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The boss of a leading transport firm has told the industry that environmental awareness and business efficiency can go "hand-in-hand". Malcolm Wilson, managing director of UK logistics for Norbert Dentressangle, was speaking at the annual Scala Logistics debate at Wroxhall Abbey near Coventry. He said putting green measures into practice was "common sense" for business.

He added: "We [at ND] have a UK target of cutting down the amount of waste we send to landfill to zero. We have worked hard to measure the carbon footprint of our business, as well as use renewable energy in our buildings where possible.

"Environmental awareness is common sense. It is about managing the rising cost of fuel, reducing business costs generally and boosting profit. Being more green and business efficiency can go hand-in-hand."

The panel of industry experts at the debate said their organisations were beginning to explore the idea of co-operating with others to cut down on empty running. Steve Mulvey, Marks and Spencer food logistics manager, commented M&S was looking at introducing overseas consolidation centres: "In terms of fuel-efficient trucks, many of our lorry fleets are at Euro 5.

But Euro 6 is coming, and we will have to keep up with that. We also have 140 teardrop trailers which are 20% more efficient than a normal artic". Trevor  Ashworth, director of food and retail logistics for the Co-Operative Group, said 98% of the electricity his organisation used in its buildings came from renewable sources. Our CIS tower in Manchester has 7000 solar panels", he added.