Your Business and the Environment

1. Why Should I Bother?

1.1 In recent years, the volume of environmental legislation has mushroomed.

• Breaking the law can carry serious criminal and financial penalties, as well as generating bad publicity.
• Planning ahead to take account of new environmental standards can minimise the costs of modifying or replacing equipment and updating working practices.

1.2 Good environmental management can bring substantial cost savings.

• For example, in raw materials, waste disposal, energy and transport.

1.3 Increasingly, customers prefer to buy from environmentally responsible businesses.

• Many large companies are 'greening' their supply chain. Some will buy products only from suppliers that satisfy strict environmental criteria.
• Many consumers will pay a premium for environmentally friendly products.

1.4 Business partners are increasingly looking at companies' environmental profiles.

• Banks, insurers and other sources of finance may avoid businesses that do not take environmental matters seriously and expose themselves to unacceptable risk.

1.5 It is easier to recruit employees.

• Many are better motivated when working for an environmentally responsible employer.

1.6 Failure to act in an environmentally responsible way can bring you into conflict with other people - for example, the local community and pressure groups.