Environmental Policy   Weetwood Hall Ltd makes every endeavour to promote a positive culture of environmental awareness within this organisation. With our suppliers and contractors we will continuously work towards a clearer understanding of environmental issues and incorporate best practice in to the operating business model wherever feasible. This will include a continuous review of working practices undertaken by our nominated contractors to assist Weetwood in achieving its objective of minimising environmental impact.   Waste/recycling Biffa    General waste   Card/Paper  Total   2007  2745m2 nil  2745m2   2008  1715.2m2  624m2 2339.2m2 Paper is collected via designated collection bins around the building, transferred into waste bins and taken off site, baled and recycled. In 2008 paper and card waste was combined, managed by Biffa hence reducing the carbon footprint generated by using only one contractor. In 2008 WWH recycled 27% of its general waste by recycling card/paper. General and contaminated (food) (74% of waste generated for 2008) is at present combined, emptied 6x per week and transferred to Skelton Grange, Biffa's regional land fill site for West Yorkshire. Food waste is generically classed as contaminated waste but is a natural by-product associated with the operating of a hotel. Biffa recycles over 4000,000 tonnes of recyclable materials per year. Their landfill site generates 1.3 mega watts onto the national grid from the methane collected from their landfill sites. Leeds City Council    Glass April 2007 - March 2008    12 months  12.63 tonnes   April 2008 - October 2008 6 months 5.89 tonnes  The furniture disposed of during the 2008 bedroom refurbishment programme was recycled by the Salvation Army. It is our intention to continue this for 2009. The email system, display banner does ask whether there is a need to print. Batteries are presently taken to the Meanwood drive-in recycling centre and printer cartridges and photocopier toner are recycled by our stationer. The requirements of the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 apply to a business with a turnover exceeding £2m and producing in excess of 50 tonnes of packaging waste. We are advised by our general waste contractor that Weetwood Hall does not produce more than 20 tonnes of packaging waste in a year. 2009 Audit Biffa undertook a detailed waste audit in January 2009 2009 Targets Take the Weetwood Hall Staff Consultative Committee (SCC) to Biffa's recycling centre so that they can gain an understanding of the issues concerning waste management and assist Weetwood Hall in further raising the standards of waste management to the team. Replace 1 x 100 general waste bin with 1 x 1100 card/paper. Install additional 1 x 660 for mixed recycling. Biffa targets    General waste   Card/Paper   Plastic/Tin  Total  2009   1043.9m2  1287m2  71.5m2  2402.4m2 Maintenance Boiler & AHU units The nominated contractor is committed to the working practice of either recycling or using environmental friendly resources wherever possible. To assist in its effective operation there is an ongoing programme of planned maintenance to Corgi recognised standards. The boilers are operated by a Trend management software system. The hot water heating and supply boilers and connected systems undergo an ongoing safety "Report of Examination". Catering equipment The nominated contractor is committed to advising Weetwood Hall on refrigerant related equipment and safe disposal of such equipment. To assist in the effective operation of such equipment there is a planned maintenance programme (twice yearly for refrigerated equipment and once annually for all other equipment). Fire alarm system The nominated contractor has an established procedure for the safe disposal of any hazardous waste that may be encountered when undertaking service inspections. The system undergoes an ongoing twice annual planned maintenance programme. Lighting Low energy lighting is used as standard where possible. The bedroom refurbishment programmes in both 2007 and 2008 allowed for LED lighting to be used as bedside lights. Lifting equipment The nominated contractor is committed to reducing pollutants in manufacturing processes to the lowest achievable levels and to establishing and working towards environmental protection standards that comply with legislation. They also have a commitment to considering the environmental impact on new products and investment decisions. All lifts are managed under an ongoing programme of maintenance which includes "Report of Thorough Examination of Lifting Equipment" as specified in the 1998 regulations. Pest control The nominated contractor is committed to using materials approved under the Control of Pesticides Act 1986 with all associated waste and containers being stored safely prior to disposal by an authorised person. By continuous monitoring and actioning the results of each inspection visit the objective is to control any potential pest infestation without the excessive use of pesticide. Housekeeping Signage is displayed in the hotel bathrooms concerning towel usage encouraging residents to a potential recycling opportunity. The majority of our residents stay one night, hence with the physical restriction of space the linen does have to be taken away on a regular basis. For those residents who do stay more than one night there is a policy of changing every second day. With regard to the use of table linen, which can only be used once, with space issues and remnants of food debris on the linen, they again have to be taken off site on a very regular basis. Part used bedroom toiletry containers are recycled to the St Georges Crypt, a hostel for the homeless in Leeds to be able to utilise. Nominated contractor for feminine hygiene disposal issues an annual Duty of Care certificate that recognises the dual responsibility in the safe disposal of associated waste. For 2009/2010 proposing a more natural style of bathroom toiletries that includes a more environmentally friendly packaging. Conference The fitted data projector lumen levels have been altered to eco-mode to increase the life of the bulb with the latest ones being installed with electrical isolators so that they do not remain on standby. Weetwood Hall has installed a water filtration management system for the service of bottled carbonated and still water. The benefit of this system has reduced the carbon footprint generated by external purchase/delivery of bottled water to the conference centre. Vehicle The company vehicle has been changed in 2008 from a Chrysler Grand Voyager 3.8 petrol with a G rating of 302g/km to a VW Caravelle 2.5 diesel with a F rating of 221 g/km. Wherever possible staff who work either an early/late shift share the company vehicle. Utility management In 2008 Weetwood Hall transferred the billing co-ordintaion to its water, gas and electrical utilities to the University of Leeds (UOL) so that both parties could benefit from better pricing by combined usage and consuption figures. The UOL were able to chart the historical usage since 2005 which showed a decrease in consumption for both gas and electricity. A detailed operating policy regarding the control of utilities has been in place since 2006 which may reflect why there is a decrease on the consumption of gas and electricity. The water graph shows an increase. The mains inlet was switched off to check and confirm that we were not experiencing a leakage. The increase is due to increased bedroom occupancy and delegate numbers. A governor is fitted to operate the water pressure at 4 bar (50 psi) to minimise burst pipes. Catering Fair Trade is available on one of the dedicated refreshment centres located in the conference centre. Weetwood Hall works with a purchasing solutions organisation and within the agreed scope of works is the principle of identifying actions that have a beneficial impact towards our environmental policy. During 2008 the Food Production Manager transferred the purchasing of meat to the Yorkshire Dales Meat Company with the benefits being to increase the quality of meat cooked/served to our customers, enhance the partnership of working with local/regional producers and reduce the associated carbon footprint. The target for 2009 is to further increase the partnership of locally sourced products. The use of the Maxi-mix beer gas dispense system which uses on site nitrogen generation instead of high pressure mixed gas cylinders aids the carbon footprint by reducing transportation and processing of high pressure cylinders. Measurement Weetwood Hall allows students from the University of Leeds who are undertaking a relevant environmental degree to undertake audits of its environmental practices whenever asked.