Six organisations have clinched awards for their green business practices and environmental leadership, the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) announced on Thursday.
The Singapore-based non-governmental organization announced the winners in five categories under its annual Singapore Environmental Achievement Awards (SEAA), but withheld the name of the top winner for the new CDL Outstanding Singapore Environmental Achievement Award until an award ceremony on 23 August.
Winners included the maker of Singapore’s Tiger beer brand, technology giant IBM, local eco-tourism operator Sea Hounds, Malaysian conglomerate YTL Corporation, environmental chemical firm Hydroemission and Woodgrove Secondary School.
Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore, which is the Republic’s only brewery and owns the Tiger beer brand, won the Manufacturing category for its achievements in minimizing energy, water and waste impacts.
“The SEAA serves as a report card of our environmental strategy and is a means for us to benchmark our sustainability efforts within the industry,” said Asia Pacific Breweries general manager Michael Chin in a statement.
Over the past three years, the brewery has reduced electricity use by 12 per cent, energy used for heating by 24 per cent and water consumption by 14 per cent.
“When we did the math - taking an average of 100 four-room HDB units in a block, our reduction on electrical usage could have powered about 47 HDB blocks for a month,” added Mr Chin.
The firm has also developed a system allowing it to collect 87 per cent of the Tiger beer bottles sold once consumed. Nearly all of these are reused, which results in an annual waste reduction of 25,000 tonnes. Recycled labels from the bottles also help the company save more than 83 tonnes of paper each year.
Tokyo-headquartered heavy equipment manufacturer Komatsu Asia & Pacific was awarded Merit Winner within the Manufacturing category for its overall environmental policies, and for its introduction of hybrid-electric construction machinery that reduces diesel consumption and carbon emissions.
Two firms from the service industry will receive the Nissan Leaf Singapore Environmental Achievement Award (Services).
SEC recognised information technology firm IBM Singapore for its outreach to the broader community - including schools and industry – on environmental issues, and for exceeding a number of environmental targets for its facilities.
IBM also earned kudos for its green data centre, which produces 60 per cent less heat, and uses about 80 per cent less space and 40 per cent less energy than comparable data centres.
Local eco-travel agent Sea Hounds, the smallest company amongst the winners, will share the Services category award with IBM.
Sea Hounds is a certified eco-tourism travel agent that also operates Singapore’s only PADI National Geographic Dive Centre.
Managing director of Sea Hounds Stephen Beng told Eco-Business in an interview that the auditing process it went through for the awards had been a good opportunity to evaluate its environmental performance.
“It was a chance to test our strengths and make sure our staff were aligned with our goals,” he said.
Marine conservation and environmental responsibility are central to the company’s business philosophy, said Mr Beng. And Sea Hounds works to ensure the concepts trickle down to employees, clients and business partners, he added.
“Small business owners shouldn’t harp on size as a barrier to environmental performance. Being responsible boils down to a company’s objectives and procedures, and how it communicates them,” he noted.
SEC introduced a new Regional category award this year for companies operating within the Asean region.
Malaysian utility and infrastructure firm YTL Corporation topped the new category for its focus on integrating sustainability throughout its operations and business models. The conglomerate has established a Clean Development Mechanism consultancy, called YTL-SV Carbon, to help others with low-carbon projects.
The Merit Winner for the Regional category was PT Beton Elemenindo Putra, an Indonesian building supply firm that introduces energy-saving innovations to regional markets.
SEC chose homegrown Hydroemission Corporation as winner of the SEC-Senoko Energy Green Innovation Award for its invention of a technique that allows the slow release of various environmental chemicals, such as pesticides, waste treatments and aquaculture solutions, for safer and more effective application.
Within the Public Sector category, the Lee Foundation Singapore Environmental Achievement Award will go to Woodgrove Secondary School, which recently received special status as an environmental education school from the Ministry of Education.
Winners of these categories and the inaugural Asian Environmental Journalism Awards, for which Eco-Business was shortlisted, will receive their awards at the SEAA ceremony with Singapore Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.
“The SEAA impels the industry to push the envelope in terms of incorporating environmental sustainability into everyday business-as-usual activities on a holistic scale,” said SEC executive director Jose Raymond.
“Environmental excellence has grown to become an integral part of companies and public sector agencies,” he added.
