Environmental News

Kier Eastern scores environmental hat trick

Kier Eastern, part of the Kier Group, has won a hat trick of environmental awards for its work in the East Anglia region.

The local building contractor is currently building a new £27m clinical services treatment centre at Ipswich Hospital, known as the Garrett Anderson Centre. As part of the works, in collaboration with supply chain member Knauf Drywall, Kier carried out a plasterboard waste reduction project which won a National Silver Award at the International Green Apple Awards for Environmental Best Practice. Top botanist and TV personality Professor David Bellamy OBE presented Kier Eastern with the trophy during a ceremony held at the House of Commons...more

INSTITUTE of ECOLOGY and ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

IEEM Best Practice Awards 2007

This has been the first year that IEEM has run a Best Practice Awards competition and it has been a great success....more

WINNERS OF NATIONAL RECYCLING AWARDS 2007 ANNOUNCED

Organisations ranging from supermarket chains, blue chip companies and local authorities take home a raft of awards

The winners of the National Recycling Awards 2007 were recently announced at a glittering awards ceremony at the Telford International Centre, hosted by comedian Jason Manford. Those winning industry accolades at the 2007 awards included a well-known supermarket retailer, a county council and a conference venue, as well as many others who have been successful in helping the UK to recycle more and minimise waste to landfill........more

BICESTER ENTREPRENEURS CROWNED UK’S No. 1 GREEN BUSINESS AND WALK AWAY WITH £5,000!

Green Awards Winner – Red Engineering Robert Ward, Nick Vaney and Huw Morgan (Head of Business Banking, HSBC)

“Red Engineering Design is an inspiring example of a start-up business committed to preserving our environment and protecting our future. HSBC helps the entrepreneurs behind more than 96,675 new firms open their doors for business every year – that’s one every six minutes - so we understand first-hand what it takes to set up your own venture. We also recognise the importance of considering the effects on the environment and hope that by highlighting Red Engineering Design’s success we can inspire other budding green entrepreneurs in the South East to take the plunge and go it alone.”

Huw Morgan, head of business banking, HSBC Bank

A Bicester firm, designing building service systems that promote eco friendly buildings, has been crowned the Winner of the new Green Award launched as part of the 2007 HSBC Start-Up Stars Awards...more

"Castle Cement leads the way in protecting the environment."

Major investment in production facilities has enabled Castle Cement to become the UK's lowest emitter of carbon dioxide per tonne of cement, at a level five per cent better than the UK industry average.

In addition it has greatly increased its use of waste material as both kiln fuel and as raw material and has reduced emissions of sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and dust.

Its ongoing commitment to UK manufacture will bring more environmental benefits by avoiding the potential additional carbon dioxide burden created by importing cement.

Managing director Mike Eberlin points out: "All this means the overall environmental impact of one tonne of Castle Cement is about 50 per cent of the UK average." ...more

INSTITUTE of ECOLOGY and ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE

IEEM has just launched its new website. This new and improved site is full of useful information for both members and non-members.

The aim of the new site is to simplify the content so that it is easier for members and non-members to navigate their way around the site and find the information they are looking for......more

NESL SECURES LONG TERM STRATEGY AGREEMENT WITH BNG FOR SELLAFIELD WASTE RETRIEVAL MACHINES

In an unprecedented move to ensure the long term delivery of waste retrievals from the B38 storage facility at the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) have agreed a long term strategy with the British Nuclear Group (BNG) which will span the complete life of the project...more

CITYSPRINT NAMED AS TRANSPORT FOR LONDON PRIVATE SECTOR ‘CAPITAL FLEET OF THE YEAR’ AT THE 2007 GREEN FLEET AWARDS

CitySprint, the UK’s leading courier network, scooped the top prize in the Transport for London (TfL) private sector ‘Capital Fleet of the Year’ award at the 2007 GreenFleet Awards. CitySprint beat off stiff competition from the other two finalists, Tesco.com and Green Tomatoes.

The Green Fleet Awards comprised a number of elements. The first being the Green Fleet Fuel Challenge which took place on the 26th July and featured public and private sector fleets competing to demonstrate who’s the cleanest and greenest in and around London. Each participant set off on a grueling 30-mile trip across London in rush hour traffic and had to stop off and register at four checkpoints across town before finally finishing at Guildhall Yard.

Due to the local knowledge of the CitySprint courier who took part the challenge, CitySprint completed the route in the fastest time. However, the aim of the event was not simply to complete the route in the fastest time but to complete it using minimum carbon emissions....more

“SCABBLING” SET FOR WIDER INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION

A system developed for decontaminating submerged surfaces in radioactive waste containers is set for wider industrial application, according to a specialist Midlands engineering company, Nuclear Engineering Services Limited (NESL).

Through its work for the British Nuclear Group in the design, manufacture, assembly and test of waste retrieval machines for use in the Silo Emptying Plant at Sellafield, NESL has considerable experience of the factors to be considered when handling wet or solid radioactive waste. Together with its associate company, Power Jet Systems Ltd., it is now developing a bespoke range of water jet cleaning equipment for these particularly hazardous duties...more

The future has to be ‘green’ says construction

‘The Green Perspective’ report by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has revealed that over 94% of construction professionals believe that ‘green’ building is the future for the construction industry.

Almost 850 construction professionals took part in the CIOB survey that examined the industry’s attitude towards climate change and the role of sustainable construction.

Michael Brown CIOB deputy chief executive said, “From the survey we can see that there is clear concern about climate change and a desire to enforce sustainable construction but there is a lack of understanding about what is being done and what can be done to tackle these issues...more

There’s more pressure than ever for businesses to reduce their carbon footprint. Whether climate change is at the top of organisations’ agendas or not, measures to reduce CO2 emissions can significantly cut costs and improve staff, partner and customer relations, making business as well as environmental sense...more