Boosting business resource efficiency at a regional level: The ENWORKS business support programme in Northwest England Samantha Nicholson ENWORKS Programme Director

Introducing ENWORKS Established in 2001; celebrating our 10th anniversary in 2011 Innovative ENWORKS partnership model in Englands Northwest Award-winning environmental business support Decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation; focus on resource efficiency Helped over 10,000 businesses with converting environmental pressures into competitive advantages Embedded in Northwest regional policy – Regional Economic Strategy, Climate Change Action Partnership, Sustainable Consumption & Production (SCP)

European regional development funding Economic project delivering results through environmental improvements - Support to SMEs is funded by ERDF & Northwest Regional Development Agency - Support to Non-SMEs is funded solely by NWDA (this also covers costs associated with SME support that are deemed ineligible by ERDF) Current programme total value £9.3m (10.7m) - October 2009 to June 2013 SME support = £6.99m (8m) (50/50 ERDF & NWDA) Non-SME support = £2.3m (2.7m) (all NWDA) Running two projects concurrently: – Enables full cost recovery for delivery organisations – Removes barriers to business engagement – Increases cost effectiveness

Challenges we face Addressing market failure in business resource efficiency Awareness doesnt always lead to action - 80% of businesses believe resource efficiency is important - BUT only 20% plan to take action in 12 months - Majority are one-off, low-impact interventions Common misconceptions – the environment is irrelevant / costly / requires new equipment / is time-consuming / energy only / is a threat not an opportunity

Overcoming the challenges ENWORKS is helping businesses with annual financial and environmental savings of: - £144 million (165m) in business costs - 748,000 tonnes of CO 2 e million m 3 of water million tonnes of materials - 450,000 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill More than 7,420 regional jobs created and safeguarded £223 million (256m) sales contracts secured and retained

Sustained impact Saving type Annual savings - pipeline Annual savings - achieved Achieved - accrued to date Business cost savings£ million£ 31 million£ 91 million million 35.6 million million CO 2 e savings / tonnes615,240124,785434,689 Water savings / m million1.6 million4.7 million Material savings / tonnes688, million17.2 million Waste diverted from landfill / tonnes 348,785101,939233,869

ENWORKS average savings (achieved) Average cost savings - per business: ~£21,100 (24,200) per year ~£61,900 (71,000) to date - per improvement: ~£7,600 (8,700) per year ~£22,300 (25,500) to date Average CO 2 e savings - per business: 85 tonnes per year 296 tonnes to date - per improvement: 31 tonnes per year 107 tonnes to date

Value for money Most cost-effective support of its kind in the UK - compared to other regional, and aggregated national, environmental support programmes From every £100 (119) invested, ENWORKS creates annually recurring savings of: - £1,200 (1,400) in businesses - 8 tonnes of CO 2 e - 55 m 3 of water - 30 tonnes of materials - 7 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill - £800 (920) of sales contracts retained - £136 (156) of new sales contracts won Breaking the mould – 56% of cost savings achieved at no capital cost

Key success factors Mix of public funding sources – no exclusions / all businesses eligible / more cost effective engagement process Partnership of organisations – locally embedded and trusted by beneficiaries and other stakeholders Breadth of services – no barriers, we address energy, water, materials and waste, covering eco-design, process efficiency, sustainable procurement, legal compliance, climate change adaptation... both risk and reward Targeted and tailored support – linked to the potential to make savings, hands-on on-site advice and off-site services, focus on cost effectiveness and impact ENWORKS Online Resource Efficiency Toolkit – data is turned into information, to catalyse both action in businesses and sharing of best practice across the project

ENWORKS Online Resource Efficiency Toolkit Unique web-based software, launched by ENWORKS in 2004 Log, prioritise, manage and report on resource efficiency actions Clear audit trail, traceable to each improvement opportunity and linked to UK Governments CO 2 e conversion factors Adopted for use by English Regional Development Agencies and the Welsh Assembly Government: Helping over 9,000 businesses across the UK Tracking over 32,000 efficiency improvements Recording total cost savings of over £356 million (409m) Generating over 883,000 tonnes CO 2 e savings Supports understanding of skills requirements

Skills for resource efficiency Understanding risks & rewards relevant to business Identification of efficiency improvements Quantification of costs & savings possible Prioritisation of actions / significance Gaining buy-in at management and shop-floor level Calculating / communicating resource efficiency benefits (change management) More specific knowledge & skills associated with individual improvement actions Analysing the Toolkit shows the method for increasing efficiency – this gives an indication of the specific skills & knowledge commonly required

Skills for resource efficiency

Cost saving method: achieved versus pipeline

Cost saving method: Zero capital investment

Skills for resource efficiency: Energy

Skills for resource efficiency: Water

Skills for resource efficiency: Materials

Skills for resource efficiency: Waste

Regional support Location map of businesses supported by ENWORKS in Englands Northwest:

Regional impact Distribution of cost savings ENWORKS is helping businesses with, across the Northwest: Distribution of CO 2 e savings ENWORKS is helping businesses with, across the Northwest:

Sources of further information us: For further information and case studies: Download free resources and documents: ENWORKS Online Resource Efficiency Toolkit: