ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

The Green Association in the UK has awarded services provider Churchill four Green Apple Environment Awards for its innovative sustainable development and environmental improvement projects, which demonstrated measurable waste and emission reduction across its portfolio.

The international awards were founded in 1994, and recognise, reward and promote best environmental practice across the globe.

The company's transformation of the Instant Group cleaning contract was recognised with a Sustainable Development - Innovation award, where 42 sites across the UK and Ireland were transitioned to a sustainable PVA cleaning range. The project achieved a 95 per cent reduction in carbon emissions, eliminated single-use plastics entirely and increased plastic savings from 14 per cent to 17 per cent. These objectives were delivered with zero service disruption and no additional costs to the customer.

Its collaborative work with CBRE on its AtkinsRéalis contract was celebrated with a Sustainable Development - Innovation award. Its cleaning, hygiene, and waste management solutions saved 260.11kg of plastic in 2024, reduced 2.6 tonnes of CO? emissions, and achieved a 78 per cent cut in CO? emissions from waste liners at its Birmingham site.

Churchill's approach to waste management earned recognition for two further projects. It earned an Environmental Improvement - Land Regeneration award for its work at St. Marks Shopping Centre, where its on-site composting system provided a closed-loop solution for managing green waste. Since October 2023, the system has processed up to 3.5 tonnes of green waste and produced up to 1.5 tonnes of compost for reuse on site, saving the centre approximately £1,520 in disposal costs, while reducing carbon emissions linked to transport and external processing.

And the national Recycle Week initiative also won an Environmental Improvement - Partnership award for bringing together over 28 sites and 10 customer sites to collect 570kg of clothing donations that were heading to landfill. The project avoided 283kg of CO?e emissions and raised an estimated £2,800 for Emmaus UK, a charity supporting people transitioning out of homelessness.

www.churchill-cleaning.co.uk