31/10/2008

• Stagecoach and Perth and Kinross Real Nappy Network eco-partnership
• Innovative green project aims to cut carbon emissions and reduce landfill
• Environmental initiative could be model for councils across Scotland

Stagecoach today (31 October 2008) launched an innovative eco-partnership to offer a free bus travel incentive to new parents using real nappies for their babies.

The Perth-based transport group is offering a week’s free bus travel to encourage new parents to sign up to the Perth and Kinross Real Nappy Network (PKRNN).

PKRNN, a partnership between local parents, Perth and Kinross Council and healthcare professionals, provides information, advice and support about real (washable) nappies.

Parents and carers wishing to give real nappies a go can hire a full kit of nappies and accessories to try at home on their own baby.  This lets them see just how easy they are to use and can help with deciding which system to purchase.

Some 8 million disposable nappies are thrown away in the UK every day with 90% going to landfill – a total of 3 billion nappies every year. One baby will use a tonne of nappies each year and will be in nappies for an average of two-and-a-half years.

Real nappies have around half the carbon footprint of disposables, which are believed to take hundreds of years to decompose. As well as the huge environmental benefit, using home laundered nappies could save parents around £500 on the cost of keeping a baby in disposables.

A typical five-mile trip to work by car emits more than 2kg of CO2 compared to 1.5g if you take the bus, which can result in significant CO2 savings over a year. A recent Stagecoach survey showed that bus travel in Perth can be up to 69% cheaper than commuting by car, offering savings of around £700 a year.

Brian Souter, Stagecoach Group Chief Executive, said: "Climate change is an issue that is of real concern to our customers and local authorities face tough new environmental targets on landfill, air quality and recycling.

"Stagecoach has invested £7.75 million in new buses for the region over the past year, with child-friendly low floors, plenty of space for shopping and high-frequency services that make catching the bus hassle free.

"This is a perfect partnership. Real nappies and sustainable bus travel are both better for the environment. They can also save families hundreds of pounds of year, which in the current economic climate is a real incentive for people to go green."

Sue Terras, Project Officer for PKRNN, said: "We are delighted to work in partnership with Stagecoach to launch this exciting new initiative.  Having a baby is an important time in life and we want to make it easy for families to make green choices.  As a local not-for-profit organization, we are keen to link up with local companies to promote our message."

Perth & Kinross Council’s Vice-Convener of Environment Services, Councillor Lorraine Caddell, commented: "Using real nappies can make a significant difference to the amount of waste produced by families with babies and young children. Environmentally and financially they are a more effective option and we would encourage families expecting a new arrival to give real nappies a try."

Stagecoach, one of the UK's biggest bus operators, operates around 80 buses across Perth and Kinross, covering locations such as Perth, Crieff, Pitlochry and Dunkeld and offering weekly travel from just £5 per week.

The Group is continuing a major drive to make its own business more sustainable and attract more people to travel by bus, coach, train and tram. The Group's wide-ranging strategy includes investment in renewable fuels and cleaner engines, state-of-the-art energy efficient facilities, water and waste recycling initiatives and offering businesses green travel incentives for their employees.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:
Lindsay Reid, Corporate Communications Manager
Tel. 01738 442111 (office) or 07500 446896 (mobile)
email: lindsay.reid@stagecoachgroup.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

Stagecoach Group is a leading international public transport group, with extensive operations in the UK, United States and Canada. The company employs 30,000 people, and operates bus, coach, rail, and tram services.

Current Stagecoach environmental initiatives include:

Renewable energy
Stagecoach has signed a contract to source most of its electricity requirement for its UK bus operations from renewables. Electricity generated from mostly small-scale hydro, as well as on-shore wind and biomass, will provide more than 70% of the company’s required supply, with the remainder coming from cleaner, low-carbon sources. Smart meters are also being installed to help cut energy use as part of the £3.5million contract with Opus Energy. The two-year contract, which will dramatically decrease CO2 emissions, covers electricity supply to around 240 UK sites.
 
Energy efficiency
Emissions from around 90 of Stagecoach’s workplaces across the UK have been cut by more than a third after the introduction of a hi-tech energy management system. Gas consumption has been slashed by an average of 36%, while CO2 emissions have been cut by more than 6,200 tonnes a year. Developed by Vickers Electronics Ltd, the technology uses self-learning predictive programming, coupled with high accuracy temperature sensing. It takes over the control of the existing heating and delivers improved control, staff comfort and dramatic reductions in energy consumption, saving hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.

Sustainable biofuel
Stagecoach is testing the UK’s first Bio-buses, which run on 100% biodiesel. The bio-fuel is manufactured by Argent Energy Ltd from used cooking oil and other food industry by-products, which are from sustainable sources that do not involve the destruction of natural habitats or compete with the human food chain. The environmental project also allows customers to exchange used cooking oil for discounted bus travel Since the initiative was launched in October 2007, it has cut C02 emissions from the buses by 80%, saving 550 tonnes of carbon, and more than 21 tonnes of used cooking oil has been recycled.

Fuel additive
Stagecoach uses a next-generation fuel additive, Envirox™, to reduce carbon emissions and improve fuel efficiency.  The additive, manufacted by Oxonica, is based on a well-known oxidation catalyst widely used in catalytic converters. The material has been re-engineered using nanotechnology to allow it to be delivered as a fuel-borne catalyst, leading to a cleaner burn within the combustion chamber. The additive has delivered more than a 5% cut in fuel consumption and an associated decrease in vehicle emissions. Stagecoach also currently uses a blend of 5% biodiesel across its 7,000-vehicle UK bus fleet. 

Fuel-efficient driving
Stagecoach invests millions of pounds each year in the training of its driving team and, over the past two years, hundreds of employees have completed a Safe, Skilled and Fuel Efficient Driving programme. From September 2008, Stagecoach will launch a programme to ensure all of the company’s 13,500 drivers complete the course as part of a Certificate of Professional Competence. Stagecoach has also launched a six-month trial of a hi-tech in-cab driver system to improve safety, reduce fuel costs and cut carbon emissions. The initiative - launched in partnership with GreenRoad Technologies, a leading driver safety company – is being trialled on Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria. The system improves driver behaviour behind the wheel through an in-vehicle sensor monitoring up to 120 driving manoeuvres, such as speed, braking, acceleration lane handling and turning. Data is sent in a continuous stream to GreenRoad’s web server and analysed, providing information about a driver’s performance. Instant feedback is given to the driver using red, amber and green lights on the dashboard and optional SMS or email messaging.

Carbon neutral travel
Stagecoach has launched Scotland’s first carbon neutral bus network. The ground-breaking environmental initiative, in partnership Scottish charity Global Trees, will see all of Stagecoach's Fife to Edinburgh bus network become carbon neutral through to 2013. Around 140,000 trees will be planted in the south of Scotland this year, saving 21,500 tonnes in CO2 emissions.