A round up of environment management news from companies including Carillion, BT and Marks & Spencer
Sustainability initiatives and practices at Carillion made a net contribution to profits of £27.2 million in 2014. Last year, the company’s profit before tax was £142.6 million. The support services business has also reported that its direct carbon footprint fell by 17% in 2014, against a target of 11%. Its 2014 sustainability report also revealed that the firm’s operations diverted 95% of its waste from landfill last year, while water consumption on its construction projects declined 28% against a 2012 baseline.
BT has reported that products and services to help its customers avoid carbon emissions equivalent to 1.5 times the telecom company’s “end-to-end” carbon impact generated £3.4 billion in revenue in 2014/15. Under its “Net Good” strategy, BT has set itself a 2020 goal to assist its customers in reducing their total carbon footprint by 3.1 times the CO2 impact of its business, which encompasses emissions from its operations, supply chain and the equipment it supplies. In 2014/15, the total carbon emissions from its business were 4.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, while BT says it helped to cut customers’ emissions by 7.1MtCO2e.
High street retailer Marks & Spencer has published its annual report on its sustainability strategy Plan A. Highlights include: a 36% improvement in the energy efficiency of its stores, offices and warehouses in the UK and Ireland compared with 2007; the installation of LED lighting in 417 stores over the past 12 months; a 60% reduction in the amount of packaging used for home deliveries against a 2009 baseline; and zero waste to landfill from its operations since 2012.
Fast-moving consumer goods company P&G has announced the launch of a cloud-based supplier assessment scorecard to help drive increased engagement and analysis of supplier sustainability performance. In the public sector, the NHS Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group and the Isle of Wight NHS Trust have produced a joint plan, Greener Care, which sets out the organisations’ ambitions for reducing their environmental impacts and embedding sustainability principles throughout their operations.
