Latest press releases and news items

Dulux confirms commitment as sponsor of Community RePaint

Community RePaint - the national network of paint reuse projects - is delighted to confirm that Dulux has agreed to extend its existing commitment to the programme and become the key sponsor over the next two years.

Dulux has sponsored Community RePaint since 1993, providing funding for the programme, which is managed by Resource Futures, the not-for-profit environmental consultancy.
Community RePaint offers expert advice and practical support to organisations across the UK that want to set up paint reuse projects. It also brokers national deals with manufacturers and retailers and develops partnerships with national organisations whose members need paint for redecoration.

Dulux will continue to promote Community RePaint by including information about the programme on its colour cards, on point of sale material in DIY stores and on the back of Dulux branded paint containers. Sue Vel, Environmental Projects Manager for Dulux, said: “We have supported Community RePaint over many years and are delighted to help it step up to the challenges of consumer waste paint management.”

To mark the alliance Community RePaint has updated its logo to include the strapline ‘Dulux, proud sponsor since 1993’ and Dulux has added information about the programme to its website under the new section ‘Greener Choices’, which can accessed from the homepage at: www.dulux.co.uk/environmental

Mark Gregory, Community RePaint Project Manager, added: “This is great news for Community RePaint and means we can spend more time concentrating on support for individual projects, as well as network development.”

For more information, please contact

Vicky Wren

Community RePaint Development Worker

Tel: 0113 2003959

vicky.wren@resourcefutures.co.uk

www.communityrepaint.org.uk

Resource Futures cheers Chester with lively launch event and recycling roadshows

Environmental communications consultants from Resource Futures have been organising and running a series of successful roadshow events for Chester City Council in February and March for the launch of Cheshire West and Chester’s new household waste service.

A giant soup tin on wheels, a recycling wizard and bin-playing bands were just some of the activities taking place in Chester’s Town Hall Square for the launch event which provided fun for all the family. Shoppers were able to samba with a sensational local band and join in with lots of other green goings-on from face-painting to freebies, all of which had a recycling theme, of course!

Puppets Frodo Bin-Baggins and Gandalf Garbage from the Bread and Butter Theatre Company performed Lord of the Bins whilst the London-based Community Scrap Band showed householders how to make their own musical instruments - from nothing more than junk.

The Can Car provided a picture perfect photo opportunity for key councillors. The Can drew in the crowds followed by the samba band and Lord of the Bins in a parade through the historic streets of Chester.

Resource Futures has hired and trained recycling experts to deliver a series of 25 recycling roadshows across Chester during February and March following on from the launch event. The green gurus are on hand to answer residents’ questions about the new household waste service, which starts to roll out across the area from 15th June 2009.

“The events have been excellent: extremely well organised and smoothly run. The launch event in particular surpassed our expectations in achieving the major impact we needed and drew in the crowds right from the start to the end of the day. Everyone was delighted with the event and the campaign,” said Helen de Lemos, Senior Manager: Waste Strategy for Cheshire West and Chester.

For more information, please contact

Julia Babbitt

Communications Consultant

Tel:0113 2003968

julia.babbitt@resourcefutures.co.uk

Resource Futures Launches Specialist Environmental Advice Clinics

Businesses in the Bath and North East Somerset area can now get practical help in reducing rising energy and waste bills, guidance on relevant legislation and support in reducing their environmental impact thanks to Resource Futures and GWE Business West. A new specialist Environmental Clinic will be held once a month at the GWE Business West offices in Bath, staffed by Resource Futures professional environmental consultants, starting from Wednesday March 4 2009.

The specialist Environmental Clinic is a one hour session with an environmental consultant offering advice based on the needs of individual businesses. This can include advice on resource efficiency, environmental quality standards, environmental management systems, travel and transport planning, waste reduction, carbon foot-printing and Corporate Social Responsibility.

