Pictured above: (l-r) Deborah Parks (Multi Skilled
Operative), Neil Jones (Retail Manager), Jackie Stone (Qualified
Chef)
An eatery at The International Convention Centre in Birmingham
is celebrating after being applauded for its green approach to the
industry.
Café Vite, situated in The ICC's mall, has been honoured
for its commitment to sustainability and the environment in the
city's second annual Green Restaurant Awards.
The popular eatery won the energy reduction award, beating off
competition from more than 13 other city restaurants that had been
shortlisted for the honour.
Judges from city organisations such as Birmingham City Council,
Marketing Birmingham and the Birmingham Post and Mail newspaper
group decided Café Vite was streets ahead in its efforts to
reduce the impact of its operation on the environment.
Green initiatives in place at the 200-seat restaurant include:
encouraging recycling by diners; using seasonal and local produce;
switching off vending machines overnight and during quiet times;
replacing toilet hand dryers with low power, quick dry machines;
and considering the use of PV cells to harness solar energy.
The café's commitment to the environment mirrors the
efforts made by parent-venue The ICC, which is part of The NEC
Group.
The ICC has an impressive site waste management plan, which
ensures no waste ends up in landfill, and the centre shows a
further commitment to the environment by housing a Combined Heat
and Power generator (CHP) - a sustainable and resilient
energy-saving system that is helping to slash Birmingham's carbon
footprint by providing electricity, chilled water for air
conditioning and hot water for heating to major buildings in and
around Broad Street and Victoria Square.
One of the UK's premier conference venues, The ICC has held the
international standards accreditation ISO 14001 for environmental
management systems for more than two years.
Café Vite came top in the energy reduction category at
the awards on June 6, with other winners from the city being
honoured in waste management, staff, and community and purchasing
categories. The overall Green Restaurant of the Year was awarded to
The Warehouse Café.
Martin Davies, General Manager of ICC Catering, said: "As an
organisation The ICC continues to try and lead the way on
sustainability issues in Birmingham and Café Vite plays an
important role in our public-facing initiatives.
"We are delighted to have been honoured with the award for
energy reduction. Our customers are pleased to do their bit to help
the environment too.
"The ICC and the catering operation within it will continue to
embrace and develop green initiatives. It is vital that, as a key
venue in the city's events and conference sector, we respect our
responsibilities to the world we live in and continue to reduce
negative impact on the environment."
The awards were organised by the Birmingham Environmental
Partnership, part of Be Birmingham, which is charged with bringing
together the public, private and voluntary sectors to provide
leadership and ensure joined-up working on environmental and
sustainability issues.
Cllr Timothy Huxtable, Chairman of the Birmingham Environmental
Partnership, said: "Birmingham is rightly renowned for the culinary
quality of its diverse range of restaurants.
"The winners of this year's awards are amongst the very best of
the best when it comes to the important issue of setting standards
for sustainability.
"They should act as an inspiration for others to follow because
the catering industry is one area in which we can make a real
difference as we strive to make Birmingham as green as
possible."