Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 4th December 2025 Issue no. 1189
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Churchill wins four Green Apple Environment Awards
The Green Association has awarded Churchill four Green Apple Environment Awards for its innovative sustainable development and environmental improvement projects, which demonstrated measurable reductions in waste and emissions across its portfolio.
The international awards were founded in 1994 and recognise, reward and promote best environmental practice across the globe. The winners were celebrated at a ceremony in the House of Lords in London on the 17th November.
Churchill's transformation of the Instant Group cleaning contract was recognised with a Sustainable Development - Innovation award, where 42 sites across the UK and Ireland were transitioned to a sustainable PVA cleaning range. The project achieved a 95% reduction in carbon emissions, eliminated single-use plastics entirely, and increased plastic savings from 14% to 17%. These objectives were delivered with zero service disruption and no additional costs to the customer.
Its collaborative work with CBRE on its AtkinsRéalis contract was celebrated with a Sustainable Development - Innovation award. Its cleaning, hygiene and waste management solutions saved 260.11Kg of plastic in 2024, reduced 2.6 tonnes of CO2 emissions and achieved a 78% cut in CO2 emissions from waste liners at its Birmingham site.
Churchill's approach to waste management earned recognition for two further projects. It earned an Environmental Improvement - Land Regeneration award for its work at St. Marks Shopping Centre, where its on-site composting system provided a closed-loop solution for managing green waste. Since October 2023, the system has processed up to 3.5 tonnes of green waste and produced up to 1.5 tonnes of compost for reuse on site, saving the centre approximately £1,520 in disposal costs, while reducing carbon emissions linked to transport and external processing.
Churchill's national Recycle Week initiative also won an Environmental Improvement - Partnership award for bringing together over 28 sites and 10 customer sites to collect 570Kg of clothing donations that were heading to landfill. The project avoided 283Kg of CO2e emissions and raised an estimated £2,800 for Emmaus UK, a charity supporting people transitioning out of homelessness.
"It is a huge honour to be awarded not one, but four Green Apples for our projects this year,” says Dominic Folliss, national accounts director at Churchill. “These collaborations with our customers affect our entire supply chain, so we can reduce waste, harmful product use and emissions together. These awards are confirmation that we are on the right track as we equip ourselves, our stakeholders and our customers with sustainable tools."
Churchill provides general, specialist, window and washroom cleaning services, in addition to grounds maintenance, pest control and waste management. It works in numerous sectors, including education, transport, shopping centres/retail parks, local councils, NHS Ambulance Trusts and housing associations. In August 2023, Churchill became an Employee Ownership Trust. A controlling interest in the company has been transferred to an employee-owned trust which is then held for the benefit of employees.
Image, from left: Alison Tucker, national relationship manager; Maria Cane, client relationship manager; Gary Binder, national relationship director; and Natasha Needham, client relationship director.
www.churchill-cleaning.co.uk
27th November 2025