Whitbread, the leisure group, is among the first three companies to be recognised for their achievements in measuring, managing and reducing waste.
The firm achieved a “triple crown” of Carbon Trust certifications for carbon, water and waste. It reflects Whitbread’s efforts to continually reduce the environmental impacts in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, water and waste.
Chris George, head of energy and environment for Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants, said: “We are challenging the preconception that big businesses have a big impact on the environment. Reducing waste is something we take extremely seriously at Whitbread. Over the past two years alone, we have increased the amount of site waste we divert from landfill from 80% to over 93%. We are not stopping there however. Our target is to send no waste from direct operations to landfill by 2018, which we are working hard to deliver.
“Whitbread is a people business and our staff are crucial in ensuring our customers get the service they expect. They also hold the key to cutting waste across the business. By educating our team members of the importance of saving waste, and giving them the tools to do it, we have saved tonnes of waste from landfill. We are rightly proud of our achievements and will continue to push hard to make our business as sustainable as possible. Watch this space.”
PwC and AkzoNobel Decorative Paints UK also reached the status, while Renishaw and the Football Association achieved the waste standards award.
Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said: “We are living beyond our means, drawing on natural resources at a rate that cannot continue without leading to an ecological and economic crunch. Organisations that fail to bring sustainability inside their operations will face the consequences of increasingly scarce or expensive commodities, water and energy.
“Reducing waste and resource use, along with carbon emissions and water, is a crucial part of the transformation that all businesses will need to make in the next decade. By taking early action and opening themselves up to independent certification showing real reductions, the businesses that hold our standards are showing themselves to be genuine leaders and are putting themselves in a much stronger competitive position.”
