Corporate Sustainability
AWE recognises that it has a corporate social responsibility to contribute to a sustainable future, for our employees and local communities.
Our Corporate Sustainability vision is to deliver AWE’s mission responsibly, in support of the Government’s sustainable development strategy of:
- Living within environmental limits
- Ensuring a strong, healthy and just society
- Achieving a sustainable economy
- Promoting good governance
- Using sound science responsibly
To communicate this, we have produced a Corporate Sustainability Plan – ‘Shaping the Vision’. You can read about the context of the plan here.
It describes AWE's commitment to establishing and delivering long term goals for sustainable development and focuses initially on four of our 16 Sustainability Objectives – Climate Change and Energy, Waste Management, Construction and the Built Environment, and Travel and Transport. This does not mean we will lose sight of our other impacts and responsibilities. Much of the action and implementation in these four theme areas will have a positive impact across several of the 16 sustainability themes, a reflection of their interdependent and integrated nature.
Corporate Sustainability Review
AWE's 2008/09 Sustainability Review can be found in our Publications section.
Our commitment to sustainability has been recognised by the London Excellence CSR Award and the Serco Chairman’s Recognition Award – a testimony to the importance we place on this responsibility.
Protecting the environment
We constantly undertake environmental monitoring to verify that our activities have minimal impact. See our Safety and The Environment section for further details.
Our social contribution
We believe we have a duty to give something back to society, through our commitment to our employees and the local community. AWE consistently ranks highly in employer surveys. AWE employees are permitted time to work in the community as local councillors, magistrates, school governors or special constables. The company has developed a Local Liaison Committee and makes regular donations to many local and national charities, not only through much needed funds but also through giving time and volunteers. For more information see our Working@AWE and Community Relations sections.
Our contribution to the local economy
As a large scale employer, AWE contributes over £300 million each year to the local economy through wages and business contracts and, in turn, we are dependent upon the infrastructure, facilities and services provided by local authorities and the local business community.