Environment team sets bold challenges

May Gurney's Environment Champions project team has set bold targets to reduce the company's energy consumption by 10% - and the amount of waste the company sends to landfill by 35%.

The Environment Champions project is being implemented with the support of Global Action Plan, an environmental charity that helps people make positive change at work, school and home.

The project team has carried out an energy and waste audit at Head Office in Norwich, and set targets for reductions. The team has also developed an action plan to meet these targets, and is planning a publicity campaign to raise staff awareness of the issues and actions required.

The audit report shows that, on average, each employee at May Gurney's head office in Norwich uses 50 sheets of paper per day. The project team is targeting a reduction to 20-30 sheets.

Annually, Head Office sends 12 tonnes of waste to landfill/incineration, 44% of which is paper. This annual figure could be reduced by five tonnes by making better use of existing on-site recycling facilities.

And energy consumption is responsible for 297 tonnes of CO2 emissions - with meter readings showing that 29% of these emissions are from weekend energy use, when the office is virtually empty.

The project team has identified a series of short-term goals to be achieved in the next 3-6 months, and changes to be achieved in the longer term.

The project will be launched on 4 May and will run until the end of September when a second audit will be carried out to identify the savings that have been made.

The lessons learned from this project will then be used to spread best practice across the company - and beyond.

Ian Findlater (pictured), Board sponsor for the initiative, commented: 'Each one of us makes decisions which affect the environment every day. With better information, and champions to promote best practice, we can make better decisions - which together can make a big difference.

"Hats off to the work the team has done so far."

For further information about Environment Champions contact Bob Wright on 01603-727406, or bwright@maygurney.co.uk.