Business Briefs: energy conservation, waste management, and biodiversity action plans

In this week’s UK Business Briefs, who is the most influential person in sustainable waste management? Also in the news, Sainsbury’s supermarket is reducing its energy consumption by 11%, a London council is at the centre of the UK’s largest-ever heating partnership scheme, a water company celebrates the success of its biodiversity action plans, a waste management company has signed two new contracts worth £14.4 million.


In the world of waste management, Biffa is one of the best, according to

Resource Magazine’s ‘Hot 100’ list of the most powerful people in sustainable waste management. Biffa’s Director of External Affairs, Peter Jones, is described as waste management’s greatest advocate, and is judged to be more influential than Environment Minister Michael Meacher.

Biffa has also been celebrating two new waste management contracts. Shell has awarded a five-year deal worth £12.5 million for Biffa to become the company’s principle waste contractor in the UK, including the servicing of 630 retail forecourts, the collection of office waste from Shell distribution terminals, and on-site ‘total waste management’ at Shell’s Stanlow and Eastham oil refineries in the North West of England. Secondly, Mole Valley District Council in Surrey has awarded Biffa a £1.9 million, seven-year contract, to take responsibility for the authority’s household, commercial, recycling and bulky household waste collections from 5 August 2002.

The supermarket chain, Sainsbury’s, has announced that it has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract to outsource its energy management to RWE Solutions Ltd, with the aim of reducing the supermarket’s energy expenditure and improve efficiency. Sainsbury’s currently spends in excess of £50 million a year on energy. RWE will be managing a £14.5 million investment programme of energy efficiency measures aimed at reducing consumption by 11% over two years.

Basildon District Council, Scottish Power, Plumb Centre, ALHCO, Hepworth Heating and Honeywell are entering into the UK’s largest-ever heating partnership scheme, potentially able to save £1.4 million per year on fuel bills for householders in 10,500 council homes. Central heating systems will be upgraded or replaced to reduce energy consumption and enhance residents’ comfort, with new boilers and heating controls.

Finally, Wessex Water has announced that it is to continue funding its highly successful biodiversity action plan (BAP) for a further three years. The initial four-year programme was the first corporate initiative of its kind to be based on the UK’s bioaction diversity plan. The scheme was acknowledged by the government as a best practice example of corporate involvement in biodiversity work. According to Wessex Water, the BAP contributed to the conservation of 11 endangered animal and plant species and five habitats.

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