THE Midcounties Co-operative, which covers Worcestershire and Herefordshire, has been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard, recognising its reduction of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

The Society received the award by working closely with its members and colleagues to promote the importance of environmental awareness, helping to achieve an overall carbon footprint reduction of 5.1 per cent across the certification period running to 2013. At the same time the business was able to increase its recycling from 37 per cent to 75 per cent over the past three years.

Mike Pickering, sustainability manager at The Midcounties Co-operative, said: “We are honoured to receive the Carbon Trust Standard certification, which is testament to our commitment to adopting new practices throughout our trading groups to significantly reduce our carbon footprint. As a co-operative, we are committed to best practice in social responsibility, and we are working closely with the Carbon Trust to continue our significant progress in this field.”

The Carbon Trust Standard is only awarded to organisations that can demonstrate year-on-year reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.