Then in 1995, we discovered The Natural Step, an environmental group which had managed to define sustainability in four simple rules; and these came to be the foundations of our Ecological Mission Statement, adopted in 1996.

To assess our performance in this area, we asked the National Centre for Business & Ecology to draw together a team of experts to audit the Bank's five major locations (where over 70% of our staff are based), using The Natural Step methodology. Reporting back in late 1996, the audit team highlighted eight areas in which they considered the Bank needed to make progress, six of which were classed as high priority.

The following is a summary of the audit's recommendations, and our progress to date. (We've included this information under our "Suppliers" section since a principal finding of the report was that - as a financial organisation - the majority of environmental impacts are associated with purchasing activities.) Where possible in this Report we have tried to compare our performance with that of other major UK Retail Banks.

However, National Westminster Bank Plc ("NatWest") is currently the only other Bank in the UK to be engaged in environmental reporting. Therefore, our benchmarking in this area is restricted to NatWest and where appropriate UK business in general.

3a) Ensuring that the Bank has an effective ecological management system (high priority)

[ Existing commitment ]
The Bank's Ecological Mission Statement commits it to "assess our ecological Ecological Sustainability impact, setting ourselves clear targets, formulating an action plan and monitoring how we meet them, and publishing the results."

[ Performance ]
The Ecological Audit of 1996 found that "during our review we were unable to obtain any reliable figures for the use of resources such as energy, water and paper." In response, at the beginning of 1997, the Bank established an Ecological Steering Group, and charged it with implementing the audit findings in a practical, cost-effective manner. The Committee reports to an Executive Director, Ken Lewis, who has been assigned responsibility for all ecological matters. Project teams were subsequently established to move forward areas of concern identified as high priority, e.g., Paper, Energy, and Waste. Early in 1997, the Steering Group and Project Teams received training in The Natural Step methodology led by Sir Jonathon Porritt, Chairman of The Natural Step in the UK.

[ By comparison ]
A number of major companies across the world are at present actively engaged in implementing The Natural Step methodology: IKEA, Electrolux and Interface Carpeting, to name but a few. However, it is our understanding that The Co-operative Bank was the first major UK company to adopt The Natural Step methodology as official policy, and as the basis for an ecological management system.

[ Comment ]
As noted earlier, the Bank's Ecological Mission Statement is based on The Natural Step methodology, and therefore it is intended that The Natural Step should be the basis of any ecological management system. To this end, we currently have no plans to pursue environmental management systems such as BS7750 or ISO 14001. This is not to say that we are not committed to good environmental management, but that these accreditation standards offer little in terms of added value. The likes of BS7750 do not help in any way to identify what is and is not sustainable. In fact, it is perfectly permissible under these systems to manufacture a product which destroys the ozone layer, as long as you do so efficiently and have all your paperwork in order! At any rate, all the critical elements of such environmental management systems are already in place and active within The Co-operative Bank: policy is formulated, organisation and personnel have been established, objectives have been set, records are maintained (and are open to scrutiny from external auditors) and we are committed to a process of active review.

[ Future objectives ]
i) In order that progress can be measured, and verified, the Bank will invite The Natural Step UK to visit the Bank and audit progress made since the Ecological Audit of 1996.

ii) Our next Partnership Report will provide data on a further five areas of ecological impact, areas deemed to be of low priority by the authors of the 1996 audit. These are Legislative Compliance and Book-Keeping, Hotels, Printing, Water & Water Use and Air Quality.

JOHN SHEERIN Group Purchasing Manager 

PAUL MONAGHAN Par tnership Development Manager 

3b) Reducing energy consumption and accounting for global warming (high priority)

[ Existing commitment ]
The 1996 audit of the Bank recommended that "further consideration be given to the manner in which energy is used in all the Bank's sites and that a full energy audit is undertaken."
 

[ Performance ]
Following on from the recommendation of the audit, we undertook a full energy audit of the Bank during the latter half of 1997. Energy expenditure was ascertained directly from local utility suppliers for the period July 1996 to June 1997 inclusive. Carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions were calculated by utilising the following conversion factors provided by the Electricity Association Library and the Gas Research Centre.

• Gas kWh 0.18 x CO2 (kg)

• Electricity kWh 0.51 x CO2 (kg)
 

[ By comparison ]
Some experts are advising businesses that they should consider the type of raw data presented above in the form of 'carbon dioxide emissions per employee', which in our case comes to just over 3 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per employee per annum. This compares favourably with the UK average of just over 5 tonnes per employee per annum (derived from The Digest of UK Energy Statistics). However, the Bank considers that 'carbon dioxide emissions per customer' is a much better unit of measurement as it accounts for the ecological efficiency with which we provide a service to our customers. Therefore, in future we will report performance on the basis of both emissions per employee and per customer.

[ Comment ]
Last December, leaders from all over the world met in Kyoto, Japan to discuss how the industrialised world could reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. The UK Government took a lead in these negotiations, proposing that emissions of carbon dioxide be cut by 20% by 2010 from a 1990 baseline. Unfortunately no other country felt able to match this commitment, even though it is recognised by scientists all over the world that reductions of this degree are required if we are to even begin to tackle the problem of global warming.

The Co-operative Bank supports the UK Government's position and to this end recently signed up to Greenpeace's Joint Statement on Climate Change and Energy Policy, which encouraged the UK Government to stick to its guns during negotiations. We also believe that the UK business community should do its share to reduce the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. There are three ways in which we can achieve this:

a) increases in energy efficiency;

b) the planting of flora to offset carbon dioxide emissions;

c) switching to suppliers of renewable energy.

The latter option was also a recommendation put forward by the audit of 1996, albeit a low priority. However, at present the UK energy supply market makes it virtually impossible for a business such as ours (spread out as it is across the country) to tie up a renewable energy supply contract (although liberalisation of the market place later in the year may alter this situation). Therefore, it is considered that the only practical options open to us at the moment are energy efficiency and tree planting.

Energy efficiency - progress during 1997
During 1997 we spent £1.2 million on lighting and energy management programmes at our London and Skelmersdale sites. At our recently acquired site in Stockport we already have a state of the art computer control system which, as the audit notes, allows "heating, lighting and air conditioning to be controlled in up to four zones on each floor." Our Group Purchasing department has been targeted with producing energy efficiency savings of 3% during 1997 across the Bank, and initial data would indicate that we have surpassed this target to a significant degree.

Carbon sinks - progress during 1997
During 1997 The Co-operative Bank announced that it would provide £300,000 over three years for a series of woodlands in Salford, Wigan, Manchester and Trafford. In total the site will cover 200 hectares and include at least 40 hectares of new planting of broadleaf trees. According to the Forestry Commission, a typical oak woodland would absorb 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide per hectare per annum. Furthermore, research has shown that forest soils also form a significant pool of carbon - undisturbed trees under mature forest can store as much carbon as the trees themselves. It is too soon to anticipate the exact figures for annual carbon dioxide absorption, but it is expected to be in the range of 60-300 tonnes per annum for the forest alone (or 0.5-.5% of our total carbon dioxide emissions during 1997)

[ Future objectives ]
i) The Co-operative Bank undertakes to reduce its emissions of carbon dioxide by 20% by 2010 based on a 1997 baseline. In order to ensure that fluctuations in customer numbers, and therefore business volumes, do not disguise real progress, the unit of measurement will be defined more precisely as 'carbon dioxide emissions per customer per annum'.

ii) Furthermore, in order that we might more fully understand our energy usage in future it is proposed that a detailed ecological monitoring system be put in place for the first half of 1998. Discussions are currently taking place with CWS Fuels to provide this service. On the basis of a positive outcome to these discussions it is envisaged that the Bank will be in a position to report on the following in future years:

• emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, volatile organic compounds and carbon monoxide.

• benchmarking of sites against Department of Energy statistics.

ERIC BOSHELL Purchasing Manager 

3c) Utilising information technology effectively to reduce ecological impact (high priority)

[ Existing commitment ]
The Ecological Audit of 1996 recommended "that the Bank evaluate the use of IT based systems to reduce the ecological impact of operations."

