Linden Foods, one of the UK’s leading fresh meat manufacturers has been listed as one of the top scoring companies in this year’s NI Environmental Benchmarking Survey conducted by Business in the Community’s ARENA Network, achieving Platinum quintile status.

The Survey, which is supported by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and Fleet Financial, annually assesses top businesses in Northern Ireland for environmental management, performance and assurance. Bombardier Aerospace came top of the Survey overall.

With almost 300 organisations from 15 different sectors invited to take part, including the top 200 companies and leading public sector organisations, 119 organisation participated this year and the average overall score increased from 71% in 2012 to 77%.

Environment Minister Mark H Durkan commended all participants for their leadership and achievement saying: “In today’s challenging economic climate, smart businesses are increasingly looking to improve their operational and resource efficiency and reap the associated benefits of cost savings and greener credentials. The ARENA Network Survey is undoubtedly a key influencer in supporting organisations to achieve a more sustainable way of doing business. The results are improving year-on-year, highlighting the importance of environmental responsibility for business and the growing need to benchmark their environmental performance.

“I applaud all the participants of this year’s Survey; they are ambassadors for good environmental stewardship who have, and will hopefully continue to, set the standard for responsible business practice.

“Taking responsibility for your environmental impact is not just the right thing to do, it is essential for building a strong and sustainable future. Working together, the public and private sector can make a real difference.”

Chair of ARENA Network, David Gavaghan, added: “Year-on-year, the Survey results give us tangible confidence that environmental measurement is firmly one of the top issues that corporates are managing.2013 has proven to be a fantastic year with the highest average score recorded since the Survey began in 1998, demonstrating a greater adoption of environmental practice and a better understanding of the Survey. It is very encouraging to see so many businesses seeking to care for our planet, both for this generation and the ones to follow.

“The journey of sustainability is not only the right thing to do, but there are significant benefits, both financial and strategic. It’s important that we engage other organisations to help understand, measure and reduce their impacts; as well as helping them see the advantages of taking part in the ARENA Survey as being a key driver for environmental management.”

Earlier this year Linden Foods launched GreenTrack, a dedicated sustainability programme which, for the first time, set out the company’s commitment to delivering on responsible and sustainable business practices.

This week (Nov 11th, 2013) in a move designed to underline its commitment to the initiative, Linden Foods has launched GreenTrack Week, a six day programme packed with activities that will see everyone across the business getting involved in various environmental projects.

Getting the week underway will be a number of employees, who wouldn’t typically be in a farm environment, who will visit a local farmer and award-winning supplier to Linden Foods where they will plant native hedgerows and assist with the farmer’s numerous sustainability projects.

Linden Foods’ Environmental Manager Mael Wilford and Supply Chain Manager Frank Foster will carry out a school visit to Dungannon Primary School to educate the P7 class about farming and the world around them. Employees will be able to take advantage of fresh fruit snacks donated by Quinfresh in support of GreenTrack, while throughout the week designated collection points will be set up across the Dungannon site where all staff can recycle old and unwanted clothes and textiles.

The top results (in order of scoring) were achieved by: Bombardier Aerospace, Belfast Harbour, Larne Borough Council, Phoenix Natural Gas, Seagate Technology (Ireland), John Graham (Dromore) Ltd, Linden Foods, BBC NI, Michelin Tyre plc, Moy Park, O’Hare & McGovern, Pritchitts, B/E Aerospace (UK) Ltd, Dunbia (NI), Farrans (Construction) Ltd, H&J Martin Ltd, NACCO Materials Handling Ltd, Newry & Mourne District Council, Queen’s University Belfast,  South Eastern Health & Social Care, Compass Group UK & Ireland and Northern Ireland Assembly.

To find out who else participated and how they scored, visit www.arenani.org.uk.

Andrew Willis from USEL was honoured with the George Dawson accolade for his contribution to making environmental issues top priority within his business.

Please e-mail patricia.mccambridge@bitcni.org.uk at the ARENA Network if you are interested in taking part next year.