News
Waste campaign aims for more public sector carbon savings
29 July 2009
Public sector organisations throughout Wales are being offered new support to help them reduce the amount of waste they produce, benefiting the environment and saving money.
The Public Sector Waste Minimisation Campaign in Wales has launched enhanced support to publicly funded organisations – from local authorities to schools and colleges. The aim is to help improve their environmental performance by cutting their output of waste, which reduces the size of their carbon footprints.
The campaign, which is run by Envirowise, is intended to promote greater environmental efficiency in public sector organisations large and small throughout Wales. Started in 2005, the campaign will this year see additional waste-reduction services being made available.
The initiative is backed by Welsh Assembly Government Minister for the Environment, Sustainability and Housing, Jane Davidson. She said, “We launched this campaign to help public sector organisations become more resource efficient and to discover and promote initiatives that can be replicated elsewhere. By making more services available we hope that there will be an even greater uptake by the public sector this year. Our aim is to get the public sector as a whole to think about how they can make environmental improvements in the workplace and adopt more long term sustainable development practices.”
A cornerstone of the campaign is the Resource Efficiency Equipment Fund which offers financial support to purchase capital equipment. The Mid and West Wales Fire Service used funding to purchase recycling and composting facilities and is now sending 50% less waste to landfill from its sites.
The new additions to this year’s campaign include the one-to-one support from advisors who provide expert and impartial advice to organisations on specific low value projects. This tailored service will help set achievable and measurable goals for projects, which is essential to demonstrate success.
Envirowise public sector programme manager Ann Stevenson said: “We have listened to feedback from previous years and developed the campaign further to ensure we meet the needs of organisations eager to reduce or eliminate the waste they generate.
“Waste reduction can deliver delivers significant carbon savings. A growing number of public sector organisations are already achieving carbon savings that demonstrate their organisations commitment to the environment, while also saving money.”
To be eligible to receive the support available, applicants will have had to complete a waste production survey, which will provide Envirowise with useful information. Information on the survey can be found at http://walespublicsector.envirowise.gov.uk/welcome-to-wales-public-sector-waste-production-survey/
