JUST GOOD BUSINESS BUZZ : Banking on sustainability

Westpac saved 23 percent on its energy spend in 2009, knocked more than $1 million off air travel spend and it is looking to save $2.2 million in three years on car fleet changes.
As the first bank worldwide to achieve CEMARS (Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme) last year, it has already out-stretched its own targeted reduction of four percent per customer. At the end of 2009, audited results showed it had achieved 26 percent reduction.
But there’s no resting on its laurels and Westpac chief executive George Frazis would like to see waste management companies doing more to help tackle waste so the bank can continue its sustainability journey. “We’re keen to reduce organic waste in our business, but there are limited options to achieve this. This is nationwide, if not global problem. We’re trying to address it now but it will take cooperation between businesses,” he said.