Quantification of the business benefits of resource efficiency

Abstract:

<p>This report quantifies business resource efficiency opportunities in the UK economy. The report is the result of a study carried out by Oakdene Hollins Ltd and Grant Thornton UK LLP for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) between March and September 2007.</p> <p>This study focuses on resource efficiency savings that require low or no financial investment whilst reducing the quantity of waste produced or the consumption of energy or water.</p> <p>The methodology used in this study comprised six main steps: Quantification of the overall consumption, Quantification of the savings, Conversion of physical savings into financial savings, The inclusion of any hidden or additional cost savings, Grossing up, and Regional Analysis.</p> <p>This study estimated the total value of low-cost / no-cost resource efficiency savings to range between &pound;5.6 billion to &pound;7.4 billion (mean &pound;6.4 billion annual savings opportunity), which equates to 0.6% of UK gross valued added and 1.9% of UK gross operating surplus (profit). Energy (52%) and waste (41%) are the two areas where the most opportunity was identified.</p> This report is divided into the following sections: <ol> <li>Introduction</li> <li>Methodology</li> <li>Detailed resource analysis - waste</li> <li>Detailed resource analysis - energy</li> <li>Detailed resource analysis - water</li> <li>Regional analysis</li> <li>Conclusions</li> <li>Further Work</li> <li>Appendix 1: The preliminary analysis</li> <li>Appendix 2: Regional waste arisings</li> <li>Appendix 3: Food and drink sector</li> <li>Appendix 4: Chemical sector analysis</li> <li>Appendix 5: Waste savings opportunities</li> <li>Appendix 6: "H Score" methodology</li> <li>Appendix 7: Detailed analysis of energy savings opportunities</li> <li>Appendix 8: Detailed analysis of water savings opportunities</li> <li>Appendix 9: Detailed analysis of regional savings opportunities</li> </ol>

Author(s):

Lee, P., Walsh, B. and Smith, P.