Our Green Journey

Our Green Journey

Simpler recycling is upon us – from 1^st April, businesses with over 10 employees will be expected, by law, to have arrangements and systems in place to collect and separate paper and card, plastics and metal, food waste (including garden), and general waste.

As a business, we have been separating clean recycled paper, plastics, and cardboard since the 1990s, which is what led our Managing Director, Martin, to ask ‘what’s taken so long?’.

Starting Our Green Journey

At MWA, we are proud of the fact that we hold the ISO 14001 accreditation, but our journey to reach this has not happened overnight, it has been based on a simple, measured approach supported by the right partners.

David Bellamy

Martin started our recycling journey back in the 80s. Our green agenda then became a key part of the organisation’s evolution when our Director, Damian, re-joined the business. Here, they tell us more.

Martin comments:

“In the 80’s, when I started, it was the environmental stalwart David Bellamy who was ‘green’ to me. David was up close and personal with wild animals and plants in jungles from far-off exotic lands.”

“Based on this, and the small contribution I was making, I never considered myself ‘green’. I just assumed separating waste was the norm, and that it was what all businesses do in order to ‘do their bit’. This is why I was amazed to see the new regulations come into force.

“I’m not suggesting it’s a bad thing, it’s just puzzling to understand why it has taken so long!”

Then Came the Compost Bin

Martin explains further:

“Soon after separating our waste, I introduced a compost bin for coffee grounds, tea bags, fruit waste, like apple cores, and other food waste. Although simple, it did its bit!

“It wasn’t until my son Damian re-joined the business, after graduating university for the second time, that our approach became more formal and a way of working.”

Partners for Green Foundations

Damian explains:

“When I joined the business, part of my remit was our corporate, social responsibility. So, I started by attending numerous environmental seminars and masterclasses to understand not just what we could and should be doing, but also how to do it.

“We were lucky enough to work with West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) who supported our ambition. They helped us to get started with an audit of the office. We used this as a baseline and started to measure our waste, CO2 emissions and energy use amongst other things.

“We quickly started to see a difference with certain elements, which led to energy savings and reduced costs. Just like we make buildings work harder, our goal was and still is to make sure that our investment into environmental activities works as hard as possible too!

“To help this, partnerships have been super important to our journey. Gill Watson from Kirklees/WYCA has always been hugely supportive of our efforts. Her mission is to see SME’s in Kirklees and beyond thrive, so she always goes above and beyond in informing us of the various types of business support that is out there.”

Flushing Out Waste

The first thing that MWA did was install a waterless urinal and also fit dual flush valves to each of their WCs, this saved significant amounts of water. Replacing all lighting with LED, which reduced the company’s electrical consumption and bills came next.

Martin adds:

“Our first big investment was our glazing.”

“We replaced all of our windows with double glazing, not only did this reduce our energy consumption and bills, but also sound pollution and glare, which improved our working environment significantly.”

Filling the Voids

The team looked to improve their green credentials year on year, whether that was by recycling all batteries by taking them to our local supermarket, who recycle these on behalf of the community, or making investments into its infrastructure and how it operates as a business.

Damian comments:

“We ask what environmental benefit we can gain from everything that we do. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not always possible, but when you start to consider this, it is amazing what you can do.

“In recent years, we significantly increased the insulation in our roof void, which again contributed to reducing our energy consumption and bills. When we needed to extend our car park, instead of tarmac, we used permeable paving called grasscrete that’s much more environmentally friendly.

“Alongside the grasscrete, we planted a significant amount of new plants and trees for aesthetic purposes as well as attracting pollinators and helping to reduce CO2 emissions.”

Green Fleet

In addition, MWA currently has an 83 per cent green fleet of company vehicles, which includes two vehicle charging points within the company’s car park as well as a charging point at all relevant staff houses.

Capturing Energy

Damian adds:

“Our latest MWA green project is a complete re-roof of our offices with solar panels and battery storage.”

“To date, this is the biggest internal project that we have carried out but we know this will reap dividends.

“We can’t wait to see the benefits.”

Sustainable Construction Methods

Moving beyond its own business, considering sustainable construction methods is also a way in which MWA help buildings work harder.

Martin explains:

“Where relevant, we always work towards trying to offer sustainable construction methods and advise our clients accordingly. However, these currently tend to be more expensive and often out of reach for some clients. While take-up is slower than we would like in 2025, it is and will continue to be a key part of our approach to making building work harder.”

Is this the end of our green journey?

Damian concludes:

“Is this the end of our green journey? Absolutely not! It’s by no means over especially when our accreditation ISO 14001 will keep us constantly improving!”