£713m

25 May 2010, 15:26 Add Comment

North West businesses could save £713m a year through no-cost and low-cost resource efficiency improvements, according to the Quantifying of the Business Benefits of Resource Efficiency report by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

In plain English? Resource efficiency is about managing raw materials, energy and water to minimise waste and help to drive down costs. The improvements not only cut bills and reduce risks, but they also give your business a competitive edge and can open the door to new market opportunities.

Go on. If you're looking to improve and grow your business then making better use of your resources is essential. UK businesses are wasting almost £7m a day on poor energy efficiency according to the Carbon Trust. Improving resource efficiency brings significant opportunities for businesses of all sizes and sectors to improve profitability, meet tendering requirements, comply with environmental regulations and minimise environmental risk.

What should we do? Call Business Link Northwest on 0845 00 66 888 to find out about the full range of resource efficiency support available including the award-winning Enworks programme.

What if nothing's done? You'll be missing out. Most resource efficiency improvements can be made straight away, at no or low cost, and bring significant business benefits. Thousands of Northwest businesses are already leading the way by improving their resource efficiency and as the UK tackles the wider agenda on climate change and moves towards a low carbon economy, the pressure on businesses to improve their environmental performance will only increase.

Who's leading the way? Since 2001, Enworks has advised more than 10,000 Northwest businesses including Lancashire based Crown Paints. Crown Paints has improved its energy/material efficiency and is making annual cost savings of £600,000 as well as saving 295 tonnes of CO2 a year.

Enworks is already helping the region's businesses to lead the way with annual savings of £102m, 300,000 tonnes of CO2, 4 million cubic metres of water and 3 million tonnes of materials, whilst diverting 341,000 tonnes of waste from landfill each year. Enworks' latest programme is supported with £9.9m from the North West Development Agency and the European Regional Development Fund.

Further reading: To read more about businesses, which have already made substantial savings through resource efficiency visit www.enworks.com/case-studies. Free support from ENWORKS can include training and networking events, telephone advice, weekly environmental news emails, on-site reviews by experienced advisers, packaging and product design reviews and bespoke software to monitor your savings. You can find out more at http://www.enworks.com/ or access local and sector specific support for your business at: http://www.getsupport.enworks.com/.

Todd Holden is programme director at Enworks

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