City businesses get green edge
Three of the biggest businesses on Merseyside have followed the Chamber’s lead and are demonstrating their green edge by taking steps towards gaining an internationally recognised environmental accreditation.
After attending the environmental management seminar hosted by Liverpool Chamber to support the Year of the Environment; the management companies of the two brand new Liverpool landmarks, Liverpool One and Arena and Convention Centre (ACC) and the city’s key recycling service, Furniture Resource Centre have signed the green pledge and agreed to work towards the key environmental standards outlined in ISO14000. This is the internationally accepted standard for environmental management, designed to reduce the environmental footprint of a business.
Bob Prattey, Chief Executive of ACC Liverpool, said: “Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do here at ACC Liverpool. Our building has been designed with environmentally friendly measures, including five of our own wind turbines which contribute to the venue’s electricity provision and rainwater harvesting on the building’s roof accounts for 40% of the water used for flushing toilets. Additionally, our in-house Green Dream Team is committed to making the way we do business greener and cleaner, implementing strict recycling and green office policies.”
Our pledge to work towards ISO14001 Standard is yet another example of ACC Liverpool’s commitment to environmentally- friendly practices and Liverpool’s Year of the Environment.”
Chris Bliss, Estate Manager at Liverpool ONE commented: “We have a stringent recycling policy across the development, from our stores and restaurants to our back office operations. Since opening we, have recycled 123.49 tonnes of waste, including glass, plastics, paper, toners and cardboard. We have also heavily invested in a sophisticated water harvesting system, which works to collect rainwater which in turns provides all the water we need for the lawns, trees and plants in Chavasse Park. We are confident that we are well on track to meet our ISO14000 commitment by 2010.”
Liverpool Chamber was the city’s first green ambassador and is supporting the year of the environment by encouraging Liverpool’s business community to sign the Green Pledge and make a commitment to adopting greener business practices.
Bulky Bob’s, Liverpool’s award winning collection, reuse and recycling service for bulky household waste is pledging to gain ISO14000 accreditation to add to BS8555 certificate it already holds.
Bulky Bob’s has won numerous awards for its environmental performance including The Guardian’s award for sustainability and innovation. Shaun Doran, FRC’s Commercial Director explained: “Bulky Bob’s provides a great service to Liverpool’s residents so that they can do their bit for the environment. We make sure that the fantastic quality furniture and home appliances we collect from going to landfill so they can have a second life. We sell ‘pre-loved’ items in our Revive store where shoppers know that they are supporting reusing and recycling. Bulky Bob’s strives to consider the impact on the planet in everything we do from using recycled bio fuel in our trucks to reduce C02 emissions to recycling paper, cardboard, light bulbs, batteries, can and catering waste in our offices.”
