Environmental Guide for Small & Medium Businesses

Small and medium businesses (SMB) have one great advantage, when it comes to sustainability: they can make changes quickly. However, on the reverse side, they have to be more careful than larger organisations with the cost impact of such changes.

This guide is designed to indicate the changes that smaller businesses are required to make, but also the areas where, through adopting best practice, cost savings and efficiencies can be made. Aside from an obvious and genuine desire to protect the environment, these can include reducing the spiralling costs of waste disposal, presenting a greener brand image, securing institutional funding and generating competitive advantage.

Defining the term small and medium business is very difficult, especially as the range of their activity can be so diverse. To some extent, SMBs have not been subject to the same regulations as larger firms, but nowadays new environmental legislation is increasingly applicable to all businesses, no matter their individual size.

It’s estimated that 99% of all businesses in the UK are classed as small (employing less than 50 people), so whilst they are individually smaller in size than bigger concerns, their collective influence is significant and cannot be ignored. So it follows that they can have a commensurate impact on the environment.

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