Resource Futures delivers innovative, cutting edge resource management, business advice and communications solutions to clients in the public, private and the third sectors and works with clients to address their needs, successfully resolve their problems and benefit the environment.
“Being green makes sound business sense” says Veronica Parsons of Resource Futures. “Resource efficiency leads to lower utility bills; travel and transport plans can reduce wasted staff time and expenditure on cars; waste reduction and increased recycling can reduce costs which can all impact positively on the bottom line. Increasingly customers, both consumers and other businesses, are demanding evidence that their suppliers are addressing the impact they have on the environment. This is where robust environmental management, ideally leading to a recognised quality standard, comes in.”

The specialist Environmental Advice Clinic is available by prior booking with GWE Business West only. There is an administration fee of £20 (inclusive of VAT) per session. To book a place contact the GWE Business West Bath office on 01225 338383 or Midsomer Norton Branch on 01761 411800.

For more information, please contact

Veronica Parsons

Tel: 0117 9144953

veronica.parsons@resourcefutures.co.uk

 NEW WASTE STUDY TARGETS TOURISM INDUSTRY

A new study looking at the waste produced by the tourism industry in the Central Lake District is now underway.

Resource Futures has been  commissioned by Cumbria County Council, on behalf of the Cumbria Strategic Waste Partnership, to contact a wide range of organisations related to tourism such as hotels, B&B’s, restaurants and pubs to find out what waste they produce and how they deal with it.

The findings of the study will be used to identify new recycling initiatives, opportunities for new services and new local jobs, with a view to making Cumbria’s tourism industry more sustainable and the area more attractive as a ‘green’ destination.

It is estimated that the tourism industry in Cumbria produces around 37,000 tonnes of waste a year, and rising visitor numbers will increase this. The cost of disposing of this waste is also increasing and it is the local businesses that will pay the price for this.

Cumbria County Council’s Waste Prevention Manager Martin Allman said: “We are very pleased that this work is going to be carried out. It is targeting a really important business sector in our region that currently produces a lot of waste, most of which is going to landfill. If a recycling scheme could be introduced specifically for this waste, it will not only result in local jobs, but also make our tourism industry more environmentally friendly.”

Janice Frost, Project Manager at Resource Futures added: “Resources Futures is delighted to be working in partnership with Cumbria County Council on this exciting new project. We have a lot of experience of working with businesses to identify recycling opportunities and to develop them. We are looking forward to contacting local organisations focused on tourism to hear their views on waste.”

For more information, please contact:

Janice Frost

Senior Consultant

Tel 0113 200 3953 (direct dial)

janice.frost@resourcefutures.co.uk

Transfer of business Envolve to Resource Futures

Resource Futures is delighted to announce the acquisition of the following business units from Envolve Sustainable Partnerships based in Bath as of 1st October 2008:

Business Advice: the team provides specialist advice to businesses on resource efficiency. Services provided include:

• advice on environmental policies
• environmental auditing
• preparation for accreditation under ISO14001 and BS 8555
• Investors in People, accreditation and review

The team has been operating in the Bristol, Bath and NE Somerset, Somerset and Wiltshire areas and is an active member of the Wessex Environmental Business Club.
The team will complement the work undertaken by Resource Futures in the Yorkshire and Humber region which has included advice to Business Link teams and a survey of business waste services offered by local authorities. The company has also developed and delivered a communication campaign on resource efficiency aimed at SMEs in the East Midlands.

Education for Sustainable Development: the team provides specialist educational services on sustainable development and global learning:
• support to Eco-schools in Bath & NE Somerset and South Gloucestershire
• Bath & NE Somerset Global Learning Network

This work will expand Resource Futures’ waste and recycling education work delivered in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Devon and the support to Eco-schools in Bristol by providing additional services addressing the wider sustainability agenda.

Commenting on the acquisition, Jane Stephenson CEO of Resource Futures said:
‘We welcome these new teams into our organisation. Their experience and expertise will further enhance the delivery of high quality project delivery which characterises the services offered to clients by Resource Futures.’

