A CHARITABLE trust managing leisure venues and activities on Teesside has been recognised for making “significant progress” in reducing energy and increasing recycling.

And, in the process, it has donated nearly a ton of lost property to the British Heart Foundation.

Tees Active has been awarded Level 2 of the Green Mark accreditation which audits the impact organisations have on the environment.

The trust, a strategic partner of Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, was awarded Level 1 last summer, and has now gone to the next level after making further improvements.

“The success of achieving Level 2 was down to the hard work of our Green Team in creating, developing, and implementing key actions across the organisation and venues,” said Peter Williamson, Tees Active’s Asset and Facilities Manager.

Recycling has increased from seven per cent in early 2022 to an average of 34 per cent this year, with venues reaching 88 per cent at times.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) recycling has also been introduced across the trust’s operations.

Overall general waste has decreased, along with reduced energy costs, with actions including a focus on travel and procurement processes.

Tees Active Managing Director, Leon Jones (pictured below), added: “Reaching Level 2 is a further endorsement of the commitment made across the organisation to reduce our carbon footprint, and create a more sustainable future.

(Image: DAWN McNAMARA PHOTOGRAPHY) “Significant steps forward have been made but this is a strategy based on continuous improvement, and we are now setting our sights on Level 3.”

Councillor Clare Besford, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport at Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, welcomed the progress.

“The local authority is committed to an Environmental Sustainability and Carbon Reduction Strategy. The aim is to achieve net zero status within the council by 2032 and Borough wide by 2050. Every organisation and individual has a part to play,” she said.

“As one of Stockton’s strategic partners, Tees Active has a hugely influential role in the Borough and it’s great to see this momentum being maintained.”