10.08.12
Carbon emissions reduced by a quarter in NHS
NHS Supply Chain has reduced carbon emissions by 26%, a new report shows. The savings come in response to the NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy for England, published by the NHS Sustainable Development Unit in 2009.
A voluntary target was set for trusts to reduce carbon emissions by 10% by 2015.
The organisations environmental achievements include; electricity consumption reduced by 17%, gas consumption by 35% and water consumption by 30% across the distribution centre network since 2008.
NHS Supply Chain also achieved a 71% recycling rate on business waste and a 5% reduction in fuel consumption across the business’ fleet of delivery vehicles.
The replacement of delivery fleet and investment in energy efficient lighting technology at regional distribution centres have contributed to the reductions.
Sustainable operations manager Colin Stuart said: “The procurement of goods and services accounts for around 60% of all carbon emissions generated by the NHS.
“These improvements to our delivery fleet have already achieved a reduction of 5% in fuel consumption across the business – the equivalent of taking 3.5 million car miles off UK roads. We’ll be monitoring this to identify additional areas where we can further reduce our carbon footprint over the next 12 months.”
View the report at: www.supplychain.nhs.uk/sustainability.
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