BSS053-6 Sustainable Business Report: University of Bedfordshire

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the University of Bedfordshire's sustainable business practices, evaluating the institution's approach to environmental sustainability. The report begins with an introduction that outlines the aims and objectives of the study, followed by an examination of the sustainable issues faced by the university, including noise and air pollution stemming from its proximity to Luton Airport. The report then delves into the threats and opportunities presented by these issues, such as carbon emissions and the benefits of its location near public transport. The study further explores the university's energy sources, waste management, and recycling initiatives, highlighting efforts in carbon reduction, water conservation, and resource management. Global issues and regional constraints are also discussed, with a focus on the business case for sustainability, leadership strategies, and recommendations for improvement. The report concludes with a summary of findings and a list of references.

Running Head: SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Sustainable Business Management
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Notes

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Abstract
The report aimed at evaluating the case study of the University of Bedfordshire. The report
speculates through the treats faced by the university from different environmental factors.
The factors include huge carbon dioxide emission and the noise pollution. The strength of the
university lies at the overall developmental approach that it takes towards creating the
sustenance combating the changing environment and turning the ill effects to its own benefits
which includes renewable source of energy and water harvesting.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Sustainable Issues.......................................................................................................................3
Threats and opportunities...........................................................................................................5
Energy Sources, waste and recycling.....................................................................................6
Carbon reduction....................................................................................................................7
Reduction of water.................................................................................................................7
Resource Constraint...................................................................................................................7
Global issues and their regional constraints...............................................................................8
Business Case in Activities and Motivation...............................................................................8
Leadership for Sustainability.....................................................................................................9
Recommendation......................................................................................................................10
Conclusion................................................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
The aim of this report is come up with a holistic discussion on the issues faced by the
University of Bedfordshire in order to analyze the sustainliblity of the university in the
current dynamic scenario of climate changes. It is important for any business endeavor is to
make sure that their business is not creating a negative impact on the adjoining environment.
The impact is that of the human intervention that marks its negative outcome on the
environment. The endeavor of the report is therefor to evaluate the ways in which the
organizations concern towards the environment is affecting it and how they are making
efforts to grow their sustainability towards it. Several issues those have been taken as the
concern of the report includes issues like noise pollution and threats of air pollution that the
university faces because of its close proximity with the Luton airport. The higher standards of
emission from the Luton airport contains the nitrogen oxide gas in such a concentration,
which is detrimental for the environment as well as for the humans along with it. The report
will try to estimate the opportunities of the university that exist by the virtue of its location
near the rail station. The report will therefore be concerned with the overall impact of the
business in developing its competence to the environment keeping in concern the business
case.
Sustainable Issues
The university has exhibited its concern for the environment in the way of its
function. The management team of the university is concerned with developing their
competence with the changing environment as well as working towards creating their
sustainability towards it. Several steps taken by the university in this respect includes
managing the wastes. In a case study conducted to evaluate the system of waste management

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exhibits that the wastes are segregated between recyclable and non-recyclable resources.
Recyclable wastes include paper scraps, cups, glass bottles, waste food and many others. The
waste are compartmentalize on the basis of them being capable of undergoing several process
of recycling. The recycling also involves in the process of generating electricity from the
processing of bio gas. Environmental sustenance has also been developed by the university
by recycling the ways in the preliminary methods of using biodegradable and non-
biodegradable waste recycling. The others methods involved in recycling obviously includes
the ones of combi heating and usage of solar panel as an alternate source of electricity. The
university has also invested in rainwater in order to control the wastage of water.
The university has a well drafted environmental policy. The policy was being
published within the last lfive years and have been taken through review. The execution of
the policies have also been done in full force. The university has drafted its developmental
strategy in a sustainable manner in order to cater to the changes in the environmental changes
in the area concerned. The areas where the strategies have been implemented includes
wastage management that has been done through separation and segregation of the waste
generated, looking at the concern for biodiversity, water management, involvement of the
community and looking at the discharge and emission of wastes.
The implication of the strategies also come under the concern of the management
team at Bedfordshire University. Here the ones practicing the strategies to develop the
sustenance to environment includes most of its stakeholders beginning from the students and
to the administration staffs. The university had also been successful in producing a budget
that involves inculcation cost in order to enhance their commitment towards environmental
sustenance (Cucchiella, D’Adamo and Gastaldi 2017).

