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Premier Award 2002
Ballymena Borough Council - ECOS Millennium Environment Centre The ECOS Centre has the simple aim: "to promote a sustainable future". The £10m project, funded by the Millennium Commission and Balymena Borough Council, has a striking Visitor Centre at its core which brings together numerous aspects of sustainable development. The building comprises public areas including a cafeteria, several large display and activity areas, meeting rooms, offices and conference facilities. It generates 70% of its own energy requirements, with a biomass production and boiler system which is on view to the visiting public, a 20Kw wind turbine and Ireland's largest array of photovoltaic cells and solar water heating panels.Some 40,000 visitors are already visiting the Centre annually and the current development is to enhance the 150 acres of under-utilised urban fringe wetland around the Centre. Other developments relate to the displays which are of an extremely high standard - which expose the variety of visitors to the principles of sustainability. The Centre boasts what is said to be the largest plastic bottle recycling facility in the world. Special efforts are being made to involve businesses through providing facilities and corporate events at the Centre. The Centre has a Steering Group involving the local community, but it is Ballymena Borough Council that has provided the vision and leadership. The Ecos Centre is unique in Northern Ireland and it is difficult to imagine a project on this scale ever coming about in the Province without the involvement of a public agency. Ballymena Borough Council has created this exemplary Centre that is doing a magnificent job "promoting a sustainable future".
Premier Award 2002 Sony UK Ltd - Commitment to Community Activities Sony UK have featured previously in the BCE awards, for processes and for an exemplary building project. This year the entry related to the involvement of the workforce in outside activities, particularly those of an environmental nature.Our Assessors nevertheless looked at the company's environmental policy and practice, including visiting the Sony UK Sales & Marketing Headquarters at Weybridge. Here the company has used a brownfield site to build accommodation for some 1200 staff - creating a building which achieved the highest score under BREAM (the Building Research Establishments Environmental Assessment method). Sony's Global Environmental Policy has now become the Sony Environmental Vision: "Sony recognises that conservation of the global environment is one of the greatest tasks facing humanity in the 21st century. Through continuous technological innovation and new business initiatives Sony intends to contribute positively to the natural environment and the dreams of future generations. Recognising the utmost importance of the global environment, the Sony Group's top business priority is sustainable development, utilising Sony's environmental resources in a manner that will allow future generations to achieve their potential in health, wealth & happiness. Sony aims to show that it is possible to achieve a new balance between humankind and nature by doing more with less, reducing the environmental impact from its use of energy and resources, while providing its customers with high quality, high performance products and services. Sony employees will be encouraged to study constantly to learn about a broad variety of environmental issues and will also co-operate closely and continuously with stakeholders in a joint quest to improve the world we share".
Premier Award 2002 Kelling Heath - Kelling Heath Eco-Tourism Park Kelling Heath Holiday Park is located in 250 acres of woodland and heathland in an area of outstanding natural beauty close to the North Norfolk coastline at Weybourne. It has developed an enormously successful business (with over 80% customer retention) through recognising that "People know that when they visit Kelling, the natural environment they come for is being professionally and responsibly cared for. This fact in its own right attracts people back to the site".In 1996 a full time countryside Manager was appointed and the subsequent development of environmental management systems for the Park have created ongoing habitat and biodiversity improvements. The Park has produced a unique 'Pitch Design and Management guide' for its 400 pitches, ensuring co-operation by residents in helping preserve the natural environment.The Park is continually improving the quality of its facilities. When it invested in a new leisure complex it did this in an environmentally sensitive way centering developments in a village square thereby minimising the impact on the Park's environment. Cycle routes and orienteering courses have been created, there is a red squirrel breeding programme on site and a programme of conservation activities is organised, from pond dipping in what David Bellamy called "the best lowland pond I have seen in years" to bird box construction. Kelling Heath promotes "A unique holiday experience". It sees itself as a role model for caravan park development and it is a prime example of conservation and commerce working hand in hand. Our Assessor summarised Kelling Heath as "A fantastic, well thought-out and sustainable Holiday Park - an example to the rest of the industry".
Premier Award 2002 Presented at The Lincoln Centre, London on 6th May 2003 by Rt Hon Michael Meacher, Minister of State for the Environment. British Gas - Think Energy Skills Programme The Think Energy programme is the UK's biggest energy education programme for 7-14 year olds, on course to reach 1 million young people in primary and secondary schools throughout Great Britain.Education materials have been developed for two age groups - 7-11 and 11-14, concentrating on educating and raising awareness of energy efficiency while supporting the science curriculum in schools. The materials combine classroom and home study and parents also have the opportunity to get involved by working with their children on an energy efficiency survey of their home.Think Energy addresses the need to educate the future generation on energy efficiency and the importance of caring for our environment - in an engaging and effective manner. It recognises the opportunity for children to take what they have learnt home and with their parents to immediately start making a real difference to their energy consumption and thus to the environment. British Gas have featured in previous BCE awards, with excellent environmental policies and practices. Think Energy received "top marks" from the BCE assessors for its vision, its effectiveness - and for its scale - sponsorship of BBC Tomorrows World Science Technology and Engineering Roadshow, and 1 million schoolchildren and their parents engaged.
Premier Award 2002 Presented at The Lincoln Centre, London on 6th May 2003 by Rt Hon Michael Meacher, Minister of State for the Environment. Green Business Network - Calderdale & Kirklees SME Initiatives The Green Business Network was established in West Yorkshire in 1995 as a not-for-profit organisation with a remit to assist Small & Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in improving their environmental performance. The Network has to date assisted in excess of 500 improvement projects, gaining a reputation for delivering cost-effective practical solutions to industry's environmental problems.But the Network has done more than this - seeing the opportunities to link its assisting business with developing community enterprise. £1.75m landfill tax credits were secured to assist this, enabling the Network to help a range of community organisations turn their ideas into reality.Two specific projects illustrated the Network's innovative approach. Firstly, the Network linked with Pennine Magpie, a Halifax-based community project for people with learning disabilities with Interface, Europe's largest carpet tile manufacturer (and a past BCE winner). The result is a carpet tile recycling project, involving 30 disabled adults deep cleaning and selling on over 10,000 tiles. This reduces landfill by 1000 tonnes a year as well as assisting community enterprise. The second example of the Network's activity is the ABLE project near Huddersfield - a closed loop recycling scheme which collects waste cardboard from local companies, shreds them for use as animal bedding, then composts the used bedding using worms to create vermiculture compost and a crop of worms. The worms are fed by Siberian Sturgeon - with ultimately a harvest of caviar for Yorkshire's high class restaurants. Once again the lateral thinking of the Green Business Network has resulted in a wide range of social and environmental gains - the partnership for this project involves over 50 local businesses, a Primary Care Trust, two local authorities, a national charity, three community enterprises, a packaging compliance scheme and a utilities Company - with viable, long-term jobs created for local ex-drugs users in the recycling and fish farming scheme. www.greenbusinessnetwork.org.uk
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