Whitbread targets 26% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020

8th December 2009, 2:11pm

Whitbread, the UK's leading hotel and restaurant group, has announced plans to reduce its carbon emissions by 26% by 2020.

The move, which comes as international leaders push for further action on tackling global emissions at Copenhagen, is the company's first statement of intent on carbon reduction and will form an important part of its 'Good Together' corporate sustainability strategy.

At the same time, Whitbread is reporting that from 2007 to 2009, the company improved its carbon efficiency by 4%, which is equivalent to saving 8,562 tonnes of CO2 - or taking 2,446 cars off the road.

In recognition of this, Whitbread has been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard.

Alan Parker, chief executive officer of Whitbread, said: "Whitbread has always put a high value on being a responsible business. Committing to this carbon reduction target is a statement of our determination to drive down emissions and ensure that we operate as efficiently and sustainably as possible. By taking the lead, we can help our customers to make a difference and show that action on the environment is most effective when we all work together."

In addition to today's pledge to reduce CO2 emissions by 26% by 2020, Whitbread has also confirmed the following initial targets:

Achieve 80% of waste diverted from landfill from Whitbread Hotels & Restaurants sites by February 2012 
 
100% of all Costa Coffee production to be Rainforest Alliance certified by June 2010 

Launch purpose built 'green hotel and restaurant' at Burgess Hill, West Sussex (to open in Autumn 2010) 
 
Achieve 3,000 qualifications from Whitbread Hotels & Restaurant Apprenticeship scheme. 
 
400 Costa learners trained by the end of 2011 
 
Raise £1 million for WaterAid 
 
Enable 15,000 children to be educated as part of the Costa Foundation 
 
Whitbread operates more than 580 Premier Inn hotels across the UK with in excess of 40,000 rooms and 375 Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Table Table and Taybarns restaurants.

Costa is part of Whitbread and is the largest and fastest growing Coffee Shop business in the UK, and second largest globally with a total of some 1,500 stores.

Related Articles:

• 07 Sep 2009 - Whitbread's total group sales rise by 2.4%
• 20 Aug 2009 - Whitbread launches environment report
• 27 Jul 2009 - Whitbread set to sell four pubs

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