In order to become more energy efficient and reduce its carbon emissions, Sainsbury’s worked with the Carbon Trust to highlight initiatives that would reduce carbon emissions for Sainsbury’s. Energy efficiency projects alone, including a combination of voltage reduction, refrigeration system recommissioning and lighting improvements, have contributed to an 11 per cent decrease in carbon emissions. This improvement in efficiency is equivalent to the entire energy and transport emissions from all homes and businesses in London for one day every year.

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This year is a landmark one for climate change. In Copenhagen this month, the world will come together at the United Nations conference to agree a new international agreement to tackle climate change. The current international agreement, the Kyoto Protocol, will expire in 2012. Copenhagen, in effect, will create its successor.

The Road to Copenhagen is the UK Government’s case for an ambitious agreement at Copenhagen and focuses on urgent action to limit global temperature increases to no more than 2 degrees Celsius, beyond which the risks of dangerous climate change become much greater.

The UK Government as part of it,s overall strategy to combat climate change, is committed to minimising the amount of waste produced and getting as much value as possible out of what is left by reuse, recycling or composting and the recovery of energy while protecting human health. Efficient use of resources and the effective management of waste [in all it's forms] are essential functions of an environmentally sustainable economy.

Environmental Management is a systematic approach whereby an organisation takes responsibility for the environmental impact of its activities. The successful management of environmental impacts is to allow the use of energy, natural resources, and waste in a manner that ensures the long term sustainability of an organisation.

The Institute of Management Services [IMS] members have a proven record in assisting management in sytematically identifying and reducing waste in the field of human endeavour and material resources. This role could be productively expanded to include waste minimisation in all its forms.

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