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Threats and opportunities
The university has received considerable amount of threats from its location in close
proximity with the Luton University by emitting highest concentration of nitrogen oxide
gases and other greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide. Though, the Luton London
Airport (LLA) is making effort to monitor the quality of air in their premise so that they can
estimate the contribution of the airport to the total amount of emission happening at the local
level. Airport organization has taken the help of the local authorities to assist them in the
evolution. Being the 5th busiest port within the airline scenario of UK, it is well anticipated
that the airport will receive an extremely heavy traffic (Cheremisinoff 2018). The university
of Bedfordshire is located at a very close proximity to the airport and as a precedent result the
university is forced to share the emission of CO2 with the airport. This is a serious section of
threat for the university as it has taken initiatives to control the emission of carbon dioxide
within their premise and other related activities however, the emission has remained a serious
threats and needs to be worked upon(Barrett 2019).
In order to do so the As a result, the concern is that of the treats the university is
receiving which includes the one of noise as well as air pollution. Hefce’s Capital and the
Carbon Trust had come under common conjunction from where it had sought to form a
guideline for reducing carbon emission. However the threat can be worked upon by the
company as the government bodies concerned with funding the organization has devoted a
certain amount of fund to guide the universities in this venture. Guidelines have also been
provided by HEFCE in order to aid the organizations in estimating the carbon emission
(beds.hosted.panopto.com 2019).
Following the scope 3 guidelines the university has been successful in initiating its
effort towards controlling its carbon emission. The areas that needs to be appreciated for the

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Bedfordshire university are the ones of transparency, estimating the emission level under the
scope 3 mode of evaluating emission. The strategy of the organization had also been directed
towards implementing the scope 3 emission model on different level of concern. The score of
the university had been reported to the HESA through EMR. The score has been awarded on
the basis of the treatment of the waste and water treatment (beds.ac.uk 2019).
The location of the university is advantageous because of its close proximity with the
railway station and the bus station. The easy availability of the two most convenient mode of
public transport that has proved to be advantageous for the university as it decreases the
amount of carbon dioxide emission by cutting down the number of people availing cars
contributing the level of pollution. The university takes initiatives to estimate the amount of
carbon dioxide emission both in the environment internal to it as well as in the environment
external to it. In a survey conducted by the ‘People and Planet’ organization Bedfordshire
university have been acclaimed for its contribution towards decreasing the rate of emission in
the cases of business trips, travels, procurement and others.
Energy Sources, waste and recycling
The university has been successful in using different sources of energy in order to cut
down the consumption of the fossil fuels and other natural source of fuel, whose degradation
is of serious concern for the environment. Such initiative includes the organization generates
electricity from the processing of the bio-gas (Khan, Qureshi and Iqbal 2015). In cases when
the production of electricity fails by the processing of bio-gas the university aims at
purchasing the sources of electricity from its renewable sources (beds.hosted.panopto.com
2019).

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The university has been successful in recycling almost 80% of the waste that is being
generated by the university, as it has been uphold in the course of the case study
(beds.hosted.panopto.com 2019). The level of awareness among the stakeholders of the
university, which includes the students and the staffs, can be estimated as the amount of the
waste that has being generated by the university per head estimates for about 50%
approximately in comparison to the amount generated in other sectors. Such study in a way is
reflective of the fact that the university has been successful in imparting the messages of
sustainability and the concern for the environmental development.
Carbon reduction
Approximately, for a period of a year it has been calculated that the university has
been successful in bringing about notable changes in the intensity of the emission of carbon
particles in the environment. There has been the reduction of about 19.47% of the reduction
as it has been estimated in the scenario. The estimation has been calculated since its baseline
in the year of 2005 (peopleandplanet.org 2019).
Reduction of water
The university has also been hailed for the availability of the water to the internal
stakeholders as well its contribution towards water .harvesting through the method of rain
water harvesting also termed as grey water (beds.hosted.panopto.com 2019).
Resource Constraint
The university of Bedfordshire has been credited for enabling its management system
with a system concerned with the management of environment in particular (EMS). It is
imperative for any organization to function effectively. The investment policy of the

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university has been made explicitly available for public perusal. As such, the university has
invested in its fund in a newly furnished manner towards enhancing its investment in the
renewable source of energy and installing the ones owned by the community
(beds.hosted.panopto.com 2019).
Global issues and their regional constraints
Air pollution has been enhanced by the contribution of the airlines that counts for
almost 25% of entire carbon dioxide emission on a global level. In such an alarming rate of
increase it is expected that the contribution of the carbon emission in the UK sectors will
account for 80% of the total emission by the end of 2050. As a result the global scenario of
carbon dioxide emission needs immediate assistance in its reduction. The catastrophic
changes need to be eliminated. In an agreement signed by UK with Paris in the year 2016 has
been limited to the rate of 1.5 degree C (peopleandplanet.org 2019).
Carbon Reduction strategy as it has been set in the year 2010 has been framed in order
to guide the universities in the to manage the carbon emission. The implication of the
strategies even range to the institutions present in Northern part of Ireland, Wales and
Scotland. The organizations concerned with controlling the emission of carbon should bring
the aspects like waste, transport and similar others under its concern.
Business Case in Activities and Motivation
Certain policies have been taken by the university to form is sustainability in the
context of the changes in the environmental scenario in the global context. However,
sustainable approach has been adopted in the food policy as well. Since the company has
redrafted its policy, the concern of the university had been invested towards the development