[ Performance ]
What are the ecological implications of our increasing usage of IT in our operations? Furthermore, what are the implications of our move toward the electronic delivery of services? The answer to the first question is presented below, but the honest answer to the second question is that we aren't entirely sure, although we estimate that the impact is substantial and largely positive.

[ Performance & comment - ecological impact of increasing the use of IT in operations? ]
The Bank is committed to the concept of a paperless office. We have enacted a number of initiatives to realise this goal and print volumes derived from our single mainframe computer have been tracked every month since August 1992. Previously, reports were downloaded at our Salford site and despatched to other areas of the business by overnight courier. Today, these reports can be accessed by the whole of the Bank. As the chart opposite shows, over the last six years print volumes of plain paper reports have been reduced by more than two million items per month (a 90% reduction). During 1997, the downward trend continued, albeit at a reduced rate. At the end of 1997, more than 35,000 fewer items were being generated per month as compared with the beginning of the year (a 10% reduction). These savings have been generated via the implementation of a number of schemes, but the two biggest contributors have been the introduction of On-Line Electronic Support Systems (which delivers information direct to computer terminals, where it can be subsequently archived) and Advanced Functions Presentation (which allows printing overlays to be defined electronically and therefore reduces the need for reprinting activity when amendments are required) saving on paper, energy and chemicals. Furthermore, such initiatives not only save on paper, they lead to a reduction in transit activity between sites and consequently less traffic-based pollution.
 

[ By comparison ]
A recent survey for 'Computer Associates' showed that for most companies, paper production rises by 15% per annum.

[ Future objective ]
To maintain the downward trend on paper volume production and deliver a further reduction of 10% during 1998. An E-mail User Group will be established to tackle the growing trend by users of PCs to print hard copies of electronic messages.

JOHN BENNETT Head of Computer Services 
 

IT purchase and disposal Of course, in order to realise the benefits of the electronic systems staff must be allocated appropriate personal computer technology. This can in itself have an adverse ecological impact. However, we have tried to minimise this by 'buying green'.   Our preferred suppliers for computers and monitors are IBM and Compaq. All technology is Energy Star compliant and automatically enters sleep mode following inactivity. This reduces electricity usage by between 60-80%. The Ethical Consumer Magazine rate IBM as 'Environmental Impact Best Buys'. This was largely as a result of their assurances that neither they nor their suppliers produced products manufactured with the use of CFCs. Whilst Compaq does not qualify in this category, it is recommended, amongst others, as a 'Corporate Responsibility Best Buy'. Disposal of electronic equipment, especially old computer equipment, is becoming a topic of increasing concern. The Co-operative Bank has a policy to relocate obsolete computer equipment where possible to charities and schools. During 1997, four computers and one printer were donated in this manner to local charities put forward by staff. However, some equipment has inevitably reached its useful life-end and, in the absence of other initiatives, would normally go to landfill. However, we recently discovered a company 'Silver Lining Industries Ltd' who undertake to remove surplus electronic equipment, dismantle it and recycle or reuse whatever is possible; heavy components and magnetics are removed and recycled as scrap metal; precious metal concentrate are removed, assayed and the customer is paid as per metal content; any hazardous components are removed (e.g. batteries) and sent for specialist disposal; the remainder is compacted and sent to landfill. At the beginning of 1998, they accepted an AS400 mainframe computer system (which contained 25 disk drives, 8 cabinets, a B50 processor and a tape drive unit) and reclaimed a large percentage of the parts. It is anticipated that this scheme will be expanded in 1998 to include all obsolete computers.

[  Performance & comment - ecological impact of move toward the electronic delivery of banking services ]
The Banking sector has felt the impact of information technology as much as any sector in recent years. In the past, banking services were delivered face-to-face at the local branch, and virtually all transactions were paper-based. Today, at The Co-operative Bank, customers can undertake financial transactions via a whole range of new electronic delivery channels. Our telephone banking service receives millions of telephone calls a year. In addition, customers can access their account details via Skytext or the Internet. But, what are the ecological implications of this shift? The conclusion of a six-week scoping study was that the long-term ecological impact was substantial and largely positive. The growing trend of paying by 'plastic' means that we do not have as many lorries carrying paper cheques across the country. Bringing banking into the home increases access for otherwise disadvantaged groups, such as customers with certain disabilities or those without a car. And, there is a decrease in traffic on the road as the shift toward remote banking grows.

