world for partnering for a more sustainable future (2021 Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings)

For a copy of the University’s Environmental Sustainability Plan 2019-2025, contact James Rooney on 02 4921 8612 or donor-relations@newcastle.edu.au