Working With Waste (continued)

Focuses on meeting the environmental needs of local businesses.

Tayside Environmental Network (TEN) was set up in 2004 in response to regional businesses' requests for a one stop shop to provide easy access to environmental information. To ensure TEN focuses on meeting the needs of local businesses, a steering group has been established consisting of key organisations and bodies currently working with local businesses and on environmental issues affecting businesses.

TEN provides a proactive approach to achieve the economic and environmental benefits from improved environmental awareness.

Tayside businesses can attend free network events and are encouraged to do so to find out about new and relevant environmental issues that affect them. To date three TEN breakfast meetings have taken place focusing on businesses in environmental management, tourism and small/medium sized manufacturing.

Emma Baillie, Chair of TEN, described the networking events: "The aim of each event is to help businesses identify and tackle the escalating costs of environmental issues such as those arising from energy, water & waste charges. Presentations from regional businesses that have first hand experience of cost savings through implementing waste minimisation, energy and resource efficiency measures provide good practice examples of what can be achieved."

Online support is available to businesses through visiting: www.tayside-environmental-network.org.uk. The website signposts companies and organisations to the appropriate advice and assistance according to their query. It also provides a summary of past and future events and access to the TEN directories.

Commenting further on how TEN can help, Emma described the online support available to businesses. These include the Environmental Business Support Directory that provides a list of organisations and groups who can provide advice and support to businesses and the Resource Recovery Directory which allows businesses to find alternative methods for managing waste.

The TEN website also sign posts the user to NetRegs (www.netregs.gov.uk) a website that provides straightforward environmental legislation by business sector and is free and easy to use.