[ By comparison ]
The Co-operative Bank is widely recognised as being a leader in the use of new and existing IT technologies for customer delivery. For example, it was the first Bank in the UK to offer telephone banking to all its customers and in 1998 will be the first to offer Internet Banking to all personal customers.

[ Future objective ]
To continue investigating the hard data in order that we might begin to put figures to these trends and better consider the strategic implications.

KEITH GIRLING Head of Channel Development 

PAUL MONAGHAN Partnership Development Manager 

3d) Ecologically-sound paper purchasing (high priority)

[ Existing commitment ]
The 1996 audit of the Bank recommended that "the Bank should systematically work with their suppliers to move towards using (paper that contains) 100% post consumer waste and totally chlorine-free paper."

[ Performance ]
Following on from the recommendation of the audit, the Bank undertook an audit of the paper purchased during the first half of 1997.
 

The audit covered just over one thousand tonnes of paper purchased over the period January-June 1997. This is approximately two-thirds of all the paper purchased by the Bank over that period (covers both external and internal use).

[ By comparison ]
The only other major retail bank in the UK to release information such as this in an Environmental Report is NatWest. Their report of 1996 noted the following:

Aim to ensure that all paper is either totally chlorine-free (TCF) or elemental-chlorine free (ECF) by the end of 1997. Performance as at the end of 1996 was 25% (but note, The Co-operative Bank do not consider the pursuit of ECF paper to be compatible with the principles of ecological sustainability).

Aim to ensure that 50% of paper is recycled by the end of 1997. Performance as at the end of 1996 was 25%.

[ Comment ]
For something like 12 months, The Co-operative Bank has been seeking to use the most ecologically-sound paper available. We define this as totally chlorine-free and 100% recycled (with a large proportion of post-consumer waste). We believe that we are well on the way to achieving this target and that our performance in this regard is good. The major stumbling block encountered in our drive to see wider use of ecologically-sound paper has been the wide prevalence of several myths concerning the quality of such a paper. "It will jam the photocopier", "It's incompatible with our printing processes", "It's all poor quality", are all common comments. In order to counter these misconceptions, last year we ensured the majority of our flagship publications, such as the Annual Report & Accounts, the staff magazine, and this Partnership Report, all conformed to best practice. We consider that the quality of these publications demonstrates that one can produce high qualitypublications with ecologically-sound materials.
 

[ Future objectives ]
i) To conduct a thorough audit of all paper purchasing in the Bank.

ii) To ensure that by the end of 1998, 50% of all paper purchased is totally chlorine-free and 40% is recycled.

DEREK NEWMAN Production Services Manager 

PAT FIELDING Contracts Officer 

3e) Ecologically-sound paper disposal (high priority)

[ Existing commitment ]
The 1996 audit of the Bank recommended that the Bank "monitor the volume and nature of all waste produced in order to identify problem areas, set targets and suggest systematic solutions in accordance with the priorities set out in the waste management hierarchy: reduce, reuse, and recycle."

[ Performance & comment ]
 

Reporting that just 6% of the paper purchased by the Bank is recycled might be considered as poor performance. However, we lose control of much of this paper via processes such as customer correspondence. The real measure of performance is the proportion of paper that is within our control, that we are able to recycle. Unfortunately, we do not have a firm understanding of this figure, although we intend to do so for the next Partnership Report.

[ By comparison ]
The only other major retail bank in the UK to release comparable information in an Environmental Report is NatWest. Their Report of 1996 noted that they collected for recycling 542 tonnes of paper in 1996, which in weight is more than three times greater than that collected by The Co-operative Bank. However, on a per capita basis, the recycling rate of Co-operative Bank employees is more than five times greater than that of NatWest.

