Sustainability
Whilst attracting new boaters, anglers and visitors to the waterways is a priority, we are very conscious that this must be achieved in harmony with the historic and natural environment. We know that heritage and natural habitats are two of the most important attributes that attract people to our waterways and a great deal of our time goes into ensuring they are managed sustainably. The waterways provide important habitat for a diverse range of wildlife and we work closely with the Environment Agency, Natural England, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and local environmental groups. We are also the third largest owner of listed buildings and structures in England and Wales, so we work closely with English Heritage, local authority conservation officers, and canal societies.
Find out more about waterway wildlife and waterway heritage.
British Waterway's Green Plan
Sustainable development has been on British Waterways' agenda for many years. The scope is wide due to the nature of our assets and activities. The Green Plan was developed in 2010 to simplify our approach, making it easy to understand and transparent.
The Green Plan has four key anchors, representing our priorities. These are:
Energy - this focuses on electricity, gas and fuel (mileage) and we aim to accurately measure and then reduce the amount of energy we use. This is where we can make the biggest difference in improving our carbon footprint, contributing to the Government's Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC). Our initial focus is on improving data capture for electricity, gas, and travel (car, train and plane mileage); improving the environmental standards of our commercial fleet and investigating ways of lowering the energy costs of our operational pumping and buildings.
Resources - we aim to take a sustainable approach to the way we buy and source materials used in construction and in our offices; this involves measuring and assessing the materials we use and, where appropriate, using renewable and recycled materials and identifying alternatives to carbon intensive materials.
Waste - we are looking at how we deal with our waste and seek to continually reduce the amount we take to landfill and increase the amount we re-use or re-cycle. We are working with waste contractors and local authorities to improve the provision of recycling facilities for our operational buildings and customers and/or increase the separation of waste for recycling post-collection.
Environment and Public Benefit - this includes setting environmental and heritage standards for waterways, including protecting statutory wildlife sites, improving water quality, and dealing with invasive species. We also look at the public benefit of the waterways to customers, including towpaths and how our waterway users can contribute to sustainability.
British Waterways has developed a Carbon Management Plan in conjunction with the Carbon Trust. We have set the target:
We aim to reduce carbon emissions from key sources, relative to the baseline calendar year 2009/10, by 25% by the end of 2015.
Delivering this has the potential to save British Waterways in excess of £7.5m over the 5 year lifetime of the plan and also avoid CO2 emissions of over 27,700 tonnes.
In 2010-11 we are investing £1million on projects which reduce our carbon emissions, including installing solar panels, making improvements to our buildings, and installing Variable Speed Drives (VSDs) at our high energy use pumping sites. We anticipate this fund will be available next year, too.
The Green Plan is supported by the Green Plan Team with representatives from the different areas of the organisation including technical, communications, environment, procurement, and finance. British Waterways' finance director Philip Ridal is responsible for the Green Plan (see page 7 of the Annual report & Accounts 2010/11) and our carbon emissions performance.
For further information on the Green Plan, please contact Deanne Gow (Green Plan Developer) on deanne.gow@britishwaterways.co.uk.
Forest products
British Waterways became a member of WWFs Global Forest and Trade Network in the UK (WWF_GFTN UK) in 2002. British Waterways uses forest products in a variety of its construction works, from lock gates to bank repairs. The company is committed to obtaining these from well managed sources. At present, FSC represents the gold standard and it remains preferable to source from credibly certified forests or verified recycled sources. British Waterways works with its suppliers to gather as much information as possible on the products obtained and to eliminate any risks of poor sourcing.
British Waterways has published the status of its supply chain according to the WWF_GFTN UK categorisation of forest goods and hopes its decision to be transparent will prompt others to do the same. The company's priorities for the future are to ensure all contractors and suppliers understand its requirements and streamline the recording and reporting processes.
Other initiatives to reduce climate change
The waterways can offer a range of opportunities to positively affect the environment, from encouraging freight to supporting sustainable heating, cooling and energy generation schemes.
Canal water can provide sustainable cooling, using heat exchange technology, in place of burning fossil fuels or using large amounts of electricity to power air cooling units. BW already has working examples in the Mailbox development in the heart of Birmingham and at our mooring basin facilities at Auchinstarry in Scotland. To find our more visit our cooling and heating buildings section.
British Waterways is working with Partnership for Renewables, which is part of the Carbon Trust, to develop wind turbines. We have facilitated the installation of a micro-hydroelectricity generation plant at Beeston on the River Trent and are looking at additional sites on the Trent, Severn and in Yorkshire.
Canals were originally built for the transportation of goods and although freight is not the main purpose of the waterway network today, British Waterways tries to facilitate it wherever we can. We work closely with, and receive funding from, organisations such as Transport for London to explore and progress viable freight and transportation opportunities on our waterways. To effectively carry freight, waterways often need substantial additional investment, and we need the same upfront investment whether we move one or one hundred freight vessels. This additional investment often comes in the form of government grant funding.
