Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 65.49
Liaison Jun-Ming Chen
Submission Date Oct. 29, 2021

STARS v2.2

National Tsing Hua University
OP-8: Sustainable Dining

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.88 / 2.00 Fu-Ren Lin
Professor
Institute of Service Science, National Tsing Hua University
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Sustainable dining initiatives

Local community engagement

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host a farmers market, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery program, or urban agriculture project, or support such a program in the local community?:
No

A brief description of the farmers market, CSA or urban agriculture project:
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Sustainability-themed outlet

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host a sustainability-themed food outlet on-site, either independently or in partnership with a contractor or retailer?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-themed food outlet:
1.The dining service contractors should give a high priority to provide locally produced goods certified by three certifications: CAS (Certified Agriculture Standards), TAP (Traceable Agricultural Products) with QR code, and Taiwan Organic, with non-genetically modified food products and primary processing products.
2.Convenient stores: most packed food products don’t contain artificial flavor, artificial color, preservative, bleach, color fasting agent, binding agent, a leavening agent with aluminium and so on. Also, making sure those ingredients are non-genetically modified. Consumers can buy the products with high protein and high fiber too. One convenient store provided foods with clean label certification (https://cleanlabelproject.org/clean-label-project-certification/)

Inclusive and local sourcing

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor support disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through its food and beverage purchasing?:
Yes

A brief description of the support for disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
According to Article 23 of School Health Act, the schools shall give priority to using quality local agricultural products accredited by the central competent agricultural authority for the meals that they provide and are prohibited from using raw and fresh foods that contain genetically modified ingredients or primary products made with them.

https://law.moj.gov.tw/LawClass/LawSingle.aspx?pcode=H0020050&flno=23

Estimated percentage of total food and beverage expenditures on products from disadvantaged businesses, social enterprises, and/or local SMEs:
0

Low-impact dining

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor host low impact dining events or promote plant-forward options?:
Yes

A brief description of the low impact dining events and/or plant-forward options:
The dining service contractors and convenience stores offer low impact foods regularly, such as vegetarian meals and low-carbon diets that food consumption related to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Vegan dining program 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a vegan dining program that makes diverse, complete-protein vegan options available to every member of the campus community at every meal?:
Yes

A brief description of the vegan dining program:
Some dining service contractors and convenience stores offer food options for vegan customers regularly.

Labelling and signage 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor inform customers about low impact food choices and sustainability practices through labelling and signage in dining halls?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability labelling and signage in dining halls:
The dining service contractors and convenience stores offer food options with low impact or sustainable practice with labels and signs on site.

Part 2. Food waste minimization and recovery

Food recovery program

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor participate in a competition or commitment program and/or use a food waste prevention system to track and improve its food management practices?:
Yes

A brief description of the food recovery competition or commitment program or food waste prevention system:
The dining service contractors offer several food waste prevention programs, for example,
1. Cafeteria: after 7:00 p.m., people can get one side dish for free to reduce the waste of food. The remaining foods will provide for the animal husbandry.
2. Convenient store: after 5:00 p.m., people can buy about to expire food with 30% off price.
3. Shui Mu department store: people can use 50~70% off price to buy the bottled beverage that will expire in two days.

Trayless dining and portion modifications 

Has the institution or its primary dining services contractor implemented trayless dining (in which trays are removed from or not available in dining halls) and/or modified menus/portions to reduce post-consumer food waste?:
Yes

A brief description of the trayless dining or modified menu/portion program:
In the dining halls, all food service providers don't use trays for customers. The cafeteria allows customers to take the amount of foods they can consume to avoid the food waster.

Food donation 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor donate food that would otherwise go to waste to feed people?:
Yes

A brief description of the food donation program:
To reduce the problem of leftovers, convenience stores, 7-11 and Family Mart, and a grocery store in NTHU all established a fresh food preservation period before the expiration of the promotion mechanism. It not only turns food waste problems out with a new solution but also expands the benefits of leftovers; therefore, creating a win-win solution by reducing the price and benefiting the environment, so that "cherish food, love the earth" become a national movement.

Food materials diversion 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor divert food materials from the landfill, incinerator or sewer for animal feed or industrial uses?:
Yes

A brief description of the food materials diversion program:
The daily food materials left are collected and shipped to the animal husbandry.

Composting 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a pre-consumer composting program?:
No

A brief description of the pre-consumer composting program:
---

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor have a post-consumer composting program?:
No

A brief description of the post-consumer composting program:
---

Dine-in service ware 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor utilize reusable service ware for “dine in” meals?:
Yes

A brief description of the reusable service ware program:
Following the campus-wide policy, all dine-in services are required to use reusable dining ware, such as dishes, bowls, chopsticks, forks, etc. There is no provision of disposable tableware, plastic straws and plastic bags to reduce the amount of single-use plastic.

Take-away materials 

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor provide reusable and/or third party certified compostable containers and service ware for “to-go” meals (in conjunction with an on-site composting program)?:
Yes

A brief description of the compostable containers and service ware:
Following the campus-wide policy, the containers for "to-go" meal or beverage services are paper-based materials which could be recycled through the recycling service systems in Taiwan.

Does the institution or its primary dining services contractor offer discounts or other incentives to customers who use reusable containers instead of disposable or compostable containers in “to-go” food service operations?:
Yes

A brief description of the reusable container discount or incentives program:
The food service contractors and convenient stores offer discounts to customers who bring their own cups and tableware for to go orders.

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related initiatives not covered above:
---

Website URL where information about the sustainable dining programs is available:
https://sdgs.nthu.edu.tw/office/OGA/collections/page?id=4edbdf91f76d93d651dec40140ac8bad&office=GA

Additional documentation to support the submission:
OP8-33_lease_agreement_NTHU.pdf

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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