Being efficient with resources - including water, energy, packaging, transport, raw materials and waste - benefits all businesses. It streamlines operations and can collectively save UK companies, large and small, several billions of pounds each year.
It also benefits the environment through better use of finite assets and a reduction in carbon emissions.
Resource efficiency is central to the Government’s Sustainable Consumption and Production Programme. It’s also a core part of our own corporate strategy. We’re increasingly helping businesses to help themselves while safeguarding our environment for us all and generations to come.
That’s why we’re pleased to announce the arrival of READ – our Resource Efficiency Appraisal and Development toolkit.
READ toolkit
The READ toolkit is free to businesses and has two principal parts:
1. REMI – the Resource Efficiency Management Index
REMI is a confidential and voluntary tool which assesses a company’s management approach to resource use.
There are two versions: one for businesses with over 50 staff (large) and one for those with up to 50 staff (small). Using an interactive questionnaire REMI generates a profile of your business. It gives feedback and guidance on priority areas to improve your approach and save significant amounts of money. For small businesses we also include an estimate of your potential financial savings.
We are currently piloting REMI among small and large businesses and are keen to get feedback before launching the online version in March 2010.
If you would like to take part in this trial please contact:
2. REPI – the Resource Efficiency Physical Index
This tool is specifically for regulated businesses which hold an EPR (Environmental Permitting Regulations) A1 permit.
REPI’s origins lie in industrial resource efficiency. It measures physical (or quantitative) performance. From January 2010 we will ask EPR A1-permitted businesses to use this tool to complete part of their annual Pollution Inventory returns. Again in questionnaire format, REPI will allow businesses to benchmark themselves against other businesses and sectors. It will also provide year-on-year trend analysis and a review of efficiencies to be achieved.
We and Government will use the collective data to analyse trends and help industry improve resource efficiency throughout England and Wales. We will publish annual reports on our website from 2010 using 2009 data.
Another of REPI’s aims is to streamline further the way we regulate business – using the principles of better regulation. We strive to focus our resource on priority sites which would benefit most from our attention while easing the burden of regulation on those sites which have achieved higher levels of resource efficiency.
In time we hope to make REPI available to other, non-regulated businesses on a voluntary basis.
If your business has an EPR A1 permit and you would like to know more about REPI please download our factsheet:
