Green Procurement Code awards
The results of the 2009 Mayor of London's Green Procurement Code awards reveal that, despite the difficult economic climate, organisations in the capital are continuing to put sustainability at the top of their agenda.
In 2008/09 the combined purchases of London organisations signed up to the Green Procurement Code diverted 118,641 tonnes of waste from landfill - enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall 8 times over. This represents a saving of 56,220 tonnes of CO2 - the equivalent of flying from London to Sydney over 14,000 times.
The results also indicate that green procurement can benefit the economy as well as the environment. Members of the Mayor of London's Green Procurement Code purchased from over 680 suppliers, creating an estimated 831 jobs. The total amount spent on sustainable procurement was in excess of £436 million - up by 42.5% against the previous year.
These achievements were celebrated at the Mayor of London's Green Procurement Code annual awards ceremony, which took place in the impressive surroundings of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Special guests included Deputy Mayor of London, Richard Barnes and keynote speaker Gareth Davies, Managing Director of the Audit Commission. Peter Bishop, Group Director of Design, Development & Environment at the London Development Agency, handed out the awards.
Awards were presented to individual organisations that excelled in one of 5 key categories (People; Policy, strategy and communication; Procurement process; Engaging suppliers; Measurement and results). The following organisations were recognised for their efforts: Mapeley Estates, Metropolitan Police Service, London Fire Brigade, London Borough of Lambeth and Transport for London.
In addition, sustainable development charity, Forum for the Future, walked away with the award for Best performing SME - a new award for 2009 to recognise the efforts of smaller organisations signed up to the Code.
Certificates were also presented to those organisations who were highly commended by the judges.
Following the presentation ceremony there was a networking reception and guests had the opportunity to try their luck in the prize draw, with prizes kindly donated by Green Procurement Code signatories Azogrpahics, Balfour Beatty, ELATT, Front Yard Company and Reliance FM.
Graham Randles praised the efforts of signatories who took part in this year's review "Over the last year, the purchasing habits of Mayor of London's Green Procurement Code signatories have resulted in significant environmental savings and are playing a vital part in helping London to meet its target to reduce carbon emissions by 60% by 2025. I hope that these achievements will inspire others to embrace their environmental responsibilities and turn today's best practice into tomorrow's standard."
For more information on the awards please visit www.greenprocurementcodeawards.co.uk
