Contract caterer BaxterStorey won recognition at the Business Commitment to the Environment (BCE) annual awards this week.

The Reading-based caterer scooped a Major Commendation in BCE’s Environmental Leadership, one of 12 companies recognised for their outstanding achievements in meeting commercial demands of the present without compromising the environment in the future.

It is a major coup for BaxterStorey in the light of the BCE’s view that “the catering and hospitality industry is notoriously poor when it comes to matters of the environment”.

BaxterStorey was commended for its “tenacious drive in challenging existing environmental performances across its sites and across its supplier and customer base”.

The group was certified as carbon neutral in 2006 for offsetting 678 tonnes of C02 from head office. It was the first UK food-service operator to win ISO accreditation for its environmental management standards, and one of the first in the sector to trial programmes generating energy from collected food waste.

New measures introduced at BaxterStorey include:

• Increased commitment to using fresh, locally-sourced food;
• Energy-efficiency programmes;
• Changes to packaging; and
• Transport emisson reductions.

Mike Hanson, head of environment and sustainability at the company, said: “At BaxterStorey we recognise that our success is dependent upon the environment around us and we do all we can to behave in a responsible fashion.”

The group relaunched its website earlier this week.
 

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By Angela Frewin

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