2005 Environmental Awards
Leader of the Scottish Green Party, MSP Robin Harper, presented the 2005 awards to J&J Medical Ltd and Mrs Hamilton's Organic Beef and Lamb for their environmentally friendly business practices.Mr Harper said " It is great to reward the excellent practices of businesses that are striving to create the conditions for sustainable development. Everyone is a winner when companies address these issues - there are less demands on the environment; local and global communities and habitats benefit; and the companies themselves reap significant financial and business benefits that ensure that they stay one step ahead of the competition”. J&J Medical's Livingston facility won the large company category
after introducing a range of environmental improvements that benefit both the local and wider environment, while making significant cost savings. Energy efficiency, waste minimisation, a sustainable waste water treatment system and the planned installation of a wind turbine, were cited as the firm’s main achievements. The company has also conducted many biodiversity and habitat enhancement initiatives in partnership with local community groups and schools. Mrs Hamilton's Organic Beef and Lamb, a Kirknewton-based meat producer, was the winner of the small business award. It had implemented waste minimisation and packaging reduction initiatives and incorporated energy efficiency into the design of its new farm shop. The company introduced an environmental policy and takes pride in the low number of 'food miles' travelled by their products, which are sold at farmer's markets in central Scotland. Other finalists receiving recognition of their environmental performance were: Fire Attack Systems, a new company manufacturing remote fire fighting equipment; Edgar Allen, the Bathgate-based foundry; Bausch and Lomb, the American-owned manufacturer of eye care products; Hopetoun House in South Queensferry and HomeAid, a furniture recycling charity. In total, the seven finalists have achieved over £250,000 in cost savings as a result of their environmental initiatives and improvements. The West Lothian Environmental Awards are run as a partnership project between the Business Environment Partnership and West Lothian Council to reward and encourage good environmental practices in business. The awards dinner was sponsored by Mitsubishi Electric and staff from their West Lothian factory helped with the judging process. The judges also included representatives from Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Convener of West Lothian Council’s Enterprise and Development Committee, Willie Dunn, said: "We encourage the local business community to improve environmental performance and improve competitiveness. These awards show what is possible when businesses take responsibility for their actions – it benefits to the local economy and the local environment. “Businesses are now competing in environmentally-aware markets and those adopting greener practices are more attractive to consumers." Donald Rose, business environmental advisor of the Business Environment Partnership, said: "It has been very encouraging to see the environmental improvements that this year's applicants have implemented. The financial benefits alone are a great incentive for every business to improve environmental performance, but there are clearly far wider benefits to the local and global environments, local communities and the economy."
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These annual awards were established 7 years ago to recognise and reward good environmental practices in the business community of West Lothian. The awards are also intended to raise awareness of environmental issues facing businesses and to demonstrate the real business opportunities and benefits that are achievable through improving your environmental performance. The awards are run as a partnership project between the Business Environment Partnership and West Lothian Council.