Birmingham Hippodrome wins environmental award!

29th Jan 2010

Birmingham Hippodrome, the most visited theatre in the UK, has recently won an environmental award for its ongoing commitment and work on improving wastage, recycling and reducing its carbon footprint.

Birmingham Hippodrome is the first theatre in the UK to be registered to ISO 14001, an international standard for Environmental Management Systems, now the most widely awarded EMS certification in the world.

Mike Bradford, Director of Operations at Birmingham Hippodrome said “We are delighted to be the first theatre in the UK to be certified to ISO 14001 and listed on the QA Register. With 500,000 visitors per year it is important that we are committed to the environment. We have already changed the way we dispose of our waste, recycling has increased in the last 12 months by 110% and modifications to the theatre’s utilities means that we have reduced gas and electricity usage by 30% in the last 5 years”.

Birmingham Hippodrome’s on-going commitment to the environment also includes:-

  • Glass and Plastic recycling saving an average of 580kgs of Co2 per month
  • Cardboard baled, compressed onsite, collected every 2 weeks for recycling (instead of two skips every week going to landfill)
  • General waste compacted and collected every two weeks for recycling, reducing carbon footprint (instead of emptying one skip five times per week which then went to landfill)
  • Administration – reduction of print consumption by 10%
  • Introduction of low energy lighting, sensor taps, and hand dryers
  • Recycling bins located backstage and in administration
  • Waste that cannot be recycled is sent to Tyseley incinerator Birmingham, which produces enough energy to power 40,000 local homes
  • Ongoing work includes reduction of the theatre’s water usage

Emma Fawcett-Jones, UK Business Manager for Certification International (UK) Ltd said
“We are absolutely delighted to award certification to ISO 14001:2004 to Birmingham Hippodrome. During the Initial Assessment, the organisation was subject to a rigorous audit, designed to fully test the management system against the requirements of the Standard and to assess its implementation throughout the Theatre. I’m pleased to say that through the commitment of Mike and his team, it was evident that Birmingham Hippodrome had made significant efforts to ensure that it was fully compliant in all aspects.”