Green around the edges: How broadcasting is becoming eco-friendly

Since April 2018 the BBC has cut out more than half a million items of single-use plastic cutlery and has launched a new sustainability strategy: Greener Broadcasting.

The initiative not only hopes to promote environmental matters through its programming, but aims to reduce its own environmental impact through initiatives that range from using 100% biodegradable liquid glitter and biodegradable makeup wipes on Strictly Come Dancing to reducing its carbon emissions by 24% (by 2022), its energy consumption by 10%, and waste by 10%, while increasing recycling by 75% and aiming to send zero waste to landfill. It is also committed to buying 100% renewable electricity for all of its major sites.

The BBC was also one of the founders of the Albert Consortium, something other broadcasters can sign up to. Already, viewers of many UK shows may spot a footprint logo at the end, with a note about “Albert sustainable production certification”, even if they just wonder what it all means. In fact, it is an impressively successful scheme that is beginning to gain traction in other countries.

The pan-industry environmental project is hosted by Bafta and started as a carbon calculator for BBC productions. It is now backed by 15 major broadcasters and production companies, ranging from Sky, Channel 4 and ITV to Freemantle and IMG, but any UK production company can use Albert for free and it has assessed more than 3,000 carbon footprints over the last few years. It is now a mandatory requirement for all commissions for the BBC, Sky, ITV, Channel 4 and UKTV.

According to Albert international manager, Jeremy Mathieu, who has also been a sustainability advisor for the BBC, an hour of TV typically produces about 13.6 tonnes of CO2 – the same as running three homes for one year.

To counteract this, Albert promotes best practice using a standardised approach, and some 350 productions have seen an average of…