Vital funding given to charity and college as part of water saving projects
GLASGOW Kelvin College and charity Glasgow Life have benefitted from a donation by one of the UK’s largest water retailers to help fund their water efficiency projects.
The charity has received a share of £7,000 to implement urinal control upgrades across various sites, while the college has been awarded £3,500 to conduct a water efficiency audit and update its water saving devices, promoting environmental and financial savings.
Edinburgh-based Business Stream set up its annual Public Sector Scotland (PSS) Water Efficiency Fund to help institutions such as councils, schools and charities all around the country.
The Glasgow firms are set to benefit from up to 20% of the overall fund from Business Stream – which is donating a total of £50,000 to likeminded ventures.
In addition to providing funding, Business Stream will also support the delivery of each project.
Chief Executive of Business Stream, Jo Dow said: “It’s important to us that we do everything we can to help organisations become more water efficient. We’re delighted that our fund is supporting the public sector throughout Scotland to generate environmental and financial savings for the fourth year running.
“Our fund provides an opportunity for forward thinking organisations to implement steps that will directly benefit their bottom line and support their sustainability goals.”
The fund allocation process was overseen by a judging panel comprising of representatives from Business Stream, the Advanced Procurement for Universities and Colleges (APUC), public sector bodies and Scottish Procurement.
A representative from Glasgow Life, said: “As a responsible organisation, we’re passionate about finding ways to operate more sustainably. This funding and the support from Business Stream to deliver the upgrade will help us to achieve this goal”.
Funding has also been awarded to South Lanarkshire College to invest in water saving devices and a rainwater harvesting apparatus. Midlothian Council has received funding to replace taps within two primary schools.
Scottish Fire and Rescue has been awarded funding for a water efficiency audit across nine stations, and East Ayrshire Council is hoping the investment will improve its urinal flow facilities.
Business Stream recently announced it had saved Scotland’s public sector a record £2.85million over the course of the last year, taking total savings over three years to £6.4million. As a result of the retailer’s activities, the sector has also saved more than 1.365 billion litres of water over the past year, equivalent to the volume of 546 Olympic swimming pools.
Headquartered in Edinburgh, with a presence in Worthing, West Sussex and in Bradford, West Yorkshire, Business Stream is guided by its ambitious vision to make a positive difference (MAPD) to its customers, its people, the environment and local communities.
Since launching that vision in 2019, the UK’s second largest water retailer has introduced more than 30 initiatives, several of which have contributed to its latest reduction of 50% in carbon emissions over the past year.
While the company achieved a 25% reduction in 2021-22, the 2022-23 figure, which has been externally verified, is a significant step toward Business Stream becoming net zero by 2030 – well ahead of the Scottish Government’s 2045 target.
In recognition of its efforts to operate as a responsible business, the retailer was awarded a Gold rating by global sustainability assessors, EcoVadis, in November 2022, placing it within the top 5% of companies measured across four key sustainability areas – the environment, sustainable procurement, labour and working conditions and ethics.
