YORKSHIRE Water will hear next week if it has been successful in a competition to find the UK's greenest companies.

The company's environment and catchment team and facilities department have both reached the finals of the Green Apple Environment Awards.

Representatives will travel to a ceremony at the Houses of Parliament next Tuesday, where the winners will be announced.

Guests from all over the world will attend the event, now in its 11th year and run by the Green Organisation, an independent not-for-profit movement dedicated to promoting environmental best practice around the globe.

Yorkshire Water's environment and catchment team entry focuses on the company's woodland management policies, including the development of storm-damaged areas.

Since 2000, 50 hectares of woodland have been flattened by storms and, in the past, the affected areas would have been burned before replanting.

Now, the company recycles the wood, selling what wind-blown timber it can salvage and mulching the rest to help create new woodland.

The company also carries out a wide range of other forestry work, including thinning dense conifer plantations to encourage a greater variety of flora and fauna.

Yorkshire Water has also consulted wildlife groups to increase the number of species found on its land. Work has included digging ponds and woodland scrapes to encourage new colonies of insects, amphibians and reptiles.

Long-eared and tawny owls, kestrels, buzzards and nightjars are also thriving on Yorkshire Water land thanks to a number of nesting programmes.

Geoff Lomas, company catchment and recreation manager, said: "We believe our strategy sustains water quality, timber production and the landscape while protecting heritage and habitats, enhancing biodiversity and creating an image for Yorkshire Water which is tangible and real.

"Our stewardship of the environment is creating a truly sustainable woodland for now and the future."

Yorkshire Water's facilities team was shortlisted because of the way it has encouraged green thinking throughout the company.

Projects have included a programme of recycling items such as cardboard, aluminium cans, plastic cups, printer cartridges and newspapers, which means waste disposal costs have dropped by 30 per cent.

Surplus office furniture is also offered regularly to charitable organisations, schools and residential homes rather than being sent for disposal.

Charities such as Water Aid, Children in Need and Comic Relief have received donations made in kind.

Contract controller Margaret Smurfit said: "By reducing the amount of waste going to landfill sites, we are successfully reducing our environmental impact and our other initiatives have benefited charitable organisations and supported local communities."

Green Apple organiser Roger Wolens said: "It's a tremendous achievement to get on the shortlist because the competition gets tougher and tougher every year.

"Contenders are continually reaching new levels of environmental success and this campaign helps and encourages others to follow their good example with the aim of improving our environment for generations to come."

Published: ??/??/2004