The prestigious Green Apple awards have recognised the work that South Western Railway is doing to minimise its environmental impact.
SWR has received a Gold award in the Environmental Excellence category.
Last year alone SWR passengers, staff and operations generated over 5,000 tonnes of waste, this is equivalent to almost 400 double-decker buses.
Over the past 12 months, the train operator has made some significant improvements to how we manage waste including:
- Increasing our recycling to 78% overall – 3,900 tonnes (equivalent to 308 double decker buses!).
- Hitting our zero waste to landfill 8 months early (since July 2018, 100% of our waste is diverted from landfill – it is either recycled or used to generate energy).
- Creating coffee ground exchanges for our passengers at a number of stations so that our customers can use them for composting.
- Introducing coffee cup recycling at our Wimbledon and Fratton depots.
- Arranging for our old uniforms to be reused or donated to charities – in September we donated 45 bags to the Salvation Army!
- Working with Network rail to Install water fountains at Waterloo station to reduce the use of single use plastics by our customers. We also have plans to roll this out too many more stations in our network.
- Working with our staff to make them more aware of the benefits of recycling and encouraging them to reduce waste at work and at home.
What did the officials say?
Commenting on the Award, Amelia Woodley, SWR's Head of Sustainability said:
“It's a fantastic achievement to win a Green Apple award. We have challenging recycling targets to meet and have worked closely with SWRnewstar to explore every opportunity to reduce our waste and maximise our recycling. Our station and depot teams support and dedication have been a key part of our success”.
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