[ Future objectives ]
i) To assess the percentage of paper purchased by the Bank which we maintain control of from a waste disposal perspective.

ii) To ensure that at least 30% of the paper that we purchase and control is recycled by the end of 1998.

BILL MACNAMARA Facilities Projects Manager 

3f) Minimising the impact of transport on the environment (high priority)

[ Existing commitment ]
The Ecological Audit of 1996 recommended that "targets are set for reduction in the total number of miles driven."

[ Performance ]
Transport activity undertaken by staff in connection with the Bank can be considered in two parts:

• transport activity undertaken by staff in the course of carrying out their job.

• transport activity undertaken by staff in the course of travelling to and from their place of employment.

i) Business mileage
The total mileage claimed by Bank personnel over the period April 1996 to April 1997 inclusive was 3.8 million miles.

Our company car fleet as of January 1998 consisted of 357 cars and was made up of the following:

(By way of comparison, NatWest declare that 26% of their cars run on diesel).
 

Car purchasing is co-ordinated centrally and it is now standard practice to replace vehicles regularly in order to minimise depreciation liability. The audit points out that a twelve-month replacement strategy would ensure that as far as minimum standards go, all cars would have the most recent ecological features encapsulated in their design. So, for example, all petrol cars will be fitted with catalytic converters. Therefore the Bank is actively considering shortening the existing replacement cycle. Around 150 of the company cars are classed as status vehicles. The remainder are awarded on the basis of need, which is defined as employees travelling more than 10,000 miles per annum on company business.

In addition to the above, the Bank hires approximately 100 cars per week on a short-term basis (average hire period is 2.6 days). Staff are encouraged to use this hire service and not their own cars when conducting business for the Bank in excess of 100 miles and above.

ii) Personal mileage
At present we have no data on the modes of transport or miles travelled by staff when commuting to work.

[ Comment ]

i) Business mileage
Our Ecological Audit of 1996 noted that "Transport has a high environmental impact and is a major area of Ecological Mission Statement non-compliance. In order to be fully compliant, the Bank would have to cease using vehicular transport. Given that our current infrastructure is geared to the use of vehicular transport, and in particular road-based transport, it is unlikely that the Bank will be able to comply with the Ecological Mission Statement in the near future." Therefore, in the short-term it is going to be difficult for the Bank to make significant reductions in the amount of car-based business mileage undertaken by staff whilst on bank business. Much of this mileage is incurred visiting corporate customers and suppliers, areas where new electronic channels have yet to achieve widespread acceptance. Furthermore, there is currently no consensus as to whether diesel or unleaded cars are the best from an environmental perspective. Diesel cars may produce less carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide than petrol cars, but they release more particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, both of which have been strongly implicated in the recent increase in asthma in this country. However, as depressing as this situation may appear, the Bank is determined to make as much progress as is practical in coming years. Below, we detail some of our short-term objectives. Over the medium-term, we believe that progress will be driven across the country by changes in the corporate and personal tax regimes. We intend to respond to such shifts in a positive manner. Over the long-term, the development of new technologies and fuel types are expected to produce considerable environmental benefits.

ii) Personal mileage
For many, travelling to work by car is not only more convenient but less expensive than public transport. For this reason, some years ago, the Bank launched an interest free loan for staff wishing to purchase rail and bus season tickets (includes staff at UNISYS, Unity Trust Bank, FI Group and Colonial, in addition to Bank staff). Over the period February 1996 to February 1997, 213 staff took out these loans, with a total value of £310,150. Furthermore, in 1996 we piloted a home-working programme with ten staff on a voluntary basis and with the support of the trades union, BIFU. The results of this pilot were largely positive (increased leisure time, more autonomy, less stress, etc.) and teleworking now forms part of a range of flexible employment policy provisions, although actual numbers involved remains low.

[ Future objective ]
To introduce a revised Car Scheme which is environmentally and commercially viable whilst being flexible and attractive to existing and new employees.

