28 April 2004 - New Environment Agency Booklet and Video for SMEs
Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can now acquire Pollution Prevention Pays - Getting your site right, a new Environment Agency booklet and video to aid them in ensuring their site right for the environment, reducing the risk of causing environmental pollution. It appears that only 23% of SMEs are implementing any measures aimed at reducing harm to the environment.
Available free of charge from the Agency, it covers matters such as:
-
site drainage
-
deliveries and material handling
-
storage
-
training and emergencies
-
groundwater protection
-
trade effluent
-
waste management.
Action points enable users to follow the Agency’s good practice measures and ideas for improvements, many of which can be implemented at little or no cost.
Teresa Brown, Environment Agency Technical Advisor for pollution prevention and waste minimisation commented:
"Until recently, the drive to reduce the impact of business on the environment had been primarily focused on large companies with more than 250 employees, but all business – however small – has an impact on the environment. Over 99% of the 3.7 million businesses in the UK are SMEs and it is estimated that they generate about 60% of commercial waste and as much as 80% of pollution incidents in England and Wales alone."
The booklet is available on the internet at www.environment-agency.gov.uk or by phoning 08457 33 77 00.
