Environment

We accept the contribution that aviation makes to climate change. We've been working hard for a number of years to make our operations as efficient as possible – our fleet includes some of the world's most modern and fuel-efficient aircraft and our exceptionally high load factors also ensure relatively low impacts per passenger kilometre. But we recognise the need for continuing progress.

We're a founder supporter of the Sustainable Aviation Initiative – an alliance of UK airlines, airports, aircraft manufacturers and air traffic management focused on achieving verifiable reductions in noise and emissions through a series of eight goals and 34 commitments.

In Northern Europe our tour operators' websites and confirmation emails now offer passengers the option to buy carbon offsets – and from next year, all internal air travel within Northern Europe will be covered by carbon offset schemes.

Read more on how we're reducing aviation impacts

The consolidation of our offices since the merger means we're currently unable to report in detail on energy and waste consumption. But the consolidation should in itself increase efficiency and we're working with several expert organisations to identify key areas of energy use and opportunities for improvement. Initiatives arising from this will be rolled out across all offices, wherever they're relevant.

Recently, Thomas Cook Airlines has been working with the Spanish airports authority, AENA, and the Travel Foundation to pilot an inflight can recycling scheme. We hope its success will encourage other airlines flying into Spain to follow suit. MyTravel Airways already recycles aluminium cans on all its flights into Manchester and Belfast – and looking forward the combined airline plans to extend this to include all other locations at home and abroad.

We recycle redundant brochures and confidential waste from our stores. And in two UK offices we've removed all desk bins: staff go to central recycling points and sort their waste. This pilot was so successful that we plan to extend the 'Bin Ban' to further offices.

Many employee uniforms become redundant each year. In 2007 we donated non-branded uniforms to the Bansang Hospital Appeal in The Gambia, for use by orderlies and other non medical staff. Branded material was incinerated at a new site that converts the heat into energy for sale to the National Grid.

Environmental ratings in our brochures help customers make informed choices. We've worked with the Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) to launch the Travelife awards – an internationally recognised award scheme for hotels and other business partners who attain high standards of environmental management. We are now featuring the Travelife Bronze, Silver and Gold Award logos in our brochures.

Suppliers who work with this EU-supported scheme are independently audited across a wide range of sustainability criteria including environmental management, employment issues and involvement with local communities.

It is part of the Travelife Sustainability System service, which provides online guidelines and helps tourism businesses to improve their sustainability performance. We have encouraged all our suppliers to register on the site and start assessing their sustainability. In 2007 we trained more than 50 employees as qualified Travelife auditors and seconded a senior manager to the project to support its further development. We audited more than 150 properties against the Travelife criteria, resulting in more than 40 awards.

In the 2007 Thomas Cook Marque of Excellence awards for suppliers, Port Aventura in Spain received an award for its high score and resulting Gold award in the Travelife audit. We also gave an award to the Sandals hotel group for its overall commitment to sustainability and the environment.

In the UK we worked with the Travel Foundation in 2007 to develop a 'hotel makeover' tool consisting of posters, information for hotel managers and a DVD, all showing what a hotel can do to become more sustainable. It has been produced in Spanish, Greek, Turkish and English.

In Northern Europe we work with both the EU Flower and Nordic Swan labelling schemes for hotels – as well as awarding our own green leaf label to those that meet our own environmental standards. Our yearly property audits include questions on energy, water, chemicals and waste management. Hotels that adopt our environmental action plan are identified with a green leaf symbol in our brochures.

Sunwing's Kallithea resort was the first hotel to win the EU Flower in 2003, and by the end of 2007 all its resorts had achieved both Swan and Flower certification. We intend to phase-out our green leaf labelling in favour of the Flower scheme, as it becomes established.

We encourage hotels to use locally-produced goods: these can sometimes be preferable to apparently 'greener' products that need long-distance transport.

Thomas Cook Germany pays great attention to compliance with relevant ecological standards, particularly in its hotel contracting activities. We tell potential partners planning new properties that we require hotels to meet ecological standards appropriate to their environment – for example, in relation to use of solar energy, low-energy air conditioning, renewable raw materials (eg no illegally logged tropical timber) and connections to public water supply and drainage systems. Buyers and agents working for us, for example in Spain, are in constant contact with architects and building contractors specialising in environmentally friendly hotel construction.

For existing properties, Thomas Cook Germany requires compliance with environmental standards when contracts are concluded. These include measures such as minimisation of packaging, conscientious handling of natural resources such as water, establishment of no-smoking zones and preferential use of local, seasonal produce. In the case of new contracts, these form the basis of the partnership.

Ink Publishing, which produced in-flight magazines for MyTravel Airways and will continue to do for the combined airline has undertaken to conserve energy and give preference to renewable sources of energy and materials wherever practicable, prevent pollution and assist in developing solutions to environmental problems in the publishing industry. It uses recycled print and stationery products wherever possible and ensures that all paper used for printing our products comes from sustained forestry.

Thomas Cook Airline has a robust process of assessing contractors' environmental performance and will actively work with them to achieve improvements.