Craigavon Craigavon Borough Council has set itself a Key Objective of establishing Craigavon as Northern Ireland's Centre for Environmental Excellence. Ensuring that we use and manage our natural resources in a sustainable way, that not only benefits our lives, but also the lives of our children and future generations.
In order to deliver services to the people of Craigavon the Council uses a range of natural resources e.g. fuel to power our bin lorries, water to fill our swimming pools, paper in our offices and energy to power all of our electronic equipment.
To make sure that we play our part in sustainable development, the Council has committed itself to improving our own environmental performance. In order to achieve this we are in the process of implementing environmental management system ISO 14001. So far we have achieved ISO14001 for our Environmental Services Department and Oxford Island. We are now making plans to extend this to other areas of the Council.
What does this mean for the environment?
Developing an environmental management system has required Environmental Services
and Oxford Island to:
1. Agree an environmental policy setting out our aims in relation to our environmental
performance.
2. Undertake baseline audits of our facilities and our environmental record.
3. Develop action plans for improving our environmental performance.
4. Undertake staff training on environmental issues.
5. Monitor our environmental performance throughout the year.
Some practical projects that we have already delivered include:
o Increasing our use of renewable energy with the introduction of biomass boilers
at Oxford Island Discovery Centre, Arts Space and Carn Depot.
o Introducing additional spill kits for areas where oil/fuel is stored to prevent
pollution from minor spills.
o Implemented a new hazardous waste collection service for anti-foul paints
and oily rags at Kinnego Boat park.
o Expansion of the in-house recycling scheme to include plastic bottles, cans
and cardboard.
o Installation energy efficient light bulbs and light sensors to reduce electricity
use.
o Promoting computer 'switch off' policy and water efficiency with staff.
o Increasing the range and amount of recycled products that we buy.
o We have sourced more environmentally friendly cleaning products and chemicals
for external use at Carn Depot and Oxford Island.
The projects that we have identified for this year include:
o Refurbishment of New Line Recycling Centre and installation of oil interceptors
at both recycling centres as well as Carn depot.
o Review of our green purchasing policy supporting the purchase of environmentally
friendly products wherever possible.
o Trial of bio-diesel as a fuel for our vehicle fleet.
o Reduce our water consumption through water efficiency measures and a new vehicle
wash at Carn Depot.
o Installation of a biomass boiler at Kinnego Marina, Craigavon Leisure Centre
and Waves Leisure Centre.
o Promote energy efficiency measures with staff.
For further information on sustainable development contact the Sustainable Development
Officer on 02838 312598.