London Wider Waste Strategy - London - Greater London Authority

London. A phased approach is recommended in which particular sizes of
organisations in particular sectors are targeted over forthcoming years.
Environmental Reporting
4.204. Corporate environmental reports have been increasing both in terms of popularity and
scope over recent years. It is now an expectation that most major companies will
produce such a report and also many of the leading companies have widened the scope
to include “triple bottom line” reporting which includes social and environmental issues
as well as economic data and hence is a full sustainability report.
4.205. Environmental or sustainability reporting by itself does not require an improvement in
environmental or sustainability performance. However, the very act of producing data
and information on environmental and social impacts obviously allows the full range of
stakeholders to scrutinise performance and benchmark against the industry.
4.206. The question is, of course, whether this is an effective mechanism to increase
environmental performance and particularly, in the context of this study, sustainable
waste management. DEFRA commissioned a survey on the costs and benefits of
environmental reporting in 2001 which was undertaken by Environ (Environ 2001,
Report on a Survey of Environmental Reporting Costs and Benefits, prepared for DEFRA
(formerly DETR)). The survey was sent to 109 companies, of which 38 were FTSE100
companies, a further 17 were FTSE 350 companies and the remaining 54 companies
were ‘other’ environmental reporters. A total of 47 completed replies were received,
giving a response rate of 43.1% which was split reasonably well across the three groups
of companies. .
4.207. The study found that the respondents had been reporting for an average of 4.8 years,
with the longest reporter for 12 years. The survey included a question on whether a
reduction in waste arisings had been identified as a result of environmental reporting,
with a score of 1 being a limited benefit, 2 being an important benefit, and 3 being of
major benefit. The average score across all the respondents was 1.57, suggesting that
on average some benefit in reducing waste as a result of environmental reporting had
been identified. These results are also presented by sector in Table 4.11 below.
Table 4.11: Benefits of Environmental Reporting (from Environ 2001)
Type of
Benefit
Decreased
Waste
Average Scores
All Sectors Utilities Sector Transport Sector Diverse Services
1.57 2.00 1.67 0.75
Note: a score of 1=limited benefit; 2=important benefit, and 3=major benefit.
4.208. Table 4.11 shows that the utilities sector gained the most with a score of 2.00 indicating
that on average the companies received an important benefit. Not surprisingly, the
‘diverse sectors’ scored comparatively low (but still identifying some benefit) which may
perhaps reflect that they probably produce less waste than the industrial sectors.
4.209. In comparison to the other environmental benefits that respondents were asked about
in the survey (i.e. decreased resource and water usage and reduced energy expenditure),
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