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The title of Northern Ireland's greenest business could fairly
be claimed by Belfast-based Bombardier Aerospace.
In the last three months alone, the company has scooped no
less than three awards recognising its environmental improvements
and development into a high quality working environment.
The company says it is undergoing a "major cultural transformation"
after drawing up and, more importantly, acting upon an impressive
list of environmental measures - slashing its carbon emissions
by almost 70% since 2005, for example.
It has also created eight new jobs by employing a team of
recycling specialists on-site and appointed around 120 employees
as energy wardens. Another 3,000 employees have been trained
in conservation and the company is planning to train 2,000
more. It is a measure that could shame many other companies
which struggle to persuade workers even to switch off the
lights and computers at the end of the day.
In April, Bombardier won the Belfast Telegraph Business
Award for Excellence in Environmental Achievement - followed
by the Business in the Community (NI) Recognition Award
for Environmental Improvement in May. In June, it was
awarded the Irish News Workplace & Employment 'Right
Place to Work' Award.
Bombardier says it has made major progress in reducing its
carbon footprint at its main site - cutting emissions by 69%
since 2001. In 2007 alone, carbon dioxide emissions were cut
by 14,000 tonnes and total energy consumption was reduced
by 13% from 2006 to 2007 - bringing savings equivalent to
$2.6 million.
These targets were reached by introducing green energy measures
- such as converting boilers from fuel oil to gas, installing
intelligent and high-efficiency lighting and introducing an
energy consumption monitoring system to pinpoint which areas
are consuming the most power.
Bombardier has also secured contracts with gas and electricity
suppliers which do not penalise reduced consumption and has
introduced an energy request system so that departments working
outside normal hours must submit formal requests for heat,
lighting and power.
The company has also introduced innovative approaches to
reducing non-hazardous waste - cutting the amount of waste
from packaging and reducing the amount of waste that goes
to landfill. It has installed waste recycling stations on
site - the responsibility for filling and emptying these stations
lies with employees. Bombardier says it is now recycling -
or recovering - wood, cardboard, metals, paper, plastics,
IT equipment, IT consumables and carbon fibre.
"Up until 2007, all our carbon fibre waste was being sent
to landfill where, due to its stability, it probably would
not decompose for thousands of years. We have now identified
a service provider who can recover valuable carbon fibres
from waste" - a spokesman said. "In 2007, we recycled or recovered
68% of non-hazardous waste. This figure rose to 77% for the
month of January 2008 and should continue to rise further.
"Our mass of waste sent to landfill in 2007 fell to an all-time
low of just 913 tonnes - this despite increasing production
rates."
Not only is Bombardier tackling its own ecological footprint,
but it is spreading the message to other Northern Ireland
companies by requiring its suppliers to reduce their environmental
impact.
All suppliers to offer waste management services have had
environmental audits and the company has set up an Environmental
Development Programme for suppliers to improve their performance.
Russell McFadden, general manager in Transformation, said
Bombardier is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen.
He said - "We have developed a strong set of environmental
values.
"Despite increased activity levels, we continue to take significant
steps to make the operation of our organisation more energy-efficient
and the management of our waste more environmentally prudent"
- Mr McFadden added.
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