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of its steps in order to formulate its course of actions towards modifying its course of actions
in order to make their action on the line of sustainability of environment. The investment
policy of the university, which is available for the public perusal, has made its explicit how
the university has invested towards developing the competence of the staffs and the students
towards creating an awareness among the students (beds.hosted.panopto.com 2019).
The investment of the university can be noted in the areas of waste disposal, waste
recycling, waste management, alternate electricity producing system, rain water harvesting
and similar others. The sustainable developmental steps taken by the university has aided the
university to control the cost inculcated in the fuel or the source of energy. As the university
has cut down the cost involved in the fossil fuel. Instead of using fossil fuel the university has
sought to develop their own source of electricity either from biogas or from the solar panel
(peopleandplanet.org 2019).
The investment has also been in the terms of the motivation that the members of the
higher level of the university engages. As it will be discussed in the subsequent sections of
the report in details, the university maintains pivotal role in accustoming the students with the
initiatives taken by the university as well as the concern that the university nurtures for the
environment around and the impact of the changes on a global level at their induction. The
‘Business Case’ of the university in this respect is therefore invested in the university
investing in its vision aimed at creating its functioning in accordance to the development of
the sustainability of the environment. The university which the organization also makes
notable effort in making its policies and the steps taken as well as the implications of the
changes in the strategies implicit to the internal and external stakeholders
(peopleandplanet.org 2019).

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Leadership for Sustainability
The strategies adopted by the company has been adopted at every level of its
functioning. The managerial policy behind implementing its environmental policies had taken
into consideration the stakeholders at the different level of the organization and use smart
target in order to include certain strategies in order to attain the same. The students and the
other staffs of the university had been involved in developing the functions and measures to
develop and monitor the actions of the same in respect of carbon management. This comes
under the universities sustainable policy and plan. Certain activities have been furnished by
the university in order to accustom the students to the changes in the environment and the
managerial steps taken by the university towards controlling it in the most effective way. This
is initiated at the induction process (beds.ac.uk 2019).
The university at the same time conducts Go Green Week in order to raise and
develop awareness of its stakeholders and demonstrate its support in favor of the awareness
for the environment. Certain campaigns are organized by the university in order to reach the
students as well as the stuffs and spread the vision of the university as well as the steps taken
by them in this respect. The university invests a certain portion of its funds in order to
execute projects concerning the sustainability of environment. Therefore, in order to evaluate
the leadership mode as it is used by the university is the one of motivational and
developmental. Taking in consideration the development that the university aim at by
involving the staffs and the students in the process makes it a transformational leadership
model.
Recommendation
The case study of in concern was that of the University of Bedfordshire that has
exhibited serious concern toward the environment and taken steps in order to develop its

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competence in developing sustainable strategies. However, certain strategies can be
suggested so that the university can make further steps in order to develop its sustenance as
well as control the factors affecting the environment
 As the university by the virtue of its location has turned out to be a massive receiver
of the noise and air pollution imparted by the LLA. However, the university can
utilize the noise generated in the pollution for its own benefits. As the university has
already indulged in the process of energy transformation it can be estimated that the
university will be successful in transforming the noise into electrical energy and
utilize the energy generated for its own consumption. It will be requiring acceptor or
receiver and a transformer to convert the energy.
Conclusion
The case study concerning the university of Bedfordshire exhibited that the location
of the university in its close proximity has made it susceptible to the threats of air and noise
pollution. The university has made substantial efforts in controlling the emission of carbon
dioxide by adopting to the scope 3 of the guidelines adopted. Along with that the university
has an extensive system of waste management where the wastes are segregated and then
recycled for further use. This includes recycling of biogas and creating electricity through
conversion. The others steps of the university includes rainwater harvesting, using solar
panels and many others. The university has been explicit in its policies as well as at the
investment it is making towards the sustainable development in the control of the degrading
factors that are serious threats to it.
The university has invested coherently in formulating its measures in order to develop
its competence with the environmental development. The investment of the university had
also been made in areas where it has conducted workshops and awareness programs in order

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to develop the awareness of the staffs and the students in contributing towards environmental
development. It is even more crucial in case of UK as it is anticipated that by the year 2050
the country is going to rank the top in terms of carbon dioxide emission. The other adjoining
factors have contributed to the degradation of the environment. The government has aided the
universities in order to cut down the emission of carbon dioxide. The investment of the
universities have also been made in several areas in order to ensure the sustainable
development of the university. The development achieved has therefore been overarching and
involves the students and the staffs in working towards it.

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References
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to-monitor-more-air-pollutants-than-any-uk-airport/ [Accessed 12 Jan. 2020].
beds.ac.uk 2019. Home | University of Bedfordshire. [online] Beds.ac.uk. Available at:
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Cucchiella, F., D’Adamo, I. and Gastaldi, M., 2017. Sustainable waste management: Waste
to energy plant as an alternative to landfill. Energy Conversion and Management, 131, pp.18-
31.

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Dincer, I. and Acar, C., 2016. A review on potential use of hydrogen in aviation
applications. International Journal of Sustainable Aviation, 2(1), pp.74-100.
Khan, J.A., Qureshi, H.K. and Iqbal, A., 2015. Energy management in wireless sensor
networks: A survey. Computers & Electrical Engineering, 41, pp.159-176.
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https://peopleandplanet.org/university/159805/ul19 [Accessed 12 Jan. 2020].