Argos corporate news
Faverdale distribution centre wins highest national environmental management award
30 January 2008
The Argos distribution centre at Faverdale Business Park, Darlington, is delighted to announce that it has been awarded ISO14001 registration for its Environmental Management System (EMS). ISO14001 is an internationally respected standard for environmental management.
Certification was carried out by BVQI (Bureau Veritas Quality International). The audit needed to show that the distribution centre had identified elements of its business that impact on the environment and provided objectives for improvements and a management programme to achieve them. This included putting a management system in place to control waste, ensuring that as much as possible is recycled, and annually setting new measurable targets as part of a "continuous improvement" cycle.
For the regional distribution centre the award is the culmination of several months of changes and improvements in processing methods of waste produced by the centre to achieve ISO14001 accreditation.
Andrew Turner, delivery service manager at Faverdale, said: “This is an amazing achievement considering the extremely tight timescales we set ourselves. To have achieved this accreditation in nine months is overwhelming. I would like to thank the ISO14001 committee for their enthusiasm which has culminated in us being awarded one of the highest national accreditations. The certificate will take pride of place in the reception area for all colleagues and visitors to see.”
The site had a number of environmental practices in place but these were by and large 'standard' arrangements. The site target for recycling is 94% for 2007-08 financial year.
The Faverdale site joins the Corby, Bridgwater and Basildon distribution centres who were also awarded registration in the last twelve months. All of the distributions centres in the retailer’s network are working towards an aspirational target of zero landfill by 2010 in line with Argos’ commitment to reduce waste.
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