Green Apple Awards recognise South Western Railway’s (SWR) green credentials
Green Apple Awards recognise South Western Railway’s (SWR) recycling credentials
- South Western Railway has received a Gold Green Apple award for minimising its environmental impact.
- Recycling the weight of 308 double decker buses.
The prestigious Green Apple awards have recognised the outstanding work that South Western Railway (SWR), in collaboration with SWRnewstar, is doing to minimise its environmental impact. SWR has received a Gold award in the Environmental Excellence category.
Last year alone SWR’s customers, staff and operations generated over 5,000 tonnes of waste – equivalent to almost 400 double decker buses. SWR place a high priority on recycling and reusing wherever possible.
SWR has made significant improvements in how waste is managed in the past 12 months including:
- Overall recycling has increased to 78%. 3,900 tonnes has been recycled; equivalent to 308 double decker buses!
- The zero waste to landfill target has been hit 8 months early. Since July 2018, 100% of waste has been diverted from landfill - it is either recycled or used to generate energy.
- Coffee ground exchanges have been introduced for passengers at large stations so passengers can take the grinds home to use for compost
- Coffee cup recycling schemes have launched at two depots, collecting the cups disposed of on-board
- Old uniforms are being reused or donated to charities – in September 45 bags were donated to the Salvation Army!
- In partnership with Network Rail water refill points have been installed at Waterloo station to reduce the use of single use plastics by passengers. There are plans to expand this initiative too many more stations in our network.
- Running a staff engagement programme to increase awareness of the benefits of recycling and encourage waste reduction at work and at home.
Commenting on the Award, Amelia Woodley, SWR’s Head of Sustainability said: “It’s a fantastic achievement to win a Green Apple award. We have challenging recycling targets to meet and have worked closely with SWRnewstar to explore every opportunity to reduce our waste and maximise our recycling. Our station and depot teams support and dedication have been a key part of our success”.
Dan Brown, Corporate Sector Director, SWRnewstar, adds: “It has been a real pleasure working with South Western Railway to achieve such great results in a short period of time. Working together, we’ve been able to provide them with a new strategy, designed to not only reduce costs but also to efficiently manage waste across the entire business. We are looking forward to seeing what else we can achieve moving forward.”
https://www.firstgroupplc.com/news-and-media/latest-news/2018/14-11-18a.aspx
