The BPIF, in conjunction with Vision in Print and Envirowise, has completed the pilot phase of an Environmental Diagnostic Tool to be launched in the coming months. The tool first investigates the current state of an organisation’s environmental management system and identifies potential improvements, while benchmarking performance against the rest of the industry and recommending improvements. The second stage analyses the company’s waste streams and calculates the total cost of waste.

The BPIF also runs an environmental health check and is reviewing and updating its environmental assessment scheme. Regarding carbon footprints, the BPIF is currently consulting on PAS 2050 which will eventually become the British standard for calculating a business’s carbon footprint. The BPIF has developed a sector-specific carbon calculator to be launched soon along with environmental A-Z pages on the BPIF website, which will give information across all environmental issues affecting the industry and provide guidance documents and links to useful information.

As well as running an energy consortium allowing industry players to obtain reduced-price energy, the BPIF runs the Climate Change Levy Agreements for the industry, whereby companies can obtain up to 80% discounts on the Climate Change Levy they pay on their energy bills simply by committing to improve their energy efficiency in line with government targets.