MARK HENRY Contracts Manager 

ALISON BOOTH Human Resources Manager 

3g) Chemicals which have a tendency to persist in nature (medium priority)

[ Existing commitment ]
The 1996 audit of the Bank recommended that "the Bank should replace all Halon and CFC containing systems as soon as possible."
 

i) Chemicals which have a tendency to persist in nature (Halons)

[ Performance ]
The 1996 audit of the Bank revealed that, "like most businesses in the UK, the majority of our fire control systems utilise halons, potent ozone depletors (Halon 1301)."

[ Comment ]
Following the recommendation of the audit, we searched for an ecologically-sound alternative and concluded that the Wormald 'Inergen' system was the best available. Inergen consists of a mixture of nitrogen (52%), carbon dioxide (8%) and argon (40%) gases, all of which are naturally present in the air we breathe. Inergen extinguishes fire by reducing the oxygen level to the point at which most combustibles will no longer burn. Simultaneously, the increased level of carbon dioxide stimulates the human body to take up more oxygen, so protecting anyone trapped in the room. The individual components of Inergen are either extracted from the atmosphere or natural processes. Either way, there is no net accumulation of waste into the atmosphere following discharge. Inergen has a zero ozone depletion potential, a zero global warming potential, zero atmospheric lifetime and does not form decomposition products in a fire. The new system is now in place at two sites. It should be noted that the new system was not only ecologically-superior to the other alternatives, but compared favourably in the areas of fire-fighting capability, risk to human life, asset protection and also business risk. Pre-action water sprinklers were investigated, however, they proved to be less able to penetrate most cases of shielded fires, such as those in computer cabinets.

[ Future objective ]
The Bank is committed to the removal of halons from fire control systems in all major occupancies by the end of 1998. The halons currently in our systems will be removed and deposited in an accredited storage bank for use in applications for which there is at present no alternative substitute, such as in civil aviation. In the future, these fire control systems will be 'powered' by either 'Inergen' or 'Water'. It is anticipated that six new fire control systems will be installed across the Group based on 'Inergen' technology alone.

JOHN BENNETT Head of Computer Services 

CHRIS MOTTERSHAW Senior Purchasing Manager 

WALTER ARMSTRONG Head of Group Property 

The cost of inserting the Inergen system across the Bank will come to more than £300,000. However, over the long term, this system is considered to be not only the best ecological solution, but the best economic solution. This is because many of the cheaper alternatives, such as HFCs and PFCs, are potent greenhouse gases, and therefore one expects such chemicals to come under increasing legislative scrutiny.

It makes little sense to install a fire control system that we may be forced to rip out of our buildings in a few years. In fact, this type of full cost life-cycle analysis was the subject of a joint publication between The Co-operative Bank and the Government's Environmental Technology Best Practice Programme in 1997. The publication, entitled 'Investing to Increase Profits and Reduce Wastes', seeks to draw to the attention of business, particularly small and medium sized enterprise, the economic benefits of understanding and accounting for the environmental impact of different investment strategies. This publication is free and is available to businesses on 0800 585794 (ask for document GG82).

ii) Chemicals which have a tendency to persist in nature (CFCs)

[ Performance ]
The 1996 audit of the Bank revealed that, "like most businesses in the UK, a number of our air conditioning systems utilise CFCs, potent ozone depletors (R22 & R12)."

[ Comment ]
Following the recommendation of the audit, we searched for an ecologically-sound alternative. However, significant difficulties have arisen in the form of the structural alterations required in order to switch to ecologically-sound systems. These are of such a degree as to require changes to be integrated with other business requirements. Alternatives to CFCs exist which do not damage the ozone layer and which we could install with less onerous modifications than indicated above. However, these alternative systems are largely HFC (e.g. R404a, R134a) or HCFC (e.g. R411B) driven, and these chemicals are potent greenhouse gases (in fact they are many hundreds of times more potent than carbon dioxide). The Bank is not prepared to spend time and effort ensuring that its air-conditioning systems do not 'damage the ozone layer', only to find we are subsequently 'contributing significantly to global warming'. Better alternatives are required.

