Industry leaders to get environmental tips from Newport’s public sector

Industry leaders are visiting three different public sector organisations in Newport to see experience firsthand how they are improving their impact on the environment.

Being green makes economic sense. Cutting down on energy use, eating from recyclable canteen plates, buying carpets made from old car seats, and collecting rainwater to flush toilets are just a few of the things we're doing. Being more efficient saves money and helps secure a cleaner planet for future generations.

University of Wales Newport, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) will be inspected as part of HRH The Prince of Wales ‘Seeing is Believing’ programme, organised by Business in the Community.

The visits, part funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, will aim to demonstrate how they have been adapting and implementing changes to become low carbon, reducing their energy consumption as well as seeking opportunities to innovate.

Chris O’Malley, Pro Vice-Chancellor will lead the visit to the University of Newport, explaining how the need to reduce the university’s environmental impact has influenced a strategic approach to sustainability as well an increasingly important focus on the design of new ‘green’ products.

In the field of innovation, delegates will also hear how IPO is playing a vital role in the development of environmentally-friendly technology.  A new patent database of green inventions provides businesses with easy access to green ideas and inventions that have been processed under the Green Channel initiative; a fast-track service for patent applications for inventions with environmental benefits that speeds up the time to get a patent granted to as little nine months, compared with the current average time of two-to-three years.

The Office for National Statistics will share how some simple measures, including employee engagement and retrofitting of their buildings have been part of a three year journey to drive down their carbon footprint. 

And on the topic of ‘driving’, delegates will also get the opportunity to test how efficiently they drive on the Energy Saving Trust’s driving simulator. 

Tracy Rees, Head of Policy, Business in the Community said the public and private sector alike could learn a lot from the way these organisations in Newport are taking a lead on the climate change agenda.

“These visits are designed to show how organisations can adapt to operate in a low carbon world.  By implementing changes, they are identifying opportunities to save money – this makes sense to any organisation – public or private.”

Sue Saunders, head of Facilities Management, Intellectual Property Office Newport, said: 'We are in the unique position of not only improving the efficiency of our operations in the office, but we also contribute to international thinking and Policy Development in relation to Climate Change.  In the office we have established a wide ranging agenda to enable us to meet the challenge ranging from simple measures such as better regulation of our heating system to a "virtualisation" programme which has considerably reduced the number of IT servers we need.'

Joe Grice, head of site at ONS Newport, said: "Being green makes economic sense. Cutting down on energy use, eating from recyclable canteen plates, buying carpets made from old car seats, and collecting rainwater to flush toilets are just a few of the things we're doing. Being more efficient saves money and helps secure a cleaner planet for future generations."

With more than 15 delegates representing both the public and private sectors including EADS, Gwent Police, UES and Working Links, the Seeing is Believing programme is designed to help industry leaders, learn, work together, and take action on climate change within their workplace.

Those involved are part of The Prince’s Mayday Network, convened by Business in the Community, the largest network of organisations committed to working collaboratively to tackle climate change with more than 220 members in Wales.