LICENSEES can help the environment and their own profit margins by keeping a closer eye on energy efficiency and food waste, industry experts told SLTN last week.
Energy efficiency is one of the main ways in which licensed businesses can cut costs, according to the Carbon Trust.
Paul Wedgwood, general manager, said that in some cases lighting can account for up to 70% of all energy used in licensed premises, and recommended switching from “energy hungry” lighting such as halogen spotlights to more economical equipment like LED lighting.
Heating is another area in which licensees can make savings, said Wedgwood, by introducing steps as simple as regularly checking thermostat levels and setting conservative levels for heating and air conditioning.
“Creating staff awareness of the need to save energy and the resulting change in behaviour can have a significant impact on energy spend,” Wedgwood said.
And many licensed premises could save money through implementing more efficient waste management procedures.
A spokeswoman for Scottish Water Horizons, a subsidiary of Scottish Water, advised businesses to introduce more efficient systems for dealing with food waste, and warned that new regulations will ban food waste disposal units that put the waste directly into the sewage system.
“In the UK the average cost to a business for food that could have been eaten but wasn’t is £1800 per tonne,” said the spokeswoman.
“Landfill tax is also set to increase year-on-year, impacting on the price of general waste disposal.
“Therefore, reducing the amount of food waste produced and diverting the unavoidable food waste such as vegetable peelings and teabags to recycling makes good business sense.”
Another Scottish organisation, Zero Waste Scotland, is also urging businesses to get more efficient when it comes to waste.
A spokeswoman for the organisation, which specialises in providing waste-reduction advice to businesses and individuals, said that across the UK hotels, pubs and restaurants could save around £724m a year by reducing the amount of food waste sent to landfill and recycling more.
Some Scottish companies are already sending their food waste to anaerobic digestion plants, where it can be converted into a renewable energy source, she said.
