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sustainabletimes
05
www.binfo.co.uk
Idling vans cost billions in
wasted fuel
Idling vehicles are costing businesses in the UK & Ireland
£3.3 billion in wasted fuel each year, according to
analysis by Fleetmatics Group, a global provider of fleet
management solutions for commercial fleet vehicles.
Analysis of 32 million data points received each day
from the company’s 331,000 subscriber vehicles reveals that
vehicles operating without a fleet management solution idle
for an average of 96 minutes per day. By implementing a GPS
fleet tracking solution, SME fleet owners can reduce vehicle
idling times by an average of 25%, or 24 minutes, daily.
In 2011, it was estimated that only 24.9% of all
commercial vehicles operating in the UK and Ireland had
implemented a fleet management solution. Fleetmatics
Group argues that with 4.5 million commercial vehicles
currently operating in the UK and Ireland, a penetration rate
of 24.9% should already be realising a saving of 1.7 million
litres of fuel worth £2.3 million daily.
If all commercial vehicles operating in the UK and Ireland
were to implement this technology, business could save a
further five million litres of fuel or almost £7 million, adding
up to daily savings of 6.7 million litres of fuel or £9.2 million.
www.fleetmatics.co.uk
The gift of light
Sustainia has recognised Philips’
Community Light Center as one of
the 100 most innovative sustainable
solutions for local communities.
A Philips Community Light Center is an
area of about 1,000 square metres lit
by solar-powered LED lighting systems
that enables communities without
reliable lighting to enjoy communal
activities after dark, including markets,
sports, education and healthcare. In the
next two years, Philips plans to install
100 Philips Community Light Centers
across Africa.
BBOXX best social
enterprise
BBOXX, the solar energy company dedicated
to supplying off-grid communities with
sustainable electricity, has been named Best
Social Enterprise at the inaugural British
Young Business Awards. Since its inception
in 2010, BBOXX has brought electricity to
more than 20,000 households in off-grid
locations throughout the developing world
through the distribution of solar-powered
battery packs charged centrally at a network
of Energy Kiosks.
In brief...
Green supplier directory
The Carbon Trust has launched a
new directory to help businesses
find suppliers of energy efficient and
low carbon technologies. The Green
Business Directory includes 40 suppliers
independently assessed and accredited
via the Carbon Trust Accredited Supplier
scheme. In a recent Carbon Trust
survey, only one in two business people
expressed confidence in manufacturers’
energy efficiency claims.
www.carbontrust.com/
greenbusinessdirectory
Carbon footprinting media
The Verdigris Project has published
a new standard for quantifying and
communicating the carbon footprint
of print media. ISO 16759 is a sector-
specific implementation of generic
carbon footprinting methodologies, such
as PAS 2050 and TS 14067, that provides
a common reference for the development
of carbon calculators for all sectors
of the graphic arts industry, including
labels, packaging, books, transactional
documents and newspapers.
Beware clones
IDC is warning print buyers of the
environmental consequences of buying
new-build compatible (NBC) toners, also
known as clones, as a new study shows
that up to 20% of toner cartridges sold
in selectedWestern European countries
in 2012 were NBC toners. IDC is
concerned that because the majority of
NBC toner cartridges are not collected
once used, they are not recycled in an
environmentally friendly way.
New FISP website
The Furniture Industry Sustainability
Programme (FISP), set up in 2006
to support and promote sustainable
development in the furniture industry,
has launched a dedicated website. James
Bell, Environmental Consultant at FIRA,
said: “The new improved website will
be easy to navigate and contains up-
to-date information for potential and
existing FISP members.”
www.fispfurniture.com
greenAgenda…
Wishing on a toner
MFP supplier DMC has announced that in its first year
of operation, the company’s planitgreen range of printer
products has saved as much CO2 as an average petrol car
would emit in travelling 165,055 miles or 6.6 times around
the world. DMC developed planitgreen to meet the print
needs of eco-conscious businesses. It includes big brand
printers and MFPs chosen for their energy-efficiency and
low running costs and an extensive range of remanufactured
toner cartridges that are up to 60% cheaper than OEM
originals. For every planitgreen toner sold, DMC donates
25p to the Starlight children’s charity, which brightens the
lives of terminally ill children by granting them a once in a
lifetime wish.
www.planitgreentoner.co.uk
Energy services provider Inteb
Sustainability Limited claims that
Britain’s biggest energy and carbon-using
businesses (i.e. those with energy bills of
more than £500k per annum) could save
£1.7bn in a single year by managing their
energy consumption more effectively.
Inteb argues that businesses can easily
reduce energy consumption by 16%
without any capital outlay.