10 commitments
Eurostar has committed to a 10-point plan across the business to reduce our overall impact on the environment. Our 10-point plan is based on three principles for the use of materials and supplies:- Reduce usage wherever possible
- Source supplies responsibly
- Recycle what is used or produced
Separating, sorting and recycling all on-board waste, including food waste, by the most appropriate methods.
Replacing train air-conditioning refrigerants with the less environmentally damaging chemical R134a by 2008 – seven years before the EU deadline.
Helping travellers reduce CO2 emissions when accessing Eurostar services by providing journey planner information and ticket sales for public transport options, and developing new travel initiatives and partnerships.
Sorting and recycling waste from stations, offices and the Temple Mills maintenance depot, with the goal of zero disposal to landfill; and with 80 per cent of waste to be recycled by 2009.
Ensuring that lighting, heating and mechanical plant at stations, depots and offices are as energy efficient as possible; developing a ‘switch-off’ culture; and procuring electricity from greener sources of energy.
Reusing water from train-washing at the new Temple Mills maintenance depot, and investing in rainwater collection to further reduce consumption.
Reducing paper usage by switching to e-tickets and bar code ticketing downloaded to mobile phones; undertaking direct marketing via email and web-based information; and where paper is unavoidable, sourcing from sustainable forests or recycled paper, and recycling all used paper.
Ensuring on-board disposable items (e.g. cups, plates, napkins) are either biodegradable (made from maize extract) or fully recyclable.
Refurbishing or de-branding and recycling used staff uniforms.
Sourcing on-train food from local sources in UK, France or Belgium wherever available, including organic suppliers, or Fairtrade for overseas supplies.
We’ve made a good start on many of these points, and will keep you posted with more detail as we progress. As an example, here are a couple of things we’re most proud of in the last 6 months:
- All the cups, bags and napkins in the bar-buffet are now biodegradable and, where possible, made from recycled material. The majority of our cold food is organic, locally-sourced and seasonal. And our hot drinks are now all ethically sourced too. We continue to work with our suppliers on the rest
- We refurbish and reuse all the uniforms we can and incinerate any which are unusable to provide energy for other industry.
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