Being Green
Being Green isn’t just something we add to our agenda, it’s part of the fabric of working for BE and within our centres.
We’re unique in the fact that we have our own in-house project team, The Green Group. Established in 2009, the Green Group are challenged with making every one of our processes greener, more energy efficient and better for the environment. The group monitors our green and energy KPIs and report on a monthly basis on recycling performance, waste and energy consumption at every business centre and at our head office.
Why do we go the extra mile to be green?
Quite simply because it means you can rest assured that by being in a BE Offices business centre you are working in an eco-friendly environment.
The Green Group was formed to measure and challenge every process in our business that has an environmental impact. With direct responsibility and authority for our green, CSR and environmental issues they have a integral say in our decision making process for all new ventures.
BE Offices’ Green Group
The Green Group have established many schemes unique to our sector such as the bin-less office scheme we operate at all of our centres, where we have removed the majority of waste bins and replaced them with recycling units so waste is segregated at source. This has made a dramatic impact on our recycling efficiency.
For the latest information on the Green Group’s initiatives please view our Green News and Press Releases
The Green Group published policy is to deliver the following:
1. Sustained and improving recycling at every UK location
2. To move the group towards a zero-landfill target
3. To develop practices to support BE Offices clients to recycle more
4. Introduce initiatives that make recycling easier
5. Source materials from sustainable sources
6. Reduce the use of chemicals for cleaning
7. Save energy use
8. Introduce ways to benefit from cleaner working practices
The Green Group team have delivered a number of exciting policy changes and initiatives:
1. The Binless Office: Introduction of the Binless Office concept to encourage clients, staff and partners to use recycling points in offices instead of bins under desks. The result has seen a 25% increase in recycling volumes with the UK average at 52%.
2. Zero landfill Policy: zero landfill was first achieved through their waste partners BPR in 2015 with non-recycled waste now producing electricity that’s sold back to the national grid.
3. Motion Sensor Lighting: Introduced motion sensor lighting at UK centres to reduce electricity use when office space is empty.
4. LED lighting: As of January 2020 we are 72% of the way through a programme to install LED lights throughout the entire portfolio.
5. Carbon Savings: Reduced carbon production significantly with a reduction that would allow someone to boil a kettle non-stop for 5056 days or drive from London to Edinburgh 1,951 times in 2018.
6. Chemical Use: In partnership with our cleaning company Aurora Pro Clean we have successfully reduced the number of cleaning agents we use to just 5 and each one is chemical free.
Recycling and Green Schemes
We go above and beyond business basics to ensure we are leading our industry…
Recycling
It is estimated that our bin-less offices recycling initiative reduces waste by 86%.
BE Offices recycled over 323 tonnes of business waste over the last year, almost the equivalent of a large yacht.
Recycling our coffee grounds produces coffee logs which can be used for wood burners and multi-fuel stoves.
For every kilo of food waste we recycle our waste disposal company donates 25p to Fareshare, which in turn pays for one meal for a vulnerable person.
In 2019 our recycling efforts saved 886 trees.
Bike Racks and Cycle To Work Schemes
Reducing your carbon foot-print is goal that every business and individual must look at to be considered green. This is why we have installed bike racks at most of our business centres to allow our clients to use a cycle to get to work. These have been incredibly popular and as always we will continue to provide extras to our clients at no extra cost as part of our ‘all-inclusive’ policy.
We also have a Cycle To Work scheme for BE staff, which allows individuals an easy and cost-effective method of purchasing a bicycle.
Carbon Neutral Hosting Servers
We are proud to have the UK’s first carbon neutral hosting servers for our online platforms. Our hosted servers are powered by hydro-electricity, a green source of energy and we attempt to limit the carbon footprint of all energy utilised.
Reclaim IT
We work in partnership with Reclaim IT to recycle old ink and toner cartridges and mobile phones. We have committed to donating 100% of the value raised to our two chosen charities, Dogs Trust and Rays of Sunshine.
We have set up RECLAIM IT recycle points in our centres to encourage clients to recycle 100% of their waste.
You can find out more at the RECLAIM IT website and also see how the money raised helps abandoned dogs and children with terminal illnesses.
Useful Carbon Reducing facts!
1. BE Offices recycle enough waste each year to cover a football pitch
2. Save enough carbon each year equivilant to nearly 6,000 car journeys from London to Edinburgh and back
3. Or keep a kettle boiling for over 5056 days. the equivalent of almost 14 years
4. Or leaving a dishwasher on for almost 17 years
5. Or flying to New York from London 3.1 times.
At our head office, it has been calculated that each employee recycles 2.0 kg per week.
