Council launches Sustainable Business initiative aimed at SME sector
Fingal County Council has launched a Sustainable Business initiative which aims to encourage SMEs across Fingal to embrace sustainable measures in their businesses, with a series of practical tools and resources to help them.
The initiative, realises one of Fingal County Council’s commitments in its Climate Action Plan, and is being co-ordinated by the Economic, Enterprise, Tourism and Cultural Development Department.
A specially created digital brochure will provide businesses with ideas on how they can become more sustainable and the benefits they can expect in incorporating sustainability into the day-to-day running of their business under the key headings of Energy, Water & Waste.
A dedicated Sustainable Fingal webpage has been created on the Fingal County Council website to direct businesses to the extensive variety of supports and information available to help businesses become more sustainable. It can be found at http://www.fingal.ie/sustainablebusiness
The Council is running a competition to inspire businesses on their sustainability journey with an opportunity to win a Sustainability Assessment & Action Plan from Balbriggan based Patel Tonra Ltd. Environmental Solutions. The closing date for entries is Friday, May 28th 2021.
This involves a review of the businesses current approach to sustainability and will provide a report which highlights areas for improvement and a suggested action plan. Fingal County Council will also do a feature on the business that will be showcased on the Council’s social media platforms and website.
Participating businesses have an added incentive with an opportunity to win one of four €500 vouchers for their customers.
Mayor of Fingal Cllr David Healy said: “Fingal County Council is committed to supporting SMEs to become more sustainable and providing leadership at a local and regional level in achieving Climate Change Action targets.
“Focusing on sustainability can help businesses to become more resource efficient by using less raw materials, less energy, and less water. National and EU policy asks business to focus on transitioning to a circular economy approach, where resources are reused and recycled, with waste streams being repurposed as resource streams for other production.
“The European Green Deal, which sets out a number of policy initiatives relating to the circular economy, building renovation, biodiversity, farming and innovation with the aim of making the EU’s economy sustainable, will provide opportunities for green business.”
Cllr Tony Murphy, chairperson of Economic, Enterprise and Tourism Development Strategic Policy Committee, said: “Embracing sustainability makes sense for businesses. A sustainable business approach can lead to efficiencies, cost savings and has the ability to position your business to win new customers and secure new contracts.
“Focusing on sustainability will help your business to become more resource efficient by using less raw materials, less energy, and less water. I would encourage businesses to get involved in the initiative.”
Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly said: “I am delighted to see the launch of this Sustainable Business initiative which forms part of Fingal County Council’s commitment to implementing our Climate Action plan. It is important that Fingal County Council plays a leading role in sustainable practices and we strive to meet our commitments in the Climate Action Plan every day
“Fingal County Council adopted its Climate Change Action Plan in September 2019 and we have just published our first annual progress report and it shows some significant progress.
“We have improved our Energy efficiency by 34.5%, ahead of our target of 33% by December 2020. We have also converted 70% of public lighting to LED in the county and we anticipate completion of the programme in 2021. We are also working towards the transitioning of our vehicle fleet to an electric one with 34 fully electric road vehicles in operation and 15 more on order.”
Director of Economic, Enterprise, Tourism and Cultural Development, Emer O’Gorman said: “This initiative aims to support and encourage SMEs across Fingal to embrace sustainable measures in their businesses, with a series of practical tools and resources to help them.
‘Introducing sustainable practices can provide opportunities for businesses to grow and develop, and Fingal County Council is committed to supporting the SME sector in this area.
“Our dedicated webpage and the SME brochure contain lots of information to assist our business community get started on their sustainability journey right away.”