Herefordshire Council's GEM status ratified
Herefordshire Council continues to improve its environmental performance.
Last week a team of independent environmental auditors carried out a surveillance visit on the council’s GEM system and were happy to ratify the council’s certification under the international environmental standard ISO 14001.
The intention of ISO 14001, the most well known environmental standard in the world, is to provide a framework for organisations to improve their environmental performance and then test them on their commitments.
The council manages its environmental impacts through GEM (Good Environmental Management) which makes sure all of the council’s activities are assessed for their impact on the environment and then managed and improved wherever possible.
GEM has been operating across the council’s administration departments since 2002 and has now been extended so that all council services and directorates are included. This makes Herefordshire the first shire county in the country with ISO14001 certification for all its services.
Initiatives under the GEM scheme have already seen offices use recycled paper and then recycle waste to reduce the amount sent to landfill.
A car sharing scheme ‘twoshare’ has also been implemented as well as schemes to encourage workers to use public transport and cycling.
The council has also launched an energy saving scheme called MY Energy that encourages staff to switch off lights, computers and other office appliances when they are not in use, aiming to reduce the council’s energy bills by 10 per cent over a 12-month period.
By carrying out these measures, Herefordshire Council aims to protect the environment by saving resources and reducing pollution, to save money by becoming more efficient and to provide a lead to others over environmental matters.
Councillor John Jarvis, cabinet member for environment and strategic housing, said: ”Herefordshire Council takes the environment very seriously and this award shows we are very much leading by example and carrying out measures to save money as well as helping to save the planet.
“I would encourage all of the county’s residents to keep on recycling and take on board other energy saving tips such as switching off lights when they are not needed and not leaving appliances on standby because if we all work together then we can really make a difference,” he added.
As part of ratifying ISO 4001, independent auditors spent three days at Herefordshire Council and they visited several sites, including highways and transportation, Aylestone Country Park and the relief road complete with Rotherwas Ribbon.
The auditors also paid considerable attention to the council’s carbon reduction programme with visits to property services, a look at MY Energy, integrated transport, the LTP and were given an update on climate change awareness raising.
Auditors were complimentary about the many areas of good practice they saw and the commitment of Herefordshire Council’s officers.
