News in Brief: ‘Green Hero’ title for Emerald; Innovative investment for eye hospital; and more

EMERALD Group Publishing has been awarded a top environmental accolade after being named as a 2010 Green Hero in recognition of its innovative environmental management system.

Emerald’s new system is designed to reduce the amount of energy, paper and plastics used as well as increasing the amount of waste recycled. It continually monitors and sets targets to manage the company’s environmental impact across all its departments.

Arnaud Pelle, corporate communications manager at Bingley-based Emerald, said: “As a company we are committed to becoming one of the region’s leaders when it comes to reducing our environmental impact and it’s fantastic that we can share our knowledge with other businesses and organisations. This award is testament to this ethos and it is a great achievement for everyone at Emerald.”

The award was presented at a ceremony at the Tower of London by stage and TV actress Carol Royle, who has starred in Heartbeat, Life Without George, Crossroads and The Bill.

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SURGEONS at the region’s only specialist eye hospital have welcomed the arrival of new state-of-the-art laser equipment, representing an investment of more than £750,000.

The Yorkshire Eye Hospital, which was acquired by Optegra earlier this year, has invested in the Wavelight Concerto laser, one of the fastest vision correction excimer lasers.

The Apperley Bridge-based hospital has also welcomed a new, technically advanced Femtosecond laser to work with the Wavelight equipment to ensure a precise bladeless treatment for safer, accurate, faster healing surgery.

Shafiq Rehman, consultant surgeon at Yorkshire Eye Hospital, said: “This innovative laser system is a world class leader in refractive technology and allows fast and accurate diagnosis and treatment all in one. Together with the new Femtosecond, this new equipment represents a huge investment for the hospital and is testament to our commitment to provide patients in Yorkshire with the latest innovative techniques, providing the best possible results.”

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BURMATEX has scooped an environmental and social impact award at an event for the commercial interiors industry.

The Ossett-based company was recognised for its efforts in developing environmental codes of best practice in the manufacturing and product design of sustainable carpet tiles.

Burmatex was praised for focusing on key performance indicators including manufacturing techniques, the use of green electricity and recycled packaging and the management of fleet fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Burmatex’s manufacturing manager David Simpson said: “Sustainability continues to be high on everyone’s agenda. Our customers want assurance that they are getting a quality product at a good price which impacts as little as possible on the environment.”