For more information contact:

Jane Stephenson, CEO
Tel 0117 914 3575 (direct dial)
janestephenson@resourcefutures.co.uk

Resource Futures appoints Fridey Cordingley as Communications Director

The appointment of Fridey Cordingley, to the newly created post of Communications Director completes the planned expansion of Resource Futures senior management and consultancy team.

Fridey has been Head of Recycle Now at WRAP since 2005, managing and delivering ‘Recycle Now’ the national recycling campaign for England including setting up and managing WRAP’s Recycle Now in schools programme. Fridey originally joined WRAP in 2004 as Home Composting Campaign Manager.

Fridey will be directing Resource Futures’ behavioural change work through the leadership of the Communications and Projects teams in the delivery of a high standard of communications and marketing consultancy services. She will be taking up her appointment at the end of August.

Together with other recent appointments (Dr Julian Parfitt as Research and Technical Director and Ray Georgeson as non-executive Director) the team, under the leadership of Jane Stephenson have considerable expertise and experience across a range of strategic waste issues as well as being well grounded in practical delivery and applied research.

Jane Stephenson CEO said,
“I am delighted that Fridey will be joining Resource Futures. She will bring knowledge, experience and enthusiasm to our communications and project work which will ably complement the research and technical skills introduced by Julian Parfitt’s appointment in May 08. I look forward to working closely with her in building on our extensive experience and expertise to provide high quality services to our expanding list of clients.”

Commenting on her appointment Fridey said,

“Resource Futures is a dynamic cutting edge company offering a full range of environmental communications and research services that deliver real behaviour change. I am in full admiration of the work they do and delighted to be joining them at this important time”

For more information contact:
Jane Stephenson, CEO
Tel 0117 914 3575 (direct dial)
janestephenson@resourcefutures.co.uk

Launch of hospital waste, cost-allocation model

Resource Futures have launched a new model which enables hospitals to allocate waste management costs on a ward by ward basis. The model builds on work done for Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and will be of interest to both facilities and finance managers.

This is a sophisticated model that calculates the waste management costs for each ward on a per patient-day basis allowing finance managers to accurately recharge waste costs to wards or departments. Facilities managers can also use the information to develop future waste management strategies and identify potential savings on waste management charges.

The model was developed by Resource Futures while working on a project funded by Recycle Action Yorkshire. The information from the model was used to review recycling and clinical waste reduction programmes in the hospital and estimated savings to the waste management budget of 43% per year.

The new model can be easily adapted for other individual hospitals or rolled out across the whole of a Primary Care Trust. Resource Futures are able to offer the modelling service on its own or coupled with full waste management consultancy services.

For more information contact:

Eric Bridgwater

Senior Consultant

Tel 0117 914 1272 (direct dial)

eric.bridgwater@resourcefutures.co.uk

 Resource Futures appointed by largest waste disposal authority

Resource Futures is pleased to announce its appointment as marketing agency to Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA).  Resource Futures have been selected to work on direct engagement in the Manchester community thanks to their expertise in public engagement and communication and in depth knowledge of the waste and resource efficiency sector.

Resource Futures will work alongside PR agency Corporate Culture who will be providing specialist PR support and advice to the Authority.  Both companies will share their skills base and work in partnership alongside GMWDA and their partner Waste Collection Authorities (WCAs). GMWDA is expected to sign a 25-year PFI contract with Viridor and Laing in March 2008 which will include an in-vessel composter and materials recycling facility. The two agencies will help develop communications on the new developments and the rolling out of GMWDA’s waste strategy.

With offices in both Leeds and Bristol, Resource Futures has established itself as a leading practitioner of public engagement, consultation and marketing communications around resource efficiency.  The communications team has extensive experience and skill acquired through delivery of a wide range of projects aimed at getting residents to use waste services responsibly, reduce their waste and undertake reuse activities.

Resource Futures has worked with a range of local authorities, waste management companies and community groups nationwide to achieve effective communication and, as such, have a detailed understanding of their operational structures, communication channels and needs.

For more information contact:

Cathy Riley

Principle Communication Consultant

Tel 0117 914 3445 (direct dial)

Cathy.riley@resourcefutures.co.uk