London stops 475,000 tonnes of waste from being dumped in landfill

The results of the 2007 Mayor of London's Green Procurement Code awards reveal that more environmental savings than ever before are being made through the purchase of green products. Deputy Mayor of London, Nicky Gavron, last night revealed the combined purchases of London based organisations signed up to the Mayor of London's Green Procurement Code diverted nearly 475,000 tonnes of waste from landfill. This is a 20 per cent improvement on last year's results, and represents 216,000 tonnes of CO2 savings. This is equivalent to the yearly emissions of 35,940 households.

Members of the Mayor of London's Green Procurement Code purchased 47 per cent more than last year from 360 suppliers, showing that market demand for green products is growing. The total amount spent on recycled products in the last year was #181 million.

Recycled stationery accounts for the majority of green procurement, with nearly #2.5 million spent on over a million items. Purchases include 1.3 million reams of recycled paper, 40,500 items of recycled furniture and 28,161 square metres of recycled carpet.

Outstanding effort from individual organisations signed up to the Mayor of London's Green Procurement Code was also recognised. Awards were presented to Workspace Group for best performing private sector organisation; Bywaters for best performing small and medium enterprise (SME); the London borough of Hackney for the best performing public sector organisation and Paper Round for best performing newcomer. The extra mile award for environmental innovation in the workplace was presented to James McNaughton Group with Severnprint and the London Fire Brigade highly commended.

Deputy Mayor of London, Nicky Gavron, said: “The organisations we are rewarding are leading the way in taking practical steps to reduce their environmental impact through responsible purchasing. This year alone the total purchase of recycled products saved 216,000 tonnes of CO2 – an increase of 40,000 tonnes on the previous year. The combined purchasing power of London based organisations has huge potential to tackle climate change and help to solve London's waste problem and I would urge all businesses to support the Green Procurement Code.”

Graham Randles, Programme Manager for London Remade, said: “The environmental savings of the Mayor of London's Green Procurement Code are improving year on year reflecting London's commitment to reducing the impact of workplace activities on the environment.

“Organisations signed up to the programme are also encouraging customers and suppliers to follow their lead in implementing green procurement and environmental policies to further reduce their impact. Environmental responsibility is on its way to becoming standard practice in the workplace.”