London Wider Waste Strategy - London - Greater London Authority

manufacturing. More recently, they have focused on retail, which included a drive on
greening the supply chain, and have also looked at serviced accommodation such as
business and retail parks. However, there has been little focus to date on offices in
particular, as well as other areas of commercial activity such as wholesale and
hospitality, although a number of their more general publications would have useful
advice and they have recently published a green office efficiency guide. It is also noted
that Friends of the Earth have published a green office handbook.
4.148. It is recognised that Envirowise does not meet the full requirements of London’s
commercial sectors. In particular, programmes for wholesale, hospitality and, in
particular, office based sectors (including serviced office accommodation) are required.
Recommendation 16: It is recommended that Government is lobbied to enable
Envirowise to extend its services simultaneously to all commercial businesses,
including wholesale, hospitality and, particularly, offices (including serviced
office accommodation).
Recommendation 17: As cost is not currently a particularly significant driver, and is
unlikely to be in the short term, for SMEs in adopting sustainable waste
management practices, it is recommended that the effectiveness of other
incentives be researched. This should include education and methods to raise
awareness of the environmental and social consequences of disposal-based
solutions.
4.149. Other mechanisms such as policy and enforcement are also considered necessary, as
discussed later in this chapter.
4.150. It is noted that there are a range of sources of advice which can make it difficult and
time consuming for organisations to know where to look for environmental information
and advice. This was identified in the Brook Lyndhurst report (Brook Lyndhurst 2004),
which calls for a single point of advice on environmental issues. This does not mean
that individual organisations should cease their environmental initiatives; indeed this
would be undesirable as it may well lead to a loss of individual expertise in specific
areas. However, a single authorative source of reference, advice and links would be very
welcome. This should also include a full list of publications to aid the dissemination of
research. It should include the full range of environmental issues and sectors
(commercial, industrial and public sector) across the national, European and
international spectrum.
Recommendation 18: It is recommended that a single point of advice on
environmental issues in London should be developed as a result of discussions
between the GLA, the London Development Agency, DEFRA, DTI Envirowise
and other relevant bodies.
4.151. It is interesting that the focus of Envirowise’s publications is on the business benefits
and particularly cost savings that can be achieved from improved environmental
performance whilst the SME-nvironment 2003 survey suggests that this is relatively low
down the list of reasons for improving environmental performance; the largest driver
being a general concern for the environment followed by legislative compliance. This
could be for a number of reasons which, as highlighted earlier by discussions with
Envirowise, could include the fact that cost savings from waste minimisation for many
small commercial companies are relatively insignificant. Alternatively, SMEs may simply
be unaware of the potential for cost savings. Alternatively, it may be that small
company entrepreneurs are more interested in the potential environmental impacts of
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