Environmental Responsibilities

EDP's services continue to grow with the appointment of Andrew Nicholson as our Head of Environment Business Unit.

Although we have provided environmental consultancy for years, increasing demand meant that we needed someone with the experience and enthusiasm to effectively champion the services with our customers.

"The discipline of Environmental Management is a growing one and EDP's philosophy of offering cutting-edge solutions to client needs will be a core element of what we do going forward", said Andrew.

We caught up with Andrew to ask his opinion on a number of environmental issues and to give you a better idea of the range of Environmental Services provided by EDP:

Q. Why did you choose a career in Environmental Management?

A. There's a diversity to Environmental Management that I like. The work can range from inspecting drainage systems after pollution incidents (not very glamorous) to delivering Corporate Environmental Strategy documents to Boards of Directors. It's the diversity that interests me. It's also good to know you are helping the environment as well as companies.

Q. What's the biggest change in Environmental Management you've seen?

A. That would be the increasing importance that companies now place on their Environmental Management. Environmental Management is probably as high up the business and political agenda as it has ever been.

Q. What attracted you to EDP?

A. EDP's values were the main attraction. Many consultancy firms work with their clients on 'projects' and then disappear, leaving the client to run with whatever they leave behind. EDP doesn't operate in that way. I like the way EDP develops relationships with clients, many of which are very long standing.

I was also attracted by EDP's non-commercial activities through the Bridge2 Trust, which helps people in poorer countries to become economically self sufficient. It is good to know that your day's work is not only to support your family, or even for love of the job, but you are also helping others who are less fortunate than yourself.

Q. What key environmental issues should businesses be managing?

A. That's difficult to answer because it varies from organisation to organisation. However, I believe the key challenges lie in three main areas:

Climate Change and Carbon Management
Whatever we believe to be the cause of climate change, we cannot dispute that it is happening and we all have a role to play in minimising its impact. I think it is great to see so much interest in carbon. Many businesses are realising the economic and environmental benefits of managing their carbon emissions.
Waste Management
The UK's historical reliance on landfill means we have been slow to develop alternative ways of managing waste. We are fast running short of space and still we are struggling to meet European targets to reduce waste deposited in landfill. The result is greatly increasing costs. Organisations need to look more to waste minimisation as a way of meeting their environmental and business efficiency goals.
A More Demanding Society
People generally are becoming more aware of environmental responsibilities, which is affecting how we act as consumers. Household names such as Virgin, Marks + Spencer, HSBC, Google, Dell and Sky are publicly stating their commitment to environmental improvement, which suggests there is real business benefit in selling 'greener goods and services'. Sound environmental management practices are an aid to business success and EDP can help you with Environmental Improvement Strategies that enable you to compete successfully within your sector.

Q. How can EDP's Environmental Services help businesses?

A. Beyond the challenges outlined earlier, the beauty of our services is that they can be tailored to any organisation, whether they already have an environmental strategy or don't even know where to start. We have extensive experience from helping many companies to improve their environmental performance. We strive to present a number of alternatives for achieving environmental goals so that each company can choose what is best for them.

Talk about financial savings from improved environmental performance is easy, but realising them in practice can be more difficult. We believe our strategies for environmental management can help you save money at the same time as being more environmentally responsible. We can help you identify energy usage and where energy wastage is taking place. We then offer advice and guidance for reducing energy consumption and associated costs.

Our Environment website provides more details of the services we offer at:
http://www.edp-uk.com/environment/environmental_services_home.htm

You can also find more information on such topics as developments in environmental legislation and what's happening generally in the field of Environmental Management.

Contact EDP HS&E Consultants for all your health, safety and environment needs. We can check your current arrangements and advise you about any changes or improvements you need to make.

To discuss your requirements, without any obligation on your part, please gives us a call on 01744 766000 or complete the Enquiry Form on our website.

In addition to our regular newsletters, you can also keep up with the latest information from EDP by visiting our blog at http://edp-uk.blogspot.com/