Zest

It is our philosophy to be environmentally aware by reducing energy consumption and encouraging recycling in Zest Centre wherever possible. Every business, household and individual can help contribute to making a global difference. Zest asks all employees to work together as a team by following simple procedures to enable us to be pro-active regarding environmental and energy conservation methods. We have procedures in place for the following:

• Lights & Utilities
• Computers, Photocopiers and Electrical equipment
• Recycling
• Swimming Pool
• Windows and Doors
• Toilets and Changing Rooms
• Staff Suggestions

Environmental Policy Statement

Zest is dedicated to promoting awareness and decisions that contribute to achieving environmentally sustainable development. We aim to reflect our commitment to delivering sustainability in our own business practices and through our values and policies. We recognize this to be a continuous process of improvement rather than a steady–state and we seek to improve our performance, and that of our suppliers, over time.

• Our most significant adverse environmental impacts are:
• Consumption of natural resources in the delivery of leisure activities and in our general office operations;
• Emissions to the atmosphere from the use of carbon based energy in the delivery of leisure activities and our general office operations;
• The environmental performance of our suppliers; and
• Production of waste materials.

Our most significant positive environmental impacts are working to minimize and mitigate our carbon footprint and to achieve a carbon neutral / carbon positive state, reducing and eliminating waste, promoting renewable sourcing of raw materials, and energy, and working with our stakeholders and suppliers towards a closed-loop material and energy cycle.

To deliver this Policy we will take the following action:

• To oversee and review our environmental policy and all of our purchasing practices and operations and to set the future direction of our environmental practices, conduct monitoring and seek continuous improvement in our environmental performance;
• To set objectives, targets and programmes to improve our environmental performance, including sustainable sourcing, carbon management, the use of ethical supply chains, preventing pollution and the pursuit of recognized environmental standards;
• To comply with relevant legislative and regulatory requirements, identifying and applying the best available techniques wherever possible;
• To provide information and appropriate training for and seek feedback from all staff on our environmental procedures and goals;
• To regularly review and audit our environmental practices and work with partners to improve our performance and that of our industry generally;
• To work towards the relevant certification(s) for a company of our size and industry;
• To use our resources, to meet these commitments in a manner that reinforces our activities; and
• To measure our progress in pursuing these objectives and report annually to our stakeholders.

Single Use Plastics Policy

This policy outlines our commitment to reducing single-use plastics at Zest and help protect the environment. 

Single-Use Plastic Policy Plastic waste is one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world today. 

Zest is committed to addressing the problem of single-use plastic by taking responsibility for its own impact on the environment and society and minimising the use of single-use plastics across all operations and services. 

We will: 

• collaborate with staff, volunteers, tenants, service users, and partners to find effective solutions to eliminate unnecessary plastic waste 

• Support and promote positive initiatives, citywide campaigns and actions for reducing plastic waste 

• Offer reusable alternatives for purchase, such as water bottles and coffee mugs and promote refilling reusable water bottles. 

• Display informative signage about our single-use plastics policy and the benefits of reusables. 

• Expand recycling programs to ensure that unavoidable plastic use is managed responsibly. 

• Encourage our litter-picking initiatives to keep our community areas free from plastic litter and encourage everyone to get involved. 

• Use government legislation that regulates against the use of single-use plastics to support our efforts where we can.  

• Require our suppliers to minimise the use of single-use plastics in their service provision and find sustainable alternatives (where appropriate) 

• Share best practices and information about plastic-free initiatives with our service users and the community