Environmental award won by Branston
Company one of the first to win new environmental award.
Branston Ltd, the UK’s largest potato supplier, is one of four companies to be the first to achieve a new international award for water reduction from the Carbon Trust.
Branston was awarded the Carbon Trust Water Standard in recognition of the company’s continued commitment to measuring, managing and reducing its water consumption.
The Carbon Trust Water Standard has just been launched by the Carbon Trust and is the world’s first international award for water reduction. Along with leading national and international organisations, Sainsbury’s, Coca-Cola Enterprises and Sunlight, Branston took part in the initial pilot of the water standard, which has now been officially launched by the Carbon Trust to businesses all over the world.
Vee Gururajan, IT and projects director at Branston, said: “Over the years we’ve invested in major initiatives to conserve our resources and create long-term sustainability. Back in 2008 we were the first food producer to be awarded the prestigious Carbon Trust Standard for our work to reduce our carbon intensity.
“Water is a resource which is essential to our operations so we’ve made it a major focus of our environmental projects. We appreciate the independent endorsement of the Carbon Trust and are delighted to be one of the first companies to be awarded the Carbon Trust Water Standard in recognition of the ongoing and industry-leading work we are undertaking to manage and conserve our water supply.”
Branston’s initiatives to reduce water consumption began at the Lincoln site, where the company worked closely with the local Environment Agency to assess its water use before investing in a state-of-the-art membrane bioreactor water recycling plant.
The plant has reduced the Lincoln site’s mains water consumption by around 60 per cent as well as reducing the quantity and improving the quality of the effluent leaving the site. Branston was so impressed by the technology that it invested in a similar plant at its South West site in Somerset. This has also reduced water consumption by 60 per cent at the site, decreased effluent discharged and helped to relieve water stress in the local area.
Vee Gururajan will be explaining more about Branston’s water-saving initiatives at the launch event for the Carbon Trust Water Standard on 26 February in London.
Tom Delay, chief executive of The Carbon Trust, said: “We’ve seen the majority of large businesses start to act on reducing carbon, now we want them to do the same with water. Often, as with carbon, it makes sense to be a leader, so we are delighted to be joined by four leading companies who are the first to achieve the Carbon Trust Water Standard. It shows they mean business when it comes to reducing their own water use. We are confident other businesses will follow.”
The Carbon Trust Water Standard is the first award of its kind and has been launched to encourage businesses to reduce their water consumption