At today’s press conference, organized by the BTC Company on Earth Day, Jože Mermal, CEO, presented the company’s environmental and sustainable development strategy, as well as concrete projects that have been systematically carried out in BTC in the last few years in order to reduce the company’s environmental impacts and increase BTC City visitors’ awareness of responsible environmental behaviour.
»As we had to face the increasing volume of waste, fast growing traffic and increasing water and energy consumption years ago, we started to take actions in our own way. First we built our own recycling station where waste is systematically collected and separated. The station was soon upgraded to meet the requirements of the ISO environmental standard. Later we also began measuring environmental impacts. Over the past year, we have taken a step forward, focusing on solar power plants which will be installed in some of the existing and future buildings. Furthermore, we developed our own eco-index which represents a new business model and enables us to monitor the direct impacts of our company in terms of environmental protection and sustainable development,« said Jože Mermal, the CEO of BTC.
The eco-index was developed and introduced at BTC as part of the company’s medium-term business plan in 2008, and its development is constantly controlled. »The eco-index helps us evaluate our actions aimed at reducing negative impacts and maximizing positive impacts on the environment. Its added value is the difference between what the company gives to the community and what it takes from it. The eco-index is manifested in the form of environmentally conscious solutions, additional services for visitors and business partners, as well as a more responsible attitude towards the natural and social environment,« added Jože Mermal.
The eco-index is an indicator or a tool for monitoring the environmental progress of the company. At BTC it is used for measuring actual effects of the company’s environmental and sustainability projects. The eco-index is a weighted sum of all good deeds carried out by BTC to enhance positive effects on the environment in different areas – energy and water consumption, waste treatment, and traffic and safety management. The eco-index score is an integral part of the company’s annual business plan and is one of the key criteria for monitoring and evaluating the company’s performance. The BTC Company’s eco-index score was 297 points in 2008, and 340 points in 2009. The company plans to reach 400 points in 2010.
BTC has already started building a solar power plant in the BTC Logistic Centre. This building project will be completed this autumn and will comprise the installation of a power plant in two buildings. The power plant with a generating capacity of 900 kilowatts will cover an area of 13,000 m2. It is expected to generate 967,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year and reduce the company’s carbon dioxide emissions by 630 tons a year. The investment value of the project is EUR 2.2 million. Another solar power plant will be built on the facade of the Crystal Palace.
We keep the public informed about the results of BTC’s environmental and sustainability projects on our environmental portal www.eko-btc.si where you can learn about all the activities of the BTC Company in the environmental and sustainability spheres.
Today’s presentation of the eco-index is posted on our website at www.btc.si.
Additional information: BTC d.d., Maja Oven, director of the Sector for Market Communications and Public Relations, tel.: 01 585 13 15, e-mail: maja.oven@btc.si
