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ENVIRONMENT

We are passionately committed to minimising our environmental impact and encouraging greater sustainability throughout our business. Our vision is to achieve high standards in environmental management, by examining our business and operations, and taking active steps to reduce emissions wherever possible.

Click on a section below to find out more information:

• Our carbon approach
• Championing sustainable materials
• Travel Less, Travel Light
• Green on the Inside
• Our buildings
• Our environmental policy

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Our Carbon Approach

BBC Worldwide operates a 'measure, reduce, offset' approach to carbon with an emphasis on reduction. Since 2009 we have measured the carbon footprint of our offices and business travel and begun a programme to calculate the carbon footprint of the rest of our business activities. In measuring different areas of our activity we can see where it's most important for us to cut our emissions.

For over 16 years we've been involved in initiatives to reduce our impact on the environment - from becoming a founder member of the WWF's Global Forest and Trade Network-UK (WWF GFTN) in 1995, to implementing a far reaching travel policy in 2008 and offsetting our global premises and travel emissions today.

We recognise that carbon offsetting isn't the answer to climate change, but do believe investing in credible offsetting projects helps tackle emissions from unavoidable 'business as usual' activities. We have chosen to support a renewable energy windmill project. This is a Gold Standard project which guarantees measurable greenhouse gas emission reductions are being made, and ensures sustainable development benefits for the community where the project is located.

 

See our eco journey timeline below or click to enlarge:

 

 

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CHAMPIONING Sustainable Materials

We are founder members of the WWF's Global Forest and Trade Network-UK (WWF GFTN). The GFTN works to create awareness about the threats to the world's forests and to encourage improved forest management. For us this means choosing paper which has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). We have a  Responsible Forest Products Purchasing Policy and have been successful in sourcing increasing volumes of credibly certified paper for our publications.

See our 2011 GFTN-UK Forest Product Summary (PDF).

We have also championed the use of oxo-biodegradable wrap for our magazines which is used to package magazines bought by subscription. In the right conditions, oxo-biodegradable plastic degrades faster than other plastic wrapping.

BBC Worldwide's FSC Timeline

1995 - BBC Worldwide becomes a founder member of the UK-FTN

1998 - BBC Worldwide headquarters switch all office paper to FSC

1999 - BBC Worldwide is the first publisher in the world to publish a magazine on FSC-labelled paper

2000 - Radio Times, the biggest selling BBC magazine in the UK switches to FSC paper

2004 - BBC Worldwide publishes the world's first book to carry the FSC label

2008 - BBC Worldwide move into their new London headquarters, constructed using FSC timber throughout

2008 - Lonely Planet, a subsidiary of BBC Worldwide, start publishing their guidebooks on FSC paper

2009 - All UK BBC Magazine titles printed on FSC paper

2010 - BBC Worldwide receives an FSC global partner award for "outstanding achievement" in promoting the FSC brand

2011 - BBC Worldwide produce first DVD with a FSC sleeve, The Royal Wedding - William & Catherine

 

More about FSC

FSC is the only timber and paper products certification endorsed by environmental groups such as Greenpeace and WWF.

The FSC logo guarantees that:

• Trees that are harvested are replaced or allowed to regenerate naturally
• Trees are legally logged and tracked via a chain-of-custody system
• The rights of indigenous people in the forest are protected and local workers are paid a liveable wage

Find out more at Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

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TRAVEL LESS, TRAVEL LIGHT

We are committed to reducing our staff travel emissions, and in December 2008 a radical 10 point policy called Travel Less, Travel Light Policy was launched. This bans domestic and certain European flights, and charges staff who choose to bring their car to work (the money raised funds our environmental initiatives, such as offsetting and other activities).

We also encourage cycling via the Cycle2Work scheme and with the provision of showers and excellent cycling facilities. We have installed state of the art video-conferencing suites across our buildings which have reduced the need for travel between our UK and international offices. All long-haul travel requires sign off, and is only permitted where video or audio conferencing is not a viable alternative.

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Green On The Inside

We ensure we have a company culture which values and inspires its people to engage and understand current environmental issues, and support this through dedicated management programmes. Our Environmental Steering Group oversees all activity and company-wide initiatives.

We encourage staff who are passionate about the environment, and want to do more to reduce our impact as a business, to get involved. BBC Worldwide staff have raised awareness and helped initiate some major changes such as introducing mugs to replace polystyrene cups, supporting the business going binless and brainstorming ideas which helped lead to lasting changes such as the sustainable travel policy.

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Our Buildings

Our Head Office in London - the Media Centre - has a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) Excellent rating for both design and construction.

Notable features include:

• A rainwater harvesting system which collects and reuses rainwater to flush toilets, plus dual flush toilets, together saving nearly 4 million litres of water
  a year
  
  
• Binless offices with central recycling hubs for paper, plastic, glass, CDs, toner, batteries and general waste
  
  
• No water coolers, saving energy on transportation
  
  
• No disposable cups, saving waste to landfill
  
  
• Energy saving office equipment which powers down when not in use
  
  
• Efficient printing, default double sided and mono, and smart 'pull-printing' feature which reduces print waste
  
  
• A central Building Management System which allows for smart heating, cooling and lighting settings
  
  
• Lights close to windows linked to daylight sensors, which dim and turn off automatically when not required
  
  
• Low emission boilers to reduce polluting gases
  
  
• Cycle facilities including 500 bicycle racks, lockers, showers and 'wet and dry' cupboards
  
  
• Brise soleil (reflective external building 'fins'), reducing the need for heating and cooling
  
  
• FSC certified timber used throughout the building
  
  
• Energy efficient light fittings, including ultra-efficient (LED) lighting on staircases
  
  
• Fair Trade tea and coffee in kitchens
  
  
• Enhancement of the local ecology with wildlife friendly planting
  
  
• Zero waste is sent to landfill

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our environmental policy

BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, maximises profits on behalf of the BBC by creating, acquiring, developing and exploiting media content and media brands around the world. We are passionate about the environment and committed to reducing the carbon footprint of our growing global business. We promote a culture of environmental awareness and engagement amongst our staff and our supply base.

 

Our environmental impact includes consumption of resources, use of water, emissions to air, waste generation, energy use, and impacts associated with the procurement of goods and services.

 

Our critical areas are packaging, magazines, travel emissions, our international businesses and the measurement of our company's carbon footprint. In addition we work to ensure our paper comes from credibly certified, well managed sources. We are committed to preventing pollution, and complying with applicable legislation and codes of practice.

 

Our environment strategy, objectives and targets are reviewed annually to ensure ongoing environmental improvements for our significant impacts. We also monitor and measure our progress in order to make improvements on an ongoing basis.

 

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