FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
Resource management specialist, Veolia UK, took home two prestigious awards at the 20th anniversary of the Awards for Excellence in Recycling and Waste Management for its commitment to driving forward ecological transformation through circular economy models and its initiatives to keep their colleagues safe.
The awards, which took place on 11 May, saw Veolia pick up the awards for Service Change at a Local Authority Level for the roll-out of a food waste recycling service with Westminster City Council, and Health and Safety Initiative of the Year, for its work encouraging residents to be StreetKind.
In Westminster, Veolia is at the forefront of food waste recycling services for residents across a diverse and busy borough. The company’s successes have seen the service roll out to 60,000 properties to date, the collection of over 1,300 tonnes of food waste and a recycling rate increase of three per cent in just 14 months. These impressive results of a complex service and the positive response from residents helped Veolia secure this new award and the firm’s partnership with Westminster City Council makes Veolia the very first holders of excellence in Service Change at a Local Authority Level.
Councillor Paul Dimoldenburg, Cabinet Member for City Management at Westminster City Council said: “About a third of all waste we throw away is food waste, so I’m really proud of the work we’ve done with Veolia to roll out food waste recycling across the whole of Westminster over the last year.
“The results speak for themselves; more than 1,300 tonnes of waste collected and an increase in recycling across all wards in the city.
“This award is a fantastic result for the team and represents all the hard work they do to make Westminster a greener place to live.”
Veolia says winning this award would never have been possible without its inspiring frontline colleagues, who unfortunately, aren’t always treated with the kindness and respect they deserve and after witnessing a severe rise in physical and verbal abuse towards frontline crews across the country since lockdown, StreetKind was born.
For Veolia’s work to train managers, colleagues and those on the frontline, and dedication to raise public awareness, the company picked up the Health and Safety Initiative of the Year. With this award Veolia says it hopes to take public awareness to greater heights and continue to support frontline colleagues as they drive ecological transformation forward every day.
Richard Hulland, Chief Risk and Assurance Officer at Veolia said: “We are so proud of each of these awards and would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our partners for their efforts to deliver ecological transformation by driving forward the circular economy and for their support of our frontline colleagues.
“This award for our StreetKind campaign really speaks to our commitment to caring for and protecting our frontline teams who deliver vital services for communities across the UK, and look forward to all that we can achieve through StreetKind in the future.”
Are you confident that your contractors and suppliers meet ethical labour standards and human rights obligations?
For many FM services, managing multiple third parties in the supply chain can be a complex challenge. And, in a sector that relies heavily on migrant workers and 65 per cent of FM services facing difficulties in sourcing workers (Q4 2022 RICS survey), exposure to exploitation and modern slavery is a very real risk. With the UK one of the biggest destinations in Europe for trafficking of workers, you need full visibility of the people you work with, so you can minimise your risks and identify which part of your supply chain is most vulnerable.
FMJ, in partnership with Alcumus, is pleased to bring together a panel of experts to discuss how to create an ethical supply chain in FM.
Taking place at 11am on Wednesday 21st of June, the webinar will discuss:
- The regulations to be aware of that are aimed at preventing human right abuses.
- How to gain greater visibility of modern slavery compliance in the supply chain by having a robust verification process in place.
- Steps to creating a compliant, ethical supply chain.
To register for the webinar click here.
