Environment
Environmental and social issues are very important to us. Throughout our commercial activities and operations, we are committed to fostering the preservation and protection of the environment, while recognising its wider social responsibility. The company is also committed to improving its environmental policy continuously, in respect of the commercial activity of owning and managing free houses across the United Kingdom. We review continuously any significant risks to which we may be exposed and the policies which we adopt to address them.
It is the policy of the company to:
-
minimise the extent of the environmental impact of its operations, as far as is reasonably practicable.
-
strive to minimise any emissions or effluents which may cause environmental damage.
-
conserve energy through minimising consumption and maximising efficiency.
-
minimise the use of materials which may be harmful to the environment.
-
promote efficient purchasing which will both minimise waste and allow materials to be recycled, where appropriate.
-
adopt efficient waste-management strategies which reduce the amount of waste going to landfill or to other disposal sites.
-
embrace the use of recycled materials and ensure that materials or waste generated by the business are recycled, where appropriate.
-
raise awareness of environmental issues among all of its employers and suppliers/partners.
-
ensure appropriate training, in environmental issues, of all employees.
The environment and recycling
You might be surprised at some of the things which we can recycle. As you might expect, J D Wetherspoon does all it can to recycle ordinary materials, such as cans, glass and paper, but we also look into other possibilities, such as recycling our cooking oil.
J D Wetherspoon does all it 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 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 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. It’s this kind of attention to detail which underpins our commitment to the environment.
Each year, we are aiming to recycle more products through our distribution centre; the figures below show that we are getting better. By 2010, we are hoping to recycle 10,000 tonnes a year.
|
(weight in tonnes)
|
Year 1
(04/05)
|
Year 2
(05/06)
|
Year 3
(06/07)
|
|
Cooking Oil
|
1,029
|
1,288
|
1,621
|
|
Cardboard
|
1,162
|
2,142
|
3,113
|
|
Aluminium (Red Bull cans)
|
10
|
25
|
30
|
|
Plastic (menus, bottles, film)
|
68
|
59
|
80
|
|
Paper
|
90
|
220
|
232
|
|
Total
|
2,359
|
3,734
|
5,078
|
It’s not just about recycling what we receive, though: we are working closely with all of our suppliers to reduce the amount of packaging coming into our business, without having a negative impact on our products’ quality. Initially, we have set a target of reducing our current packaging requirements by 2%.
J D Wetherspoon has been recognised for its efforts in recycling and received awards at two of the UK’s major recycling events.
-
The chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport, Annual Awards for Excellence 2006: Environmental Improvement category – second place
-
National Recycling Awards 2005: Best Retail Recycling Initiative – highly commended
Energy-efficiency and conserving resources
An awful lot of energy goes into giving our customers the perfect environment in which to relax!
Whether it be heating or air-conditioning (to keep the perfect temperature), the energy used in keeping our food service going all day or the massive investment in extraction, to provide clean air – energy consumption is unavoidable.
Rest assured, though, that our Energy Savings Group itself is expending a great deal of energy, ensuring that we are constantly improving the efficiency of every resource which we use. In addition, we focus our business through weekly ‘energy-saving top tips’, rewarding employees (via our company suggestion scheme) to look for new opportunities.
We have set ourselves a target to reduce business-wide usage of energy and water by 5%.
We also ensure, when we develop new pubs or upgrade our current ones, that equipment and processes are introduced to minimise energy consumption. For example, we are reviewing all of our air-handling requirements, now that all pubs are non-smoking throughout.
Staff are trained and reminded to participate in the ‘Save It’ campaign – employees are all ‘switched on’ to switching off lights and equipment, when not in use.
To find your local Wetherspoon, enter your town, pub name or postcode, below:
Corporate Social Responsibility
Select an area of our corporate social responsibility to read more:
introduction
drinks retailing
Environment
Environmental and social issues are very important to us. Throughout our commercial activities and operations, we are committed to fostering the preservation and protection of the environment, while recognising its wider social responsibility. The company is also committed to improving its environmental policy continuously, in respect of the commercial activity of owning and managing free houses across the United Kingdom. We review continuously any significant risks to which we may be exposed and the policies which we adopt to address them.