We have encountered exactly the same problem in sourcing vending suppliers who can deliver machines which do not utilise either CFCs, HFCs or HCFCs. The dominant technologies all rely on R12, R404a and R134a.

[ Future objective ]
Regardless of the practical difficulties, we are committed to the development of a CFC phase-out programme in the first half of next year. In the first instance consideration will be given to new hydrocarbon technologies, which have minimal global warming potential.

WALTER ARMSTRONG Head of Group Property 

iii) Reducing the use of plastics, particularly (PVC)

[ Existing commitment ]
The 1996 audit of the Bank revealed that polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is used widely throughout The Co-operative Bank. It went on to recommend that, "the Bank should reduce the use of oil based plastics (particularly PVC) as much as possible."

[ Performance & comment - plastics in general ]
It is the policy of the Bank to use natural, biodegradable materials (e.g., wood, paper, certain plastics, etc.) wherever price and quality permit. We have not, and do not intend to, undertake an audit of plastic in the Bank. Rather, it is our intention to lobby for natural, biodegradable materials with suppliers as and when the opportunity allows. For example, last year there was a reduction in the number of mailshots utilising plastic, as opposed to paper packaging.

[ Performance & comment - PVC ]
We are particularly committed to phasing out the use of PVC. This is because, the manufacture and disposal of PVC produces chemicals called dioxins, which have been implicated in everything from cancer to hormone disruption. The 27g of dioxin produced at one vinyl chloride manufacturing site inrecent years constitutes 38 billion "tolerable daily intakes" (according to the Department of Health's definition of what a human being can tolerate). In Sweden, a Government Committee has recently called for all PVC usage to be phased out in the country by the year 2007 due to concerns about the safety of breakdown products. Of course there is evidence, some of it commissioned by the plastics industry, which shows that PVC, dioxins and vinyl chloride are all relatively safe at levels currently prevalent in nature and our own bodies. However, in this area, our approach is guided by the precautionary principle. It was for this reason that the Bank recently launched the Greenpeace affinity card on what we consider to be an ecologically-sound plastic (see below and page 81.).
 

[ Future objectives ]
i) To develop a 100% PVC-free credit card (as opposed to the current 99.9% PVC-free card) before the year end.

ii) To develop a phased plan for the removal of PVC from all Bank plastic cards.

iii) To issue guidelines to all purchasing managers as to the requirement to avoid PVC wherever feasible.

KEITH GIRLING Head of Channel Development 

JOHN SHEERIN Group Purchasing Manager 

3h) Aiming for sustainable waste disposal (medium priority)

[ Existing commitment ]
The 1996 audit of the Bank recommended that, "the Bank monitor volume and nature of all waste produced in order to identify problem areas, set targets and suggest systematic solutions in accordance with the priorities set out in the waste management hierarchy: reduce, reuse, and recycle."

[ Performance & comment ]
During 1997 we began to audit all significant material flows in and out of The Co-operative Bank. This required an assessment of both purchasing and waste disposal streams. As can be seen below, we have been largely successful in determining data for each area, with the exception of furniture and furnishings. It is anticipated that these gaps in our knowledge will be closed early in 1998. Unless otherwise stated, this information covers only the major occupancies of Salford, London, Manchester, Skelmersdale and Stockport. (Note: data on paper and electronics recycling is not reported here, but on pages 46 and 48 respectively.)

[ Performance & comment - aluminium & steel ]
Each of the Bank's major occupancies is serviced with machines, vending canned soft drinks. The following table shows the number of steel and aluminium cans arising on site and subsequent waste disposal stream:
 

Our performance in the area of can recycling is extremely poor and needs to be improved dramatically. Recycling schemes have existed across the Bank in the past, but were discontinued due to inadequate usage. It proved difficult to find a recycling firm who were interested in removing such small quantities. A small scheme still operates at our London site, but once again the usage is negligible.

[ By comparison ]
The only other major retail bank in the UK to release comparable information in an Environmental Report is NatWest. Their Environment Report of 1996 noted that they collected for recycling 2 tonnes of aluminium in 1996.

