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Environment policies

Environment Unit - July 2012
environment.unit@kirklees.gov.uk


Aalborg Commitments

Kirklees Council has signed up to the Aalborg Commitments - a set of principles that help the council create targets and objectives which ensure local sustainable development. These principles will help us in areas such as: decision-making, effective management, promoting health and well-being, protect nature, reduce waste and sustainable transport and links directly to the Kirklees Environment Vision 2025.

Corporate Carbon Reduction Strategy

Kirklees Council has a strategy which outlines some of the initiatives happening to achieve our carbon reduction targets.

Environment Policy

Kirklees Council acknowledges and recognises that its operations have an impact on the local and global environment. We are committed to the maintenance of an environmental management system to manage our environmental impacts, prevent pollution, and to continuously improve our environmental performance.

As part of this commitment, we regularly update our Environment Policy to aid our implementation of our environmental management system.

Environment Vision 2025

Kirklees Council have developed an environment vision, which details our commitments to combat climate change and protect our local environment, including commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, raising the environmental standards of buildings and developing a network of cycleways, footpaths and open spaces.

Environmental Purchasing Policy

If the council is to demonstrate good environmental management, we have to make sure that the goods and services we buy cause as little harm to the environment as possible.

Purchasing decisions can have a profound effect on the environment. Manufacture and transportation of products uses valuable resources and pollutes our land, air and water. Goods consume energy and water during their manufacture and many consume further energy and water when in use. The goods themselves, their by-products and their packaging eventually have to be disposed of as waste.

This revised Environmental Purchasing Policy will help the council fulfil its environmental responsibilities and will in turn help to influence our suppliers, so that we can justifiably claim that we are "greening our supply chain".

Anyone who makes purchases or procures services on behalf of the Council must follow the Environmental Purchasing Policy.

Environmental Management

Previously Kirklees Council gained EMAS (Eco Management and Audit Scheme) in all council services in November 2003 and has maintained this standard up until the end of October 2010. The council's final EMAS validated interim statement highlighting the council's main environmental achievements in this reporting period can be viewed below. Kirklees Council is currently reviewing its Environmental Management System to streamline the system and concentrate resources in high impacting areas such as energy reduction and carbon management, procurement and regeneration and investment.

Municipal Waste Management Strategy

Describes the current arrangements for the management of municipal waste in Kirklees and to set out our proposals for improving on these, exceeding statutory recycling and composting standards, and increasing the proportion of our waste diverted away from landfill.

Provide information to all Kirklees residents and stakeholders who may need help or advice on waste related issues.

Contact the Environment Unit

Environment Unit
Civic Centre 3
Market Street
Huddersfield
HD1 2JR

Tel: 01484 221555
Fax: 01484 221613
Email: environment.unit@kirklees.gov.uk

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