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10 commitments

Greener pedal power with Velo’v - LyonEurostar 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
We’ve estimated it will take three to five years to achieve all 10 across the business.

Point 1

Separating, sorting and recycling all on-board waste, including food waste, by the most appropriate methods.

Point 2

Replacing train air-conditioning refrigerants with the less environmentally damaging chemical R134a by 2008 – seven years before the EU deadline.

Point 3

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.

Point 4

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.

Point 5

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.

Point 6

Reusing water from train-washing at the new Temple Mills maintenance depot, and investing in rainwater collection to further reduce consumption.

Point 7

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.

Point 8

Ensuring on-board disposable items (e.g. cups, plates, napkins) are either biodegradable (made from maize extract) or fully recyclable.

Point 9

Refurbishing or de-branding and recycling used staff uniforms.

Point 10

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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Quotes

"Doing nothing is not an option. What Eurostar is doing is a plan for the future."
Stuart Rose, Chief Executive, Marks & Spencer
 
"Eurostar is leading the way by making a real reduction."
Tony Juniper, Executive Director, Friends of the Earth
 
"Eurostar have set a transport industry benchmark."
Stephen Joseph, Executive Director, Transport 2000