It is the policy of the company to:
The environment and recycling
You might be surprised at some of the things which we can recycle. As you might expect, J D Wetherspoon does all it 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 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 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. It’s this kind of attention to detail which underpins our commitment to the environment.
Each year, we are aiming to recycle more products through our distribution centre; the figures below show that we are getting better. By 2010, we are hoping to recycle 10,000 tonnes a year.
(04/05)
(05/06)
(06/07)
It’s not just about recycling what we receive, though: we are working closely with all of our suppliers to reduce the amount of packaging coming into our business, without having a negative impact on our products’ quality. Initially, we have set a target of reducing our current packaging requirements by 2%.
J D Wetherspoon has been recognised for its efforts in recycling and received awards at two of the UK’s major recycling events.
Energy-efficiency and conserving resources
An awful lot of energy goes into giving our customers the perfect environment in which to relax!
Whether it be heating or air-conditioning (to keep the perfect temperature), the energy used in keeping our food service going all day or the massive investment in extraction, to provide clean air – energy consumption is unavoidable.
Rest assured, though, that our Energy Savings Group itself is expending a great deal of energy, ensuring that we are constantly improving the efficiency of every resource which we use. In addition, we focus our business through weekly ‘energy-saving top tips’, rewarding employees (via our company suggestion scheme) to look for new opportunities.
We also ensure, when we develop new pubs or upgrade our current ones, that equipment and processes are introduced to minimise energy consumption. For example, we are reviewing all of our air-handling requirements, now that all pubs are non-smoking throughout.
Staff are trained and reminded to participate in the ‘Save It’ campaign – employees are all ‘switched on’ to switching off lights and equipment, when not in use.
Oil recycled from waste water
In 2002, we recycled 547 litres of oil annually from recycled water; this year, we will recycle 44,985 litres.
What we expect to recycle every year:
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!
Green deliveries
J D Wetherspoon now runs one of its delivery vehicles on 100 per cent bioDiesel, but this isn’t any old bioDiesel – in a closed loop, Green Cycle, thought to be the first of its kind in the UK to utilise 100% bioDiesel, we are recycling cooking oil, previously used to cook meals in our kitchens. The used cooking oil is converted into bioDiesel and then supplied back to Wetherspoon for use in the vehicle. If the trial is successful, we will be converting more of our delivery fleet to run on bioDiesel.
Glass-recycling
This is a major focus and challenge for 2007/08. We generate 30,000 tonnes of glass annually. Glass-recycling is not available nationally to the extent required by us, so we are trialling an initiative supported by the government of collecting glass from our pubs on our delivery vehicles and returning it to Daventry for recycling.
To reduce the volume of glass generated at the pubs, we implemented a bag-in-box wine-dispense system. This has enabled us to remove 7.2 million glass bottles from our pubs and hence from the waste stream.
Paper
Despite predictions of a paperless society, it seems that the world is still a long way from achieving this ideal. In the meantime, we need paper to publish our menus and magazines, as well as for more everyday items. We do work closely with all of our suppliers, however, to ensure, for any tree felled to provide our paper, that another is planted. Put simply, we believe in sustainable resources.
Energy tips
‘Water difference a tap makes’ – high-tech taps introduced into each new opening save 400 litres of water every single day – that’s a total saving of over 4 million litres annually.
Turning up the heat, but bringing usage down – Specialist motor-controllers on our air-handling units have helped us to achieve savings of up to 27% on energy usage in new openings.
Cool inventions – Reductions of 12%, on the energy used by our fridges and freezers, have been achieved in all of our new openings, by installing specialist controls.
Saving energy – This year, we have set ourselves the target of cutting energy consumption by 5% across the business. We are installing SMART meters, to help us to achieve this target.
Melton Mowbray – A very green pub: click here to read about our most ambitious project yet. In September 2007, we opened our greenest-ever pub – packed full of gizmos and environmental initiatives. The Kettleby Cross aims to use 50% less energy than a similar-sized Wetherspoon pub. Energy is generated from a wind turbine and also saved through modern techniques, such as rainwater-harvesting and other innovative technologies – click here for the full story.
Our pubs – Your Pubs