[ Future objectives ]
i) To ensure that all sites have effective can recycling facilities by mid-1998.

ii) To ensure that at least 15% of the cans purchased on site are recycled by the end of 1998.

BILL MACNAMARA Facilities Projects Manager

[ Performance & comment - plastic ]
Each of the Bank's major occupancies is serviced with machines vending cups of tea and coffee. The cups are made of hard-walled polystyrene. The table overleaf shows the number of plastic cups on site during January-December 1997 inclusive and subsequent waste disposal stream.

In total we recycle around 7.5% of our plastic cups (or 520 kg per annum). However, the performance across the Bank in this area varies tremendously, with Manchester and Salford recycling nearly a fifth of all cups, whilst London and Stockport recycle next to nothing. Where recycling takes place, cups are collected in containers situated next to vending machines, emptied and given to the recycling company Save-a-Cup.
 

[ By comparison ]
The only other major retail bank in the UK to release information in an Environmental Report is NatWest. Their Environment Report of 1996 noted that they collected for recycling 10.38 tonnes of plastic in 1996. However, in terms of size, the NatWest is much larger than The Co-operative Bank. As of the end of 1996, the NatWest had 71,000 employees compared with the Bank's 3,776 - a figure some nineteen times larger. Taking this into account, the recycling rate of Co-operative Bank employees is 6% less than that of the NatWest.

[ Future objectives ]
i) To ensure that all sites have effective cup recycling facilities by mid-1998.

ii) To ensure that at least 15% of the cups purchased on-site are recycled by the end of 1998.

BILL MACNAMARA Facilities Projects Manager 

[ Performance - lighting ]
At each site, the Bank primarily uses fluorescent tubes for lighting. Whilst this may be energy efficient, it creates a potentially hazardous waste disposal problem as these bulbs typically contain mercury. The mercury contained within one tube, up to 60 mg, is enough to contaminate up to 30,000 litres of water. Around three years ago, The Co-operative Bank contracted Mercury Recycling Ltd, a corporate customer of the Bank, to remove and recycle fluorescent tubes. Previously, all tubes had entered in the general waste stream. However, whilst it would be perfectly legal for us to dispose of our tubes in the general waste stream, we consider the toxicity of mercury to be so potent as to necessitate the employment of this service.

In total, 1,694 linear tubes and other lamps were recycled during 1997. All fluorescent tubes at London, Salford and Manchester were recycled. At Skelmersdale performance was less than 100% as an engineering contractor mistakenly removed 300 tubes during a major refurbishment. To date, no recycling has been organised at Stockport as it was considered that these new premises would have very little need for replacement tubes during 1997.

[ Future objective ]
To ensure that the Bank in major occupancies recycles 100% of fluorescent tubes by the year end.

ANDREW FARRELL Facilities Manager 

[ Performance & comment - furniture & furnishing ]
At each site, wear and tear dictate that furniture and furnishings are constantly repaired, reused and replaced. However, as yet, we are not in a position to track such material-flows owing to the diversity of products covered (everything from a desk to a hat-stand).

[ Future objective ]
To develop a means of monitoring the flow of furniture and furnishings in and out of the Bank.

ANDREW FARRELL Facilities Manager 

ERIC BOSHELL Purchasing Manager 

[ Performance & comment - general waste disposal ]
At each site, local waste disposal firms provide containers of varying capacities for waste. It is understood that the vast majority of this waste goes to landfill. In total, 5,319,600 litres, or 6,770 cubic yards of waste leaves the Bank in the form of 'General Waste'. The cost of this service at Skelmersdale, Salford and London, came to £24,839 (data unavailable for Manchester and Stockport). It is envisaged that the expansion of on-site recycling (described elsewhere) during 1997 will reduce waste.

However, the Landfill Tax regime and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act means that costs may not subsequently fall. In fact, the ongoing development of ecological taxation in the UK will probably lead to an increase in waste disposal costs over the coming years.

[ Future objective ]
To ensure that the overall flow of materials leaving the Bank in the form of general waste is reduced by 5% (265,980 litres).

BILL MACNAMARA Facilities Project Manager