Burnt Tree’s group fleet engineer has been highly commended for a national green award.

Charlie Bailey was awarded the runners up position in the Commercial Recycling Champion category of the recent Awards for Excellence in Recycling and Management 2013, organised by letsrecycle.com.

Bailey, who is based at Burnt Tree’s head office in Shrewsbury, claimed the runners up spot as part of the prestigious national awards ceremony that recognises the dedication of an individual or team within the commercial and industrial sector in promoting recycling and sustainable waste management within their company or business division.

The winners of all the categories were revealed at a celebratory lunch at The Landmark Hotel, London last month attended by businesses, local authorities and community groups and hosted by BBC Breakfast presenter Suzanna Reid.

Bailey has been responsible for environmental waste management and recycling at Burnt Tree since 2008. His achievements over the past 12 months have included:

• Trialling and introducing systems that has reduced VOC emissions to below permit levels
• Working with suppliers to find more informed solutions to paint and solvent usage
• Increasing recycling rates of damaged vehicle panels, rather than disposing of them
• Developing a bonding system to turn damaged bumpers into ‘as new’ rather than replacing them
• Plus a variety of recycling initiatives across the company, including the involvement of all Burnt Tree’s employees.

He said: “As a responsible business with a fleet of 15,000 cars, vans, trucks and accessible minibuses, it is important to us not only to meet legal standards but also to find innovative ways of keeping our impact on the environment to a minimum.”