What We're Doing
We all have a responsibility, both at corporate level and as individuals, to reduce the effect we have on the environment around us.
At First, we are committed to seeking new ways to lower the greenhouse gas and other air pollutant emissions resulting from our operations; to reduce our fuel, energy and water consumption; to recycle as much of our waste as possible and reduce the amount of waste we produce in the first place; and to conserve and enhance the wildlife at our sites. We are proud of our commitment to the environment and we have won many awards in recognition of our work.
Detailed information on all of these topics can be found in our:
You can also keep up-to-date with our latest developments in the Environmental News section.
We strive to improve our environmental performance by setting objectives and targets every year at both Group and operating company level, and by monitoring our progress in achieving them. We publish all of this information annually in our CSR Report and you can read about our latest objectives, targets and achievements in our 2006/07 CSR Report
We have also developed three specific policies that set out our principles in relation to the environment, climate change and biodiversity. Click here to read more.
Climate Change
We want to be leaders in our industry in tackling climate change – we have developed a Climate Change Strategy that commits us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our operations and to encourage people to be ‘greener’ by choosing bus and rail travel instead of driving or flying.
In the UK Bus division, our carbon dioxide emissions have reduced by 42,658 tonnes since 2005/06.
Air Quality
We’re investing in new vehicles and new technology to help us reduce emissions of major pollutants from our operations.
We’re always looking for ways to make our buses more environmentally-friendly, so we have converted our entire UK bus fleet to sulphur-free 5% biodiesel where supply is available. Continued investment in new buses reduces our emissions profile of other pollutants such as particulates and nitric oxides.
Fuel use
The majority of our CO2 emissions are generated by fuel usage, so we have developed a Fuel Efficiency Programme to help us reduce the amount of fuel we consume throughout our business.
The vehicles our UK Bus Division plans to buy are the most fuel efficient for their specification and at FGW, we’re making engineering improvements in our High Speed Train fleet which are expected to improve fuel efficiency by 15%.
Energy and water use
We continuously work on reducing the amount of energy and water we use at our depots and offices.
The innovative design of our new headquarters in Aberdeen will reduce our energy consumption. A proportion of the energy for the new site will be derived through renewable sources including ground source heat pumps, and energy will be saved through innovations such as movement responsive lighting.
Waste management
We are working to reduce the amount of waste we produce and recycle where possible.
We’ve reduced the amount of paper packaging used by our UK Rail Division’s catering services by 25% and in 2007/08 our UK Bus Division recycled around 87% of its hazardous waste.
Biodiversity
We are committed to conserving and enhancing the diversity of plant and animal life on our sites wherever possible.
We support the Forest of Dreams charity through our recycling initiatives and have an ongoing programme of tree planting for woodland regeneration projects.
ISO 14001
Each of our operating companies is required to adhere to minimum operating standards set by the Group. We have a programme for all our UK operating companies to have ISO14001 accreditation by April 2009.
To date, ten out of nineteen bus operating companies and four out of six train operating companies have achieved the standard.
Awards
First has achieved many awards in recognition of the work we are doing to reduce our impact on the environment:
- Gold Award for our environmental submission in the Freight and Highways category at this year's 'Green Apple Awards'.
- Network Rail Environmental Awards - in five years
- 4 National Green Apple Awards - for the fourth year running
- 2 Bus Industry Awards - for environmental achievement and innovation
- The Railway Industry Innovation Awards 2005 - highly commended for staff participation in environmental schemes
- First ScotRail - won Best Station Garden for Aberdour station at the Community Rail Awards 2005