Sustainable Development spotlight: Tech Soc’s battery sustainability project
Posted on 11 April 2025
The York SU Sustainable Development Grant offers funding to projects that aim to address at least one of the Sustainable Development Goals within the York Community. Funded by the University’s Latte Levy, it helps York SU deliver on the commitments they set out in their Declaration of a Climate and Ecological Emergency. With 17 Goals to choose from, this means the Grant funds a broad range of innovative, inspiring and impactful initiatives.
Sustainable Development Spotlight stories celebrate the work delivered with the help of the Grant and interview successful applicants to find out more about how they used the Grant funding to realise their ambitions and have a real impact in the York community.
In this article, York SU chats to Technical Theatre Society about how they used the grant to take a step towards their zero waste goal.
Tell us a bit about how you are using the Sustainable Development Grant to improve the sustainability of Tech Soc.
As a society we are working to be as sustainable as possible with a specific focus into how we can reduce our waste. In the last 6 months we have had to buy around 250 single use batteries to keep up with the number of events we have been working on, however, with the Sustainable Development Grant we have been able to buy a range of rechargeable batteries that will greatly help our goal to bring our battery waste to zero.
It is estimated that 600 million batteries end up in landfill every year and only 27% are recycled in the UK. We always ensure that any single use batteries we do use are always recycled, however, as it takes fifty times more energy to make a battery than the finished product produces, multi use batteries mean that we can significantly reduce our overall environmental impact by minimising the need for new battery production and reducing waste.
Do you have any advice for other student groups looking to become more sustainable?
The easiest way to become more sustainable is by looking at what consumables you purchase the most and how much of what you buy you use in its entirety. This can be anything from reusing the same uniform to reduce clothes waste, to donating left-over food at the end of a society picnic.
You could also try switching to reusable coffee cups and water bottles, buying in bulk to reduce packaging waste, and opting for digital documents instead of printing. Little choices everyday can make a massive impact, especially when it is encouraged by societies.
Do you have any advice to other students applying to the Sustainable Development Grant?
Honesty and reflection is key. If you realise there’s a way to significantly improve your society’s sustainability, it can sometimes feel shameful to admit that things haven’t been done in the most sustainable way. However, this is exactly what this grant is for, to support you in making those improvements, so be as honest and transparent as possible in your application.
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Tech Soc are just at the beginning of their battery sustainability project, and are currently recording data on the number of single use batteries being purchased so that they can measure the impact transitioning to rechargeable batteries has on their waste. We’re looking forward to hearing more about the impact of the project and what Tech Soc learns from the process as they begin to introduce the rechargeable batteries into their operations!
If you’ve been inspired by Tech Soc’s Sustainable Development Grant project visit York SU’s Sustainability page and scroll down to ‘Sustainable Development Grant' to find out more about applying for your own grant funding.