Our environment
A green champion
You might be surprised at some of the things which we can recycle. As you might expect, we do all we can to recycle ordinary materials, such as cans, glass and paper, but we also look into other possibilities, such as recycling our cooking oil.
Our efforts on recycling have received national recognition and awards in each of the last three years; in 2009, we were delighted to receive an ‘Environmental Hero’ award from renowned environmental guru David Bellamy OBE.
We strive to minimise any emissions or effluents which may cause environmental damage, ensuring that we conserve energy, through minimising consumption and maximising efficiency. We also promote efficient purchasing which will both minimise waste and allow materials to be recycled, where appropriate.
Our central distribution centre, in Daventry, gives us the chance to create a single drop-off point for recyclable material. Instead of a large number of local recycling schemes, the lorries which deliver drinks, food and other items to our pubs now, on their return, collect oil, plastic bottles, cardboard, cans and even that bubble wrap stuff which everyone loves to pop!
This eliminates millions of kilometres of lorry journeys – in just one year, it has also diverted 16,000 tonnes of waste from landfill.
Smart recycling – while we work hard to mend, refurbish and reuse our equipment and furniture, where this is not possible, we endeavour to donate to local communities, charities or even amateur theatre groups!
Conserving resources
An awful lot of energy goes into giving our customers the perfect environment in which to relax!
Whether heating or air-conditioning (to keep the perfect temperature), the energy used in keeping our all-day food service going or the massive investment in extraction, to provide clean air – energy consumption is unavoidable.
Rest assured, though, that we expend a great deal of energy, ensuring that we are constantly improving the efficiency of every resource which we use.
We also ensure, when we develop new pubs or upgrade current ones, that equipment and processes are introduced to minimise energy consumption.
We also focus our suppliers on minimising packaging, so cutting off waste at source – it’s a long road and very much a work-in-progress, but we adopt a team approach to conserving the resources which we have.
Conservation also relates to conserving history and buildings as resources.
Wetherspoon has consistently won design awards for all aspects of design for our free houses and is regularly commended for sympathetic design conversions and restorations of historically valuable buildings.
Reducing our energy consumption by 15% in 2010
We recognise that energy consumption is unavoidable. Pubs use energy – lots of it.
However, we also acknowledge our responsibility for the resources which we use and that good environmental management is an essential part of being a responsible business.
After all, you, our customers, like our pubs because you can socialise, eat and drink in a relaxed and welcoming environment. Most people want their local pubs to be a cool oasis in the summer and a snug bolthole winter.
So, the question must be: ‘How can we deliver great atmosphere and energy-savings, in the most efficient way?’
We aim to reduce energy consumption in all of our pubs in 2010 by 15%; achieving this will result in 21,200 fewer tonnes of CO2 emissions.
What can really make a difference is all working together, at pub level, understanding energy usage and getting the whole pub team to work lowering that consumption.
Most Wetherspoon pubs now run ‘smart meters’, allowing pubs to view accurate information about their electricity usage. They can compare the amount of electricity used today against what was used the day before, the week before, the month before and even the year before. They are also required to manually read and record their gas meters each week.
Doing this not only provides a focus, but shows the real impact and cost of using unnecessary energy.
Simply by changing habits and daily working practices, you really can make a huge difference. Kitchen manager Claire Webster and her team at The Muckle Cross Elgin have just scooped the accolade of ‘most improved pub in the company’, when it comes to energy-savings. In the last 10 months, they managed to reduce energy consumption by 25%.