The award comes after the Cheshire site transformed more than 2km of local woodland and serves as a recognition of the Cheshire site’s ‘commitment to responsible business practices that improve biodiversity conservation’. It is one of the few sites in England to have achieved the accolade, which is not typically awarded outside of Northern Ireland. 

 

To achieve the award Encirc had to demonstrate its action plan to address and improve its impacts on biodiversity in the Cheshire region, including the impact on wildlife. 

 

Matt Tait, Chair of the Biodiversity Committee at Encirc’s Cheshire plant was delighted with the award.  

 

“To achieve Gold Level with our first application was a fitting reward for our very proactive Biodiversity Committee at Encirc. We have also received great support for our activities from the executive committee at Encirc and Aimee Brown did a superb job in bringing together all the strands of the application to meet the criteria for the accreditation.”  

 

He added: “For several years we have been doing some sterling work within the Cheshire community with regards to biodiversity and perhaps not letting people know what has been happening. Hopefully this accreditation and recognition is testament to what we have already achieved and what we hope to achieve in the future.”  

 

Central to the Encirc’s biodiversity mission is the on-site, 2km Woodland Walk, a haven for all things living. Undermanaged for many years, the Woodland Walk has now been transformed. Trees were planted by a cross-section of employees as part of an Encirc project to offset the carbon footprint of people attending a trade show. The walk was further developed and extended; picnic benches were installed while an open meeting space was developed. Encirc has also partnered with Mersey Forest and local ecology groups to better understand what is living in the area.  

 

The Walk is the perfect opportunity to escape from the office environment and to recharge the batteries with obvious benefits for health and wellbeing.  

 

The area is also a good conduit for wildlife from the nearby Ince Marshes. Woodpeckers, bees, birds, insects and ducks all inhabit the area.  

 

Biodiversity at Encirc forms an integral part of the company’s goal to decarbonise glass bottles production. That ambition is headlined by its launch this year of ZE30, the industry-leading aim to produce zero emission glass containers from 2030.  

 

Matt concluded: “We have achieved the Gold Level, now our committee will sit down and we will create a strategy to achieve the Platinum Level. This important work for our community and all those who live in it continues.”