Argos corporate news

Bridgwater distribution centre wins highest national award

26 September 2006

The Argos distribution centre at Bridgwater is delighted to announce that it has been awarded one of the highest national accreditations, ISO14001, for its new approach to waste recycling and environmental management.

The site was rigorously audited over 2 days by an independent outside agency before the Environment Management Award could be given. The audit needed to show that a management system was in place to control waste, ensuring that as much as possible is recycled and annually sets new measurable targets as part of a "continuous improvement" cycle.

For the regional distribution centre located in Huntworth Business Park it is the culmination of more than a year of improvements and changes in processing of waste produced by the centre to achieve ISO14001 accreditation.

Environmental manager David Mournian said: “We are the first Argos site to receive this award, and we are very proud. We began working toward the award in October 2005 forming an ISO working party which set out how we would achieve this goal. We would not have achieved this success without the efforts and commitment of the entire workforce on site”. David added: “ ISO14001 means continuous improvement and we are committed to demonstrating our reduced negative impact on the environment in the future”.

Prior to the commencement Argos in Bridgwater recycled most waste which included cardboard; metal; fluorescent tubes and paper with the balance going to landfill. At the time of auditing earlier this month 100% of waste in most of the categories was being recycled. Additionally, the site now recycle other products like cooking oil; toner cartridges; food tins and aerosols.