Basic HTML Version
Arjowiggins takes out exactly
what it puts in
As more businesses launch closed loop recycling initiatives,
Arjowiggins Graphic has made a commitment to use enough
UK waste paper at its Greenfield mill in France to cover the
recycled pulp content of UK sales of Cocoon 100%, Cocoon
50%, Maine Gloss Green and Satimat Green. Agnes Roger,
president of Arjowiggins Graphic, said: “As 15-25% of the
waste paper used in the entire production process at our
Greenfield mill is already sourced from the UK, it was a
natural step for us to guarantee to our customers that for
all the recycled content of our papers sold in the UK we are
sourcing its waste paper equivalent volume from the UK.”
www.recycled-papers.co.uk
sustainabletimes
11
www.binfo.co.uk
Working for the common good
The Forum of Private Business has published its 200th
‘Referendum’ survey on business sustainability to
coincide with the launch of Trading for Good, a new
initiative that celebrates the good work small businesses
do in their communities.
Operated by Excell Group, it enables businesses to set up
a profile page at www.tradingforgood.co.uk where they can
publicise their charity or community work; environmental
action; schemes to help young people into work; how they
improve supplier relations; and also how they make life better
for staff.
The FPB’s survey underlines the extent to which the
business community already contributes to the ‘big society’,
with 52% donating to charities; 46% supporting charitable
events; 46% supporting other small, local firms wherever
possible; and 40% taking on work experience placements from
local schools and colleges.
In addition, 40% encourage employees to continue
learning and 32% help staff to improve their health and
wellbeing.
Less popular measures include giving employees time off
to support good causes (17%); fulfilling local leadership roles
(15%); providing work for unemployed people (14%); and
mentoring (12%). Just 3% offer or encourage payroll giving.
www.fpb.org
How broadband services cut carbon emissions
Increased use of simple online activities like teleworking and online shopping can cut
carbon emissions by millions of metric tons and deliver significant energy savings,
according to a report issued today by the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) with
the support of BT, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson and Verizon.
Measuring the Energy Reduction Impact of Selected Broadband-Enabled Activities Within
Households
studied eight household activities that are made possible or enhanced by the
use of broadband and found that using the internet instead of conventional methods could
achieve net energy savings equivalent to 2% of national energy consumption.
The activities analysed were telecommuting; using the Internet as a news source; online
banking; e-commerce; downloading and/or streaming music and video; e-education; digital
photography; and e-mail.
John A. Laitner, director of economic and social analysis for the American Council for an
Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), said: “The total savings at first might seem small, but that
is only because the eight activities we studied are a relatively small part of their respective
economies. Even at this scale, these relatively small activities may generate a larger benefit,
equal to the total carbon dioxide emissions impact of the ICT industry.”
Telecommuting provided the largest energy benefit in the six countries assessed (the US,
France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K), generating 83-86% of net energy savings. The
areas with the least savings were online news and e-education, as consumers are likely to
continue old practices, such as reading a newspaper, while
adopting new broadband-enabled activities.
GeSI’s study of household activities
follows its SMART2020 study (2008),
which found that large-scale,
systems-enabled broadband and
information and communication
technologies could deliver
a 15% reduction in global
greenhouse gas emissions.
www.gesi.org
Brownfield sites
made for wind
Friends of the Earth and green energy
company Ecotricity are urging British
businesses to build wind turbines on
brownfield sites to power their own
operations and cut energy costs by more
than one third.
They claim that supplying wind power
directly on-site and bypassing the grid – a
concept known as Merchant Wind Power
– can drive down electricity costs by up to
35%, ensure long-term security of supply,
reduce carbon emissions and make good
use of industrialised brownfield land.
Citing research from Renewables UK,
they point out that while only one in
four wind farm proposals on greenfield
sites receive planning approval from local
authorities, 95% of wind projects on
industrial land get approved.
Even so, by the end of May, just 41 UK
industrial sites either had erected, or had
planning permission to erect, wind turbines
to power their operations directly.
One company that has is Bristol Port,
which erected three Ecotricity wind turbines
five years ago. Since then, the turbines
have produced 72.2 Gwh of electricity
(the equivalent of powering 3,661 average
homes annually), 55.5 Gwh of which
has been used by Bristol Port, with the
remainder spilling onto the grid.
The initiative has reduced the Port’s
energy bill by thousands of pounds and
cut its carbon emissions by almost 24,000
tonnes of CO
2
.
Ecotricity founder Dale Vince said:
“Ecotricity pioneered Merchant wind-power
ten years ago: we take on the cost and the
risk of building the wind turbine, while the
merchant customer simply provides the
land and gets smaller energy bills and a
smaller carbon footprint.”
greenAgenda…
Online shopping is one
of several ways broadband-
enabled activities help cut carbon emissions