Inefficient use of resources is still costing UK industry at least £15 billion each year, says the sustainable business expert. With the credit crunch affecting all sectors, simple savings from resource efficiency could be a welcome addition to bottom lines.

In the East of England there are 166,800 VAT-registered businesses producing more than six million tonnes of industrial and commercial waste annually, which accounts for a quarter of all waste produced in the region.

In 2002/3 about 34 per cent of this went to landfill, while 41 per cent was reused or recycled – there is much more the region’s businesses can do to increase sustainability.

Environmental awareness is improving: Figures from an Envirowise survey conducted two years ago showed that a third of office workers felt that no action was taken to reduce resource use in the workplace, while a more recent survey found that 82 per cent of UK businesses are now implementing steps towards tackling environmental issues.

This may be partly due to changed consumer attitudes: a survey carried out by YouGov, on behalf of KPMG, has shown that 90 per cent of Britons have become more environmentally conscious at home – with four out of 10 respondents willing to pay extra for green products.