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The Economic Argument for Environmental Awareness
The pressure of regulations, bureaucracy and legislation is increasingly becoming a burden for small and medium-size businesses in the UK, and a large proportion of responsibility lies with business leaders. With the Government's environmental agenda hitting the headlines daily, it is up to companies to ensure they are complying with the necessary requirements.
However, help is at hand. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) offers a website which provides advice and assistance to companies and organisations looking to meet their environmental obligations.
In the first of a series of regular columns, Claudette Hudes introduces Netregs, the free, straightforward, plain-English website that helps businesses to reduce waste, avoid prosecution and, ultimately, save money…
Hospitality, leisure and tourism businesses can have a number of impacts on the environment, including:
- Air emissions from kitchen facilities and vehicles
- Land contamination from spills of chemicals and oils
- Energy use from equipment and machinery, lighting, heating and cooling
- Noise pollution from equipment and machinery, music and entertainment, and deliveries
- Waste disposal, such as packaging, worn out fixtures and fittings, and catering and food waste
- Water usage from sprinklers, cleaning tasks and in kitchens, bars, bathrooms and toilets
Netregs.gov.uk provides clear guidance on environmental regulations and offers advice through an easy-to-access system which is navigated by business type and/or environmental topic.
The hospitality, leisure and tourism pages guide you through your obligations, explaining the practical steps needed to comply with the law and to improve your company's environmental performance. Netregs offers information on the regulations governing:
- Land
- Water
- Waste
- Energy
- Transport
- Packaging
- Air and noise
- Emergency response
- Materials and equipment
You will also find useful links and information on related topics such as car parking and waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). These laws have changed in the last year and are likely to affect the way you manage your business. There is plenty of good-practice guidance on energy-efficiency, waste reduction, recycling and green purchasing.
Additionally, NetRegs has a self-assessment tool to determine a user's environmental compliance, and explains what needs to be done to comply with the relevant regulations.
Businesses like yours save on average £2,615* a year by keeping up to date. By taking all the practical measures you can to reduce environmental harm you will enhance your business's green credentials while saving time and money.
Visit netregs.gov.uk for more information and to sign up to Netregs' free e-Alerts updates.
* Eftec survey of business benefits of NetRegs 2008
This article has been edited from its original version. For the complete feature, please see Catering in Scotland magazine November/December 2008.
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