Tights, mobile phones, plastic bottle lids and CDs can all be recycled here.

It’s indicative of the environmental and sustainability awareness that Eurostar has incorporated into its business model, set out in its ten-point environmental plan.

The environmental team at Eurostar is headed up by Peter Bragg, General Manager, Environment and Energy.

Peter comes from an environmental background, having studied Applied Environmental Science at Portsmouth University.

His first post after university was with a small environmental consultancy, working on ISO14001 support to Ford Motor Company.

He went on to further his career at Entec and then moved from consultancy to a corporate role with Network Rail. Eurostar was a logical progression from there.

At Eurostar, Peter is responsible for corporate environment and energy operations and the customer-facing programme, Tread Lightly, outlined in the edie article Eurostar encourages customers to ‘tread lightly’.

The programme has pledged to cut dioxide CO2 emissions by 35%per traveller journey by 2012; initiated a ten-point plan to reduce the company’s environmental impact; and committed to making all passenger journeys carbon neutral.

Tread Lightly has been in operation since 2007 and is currently being reviewed to ensure the programme is keeping in step with developments. It will be re-launched later this year.

Eurostar is facing a future with new challenges as other rail competitors move into the field, currently in the form of Deutsche Bahn, the German rail operator who plans to operate on the high speed routes between the UK and Germany from 2013.

Up until now, Eurostar’s main competition has been from airlines, so staying on top of the game in this new competitive environment will be key to the success of its Tread Lightly programme.

For Peter, this challenge is coupled with the on-going drive to help customers to make more sustainable choices by choosing to travel with Eurostar.

For most of us, price is the bottom line, but Peter is dedicated to keeping the environment at the top of his customers’ agenda.

Alison Brown

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