Business Benefits of Environmental Management and Resource Efficiency

Environmental management and resource efficiency are sound business practice.

• Save money – Using energy, water and raw materials and generating waste costs your company money. Improved resource efficiency can lead to reducing your costs and ultimately increasing your profits.
• Understand new environmental legislation – Legislation is increasingly stringent and businesses must comply or face prosecution. Ignorance is no defence in law.
• Learn how to become a green supplier – Customers are increasingly demanding that their suppliers of goods and services can demonstrate sound environmental credentials and are actively working to improve their environmental performance.
• Gain market advantage – Being able to demonstrate that your business is actively addressing resource efficiency and improving environmental performance could give you the edge with customers in an increasingly competitive market place.
• Reduced carbon footprint – Every activity carried out in a business each day adds to the impact on the environment in terms of emissions of greenhouse gases.  Resource efficiency and environmental management can help you reduce your carbon footprint.
• Improved waste management – The costs of waste disposal are continuing to increase. Waste typically costs a business 1% of their turnover but can be much higher. Costs include waste contractor fees, landfill tax, waste storage costs, labour costs, equipment and materials costs and the costs of equipment and materials that end up as waste.  Effective waste management can help manage these costs.
• Turn waste into profit - One company's waste can be another company's raw materials. Resource efficiency and environmental management initiatives can help turn your waste into profit.
• Reduced environmental liability– Insurers and underwriters are asking for increasingly high premiums to cover for potential environmental incidents and litigation, the impacts of contaminated land and damage from floods and droughts. Resource efficiency and environmental management initiatives can help demonstrate that a business is actively managing environmental risk.
• Company reputation – The costs of implementing resource efficiency and environmental management measures are far less than the potential fines and loss of reputation a business could face by doing nothing. Fines on indictment are unlimited and adverse press coverage can lead to long term reputation damage.
• Better relationship with your local community – Local communities are increasingly looking for local businesses to demonstrate that they are actively implementing environmental improvements to help improve their working and living environment. Resource efficiency and environmental management initiatives can help you achieve this.

For 10 Top Tips on how you can set up a new business to be green, efficient and successful, please read this leaflet.