BMA's WEPLS Wins Sustainability Award
23/08/2010 | The Bathroom Manufacturers Association, representing around 75 well-known bathroom brands in the UK, is delighted to have won the top honour in a major sustainability award ceremony at London's ecobuild exhibition. "We are absolutely thrilled" was the immediate reaction of Yvonne Orgill, CEO of the BMA, when she learned that The Water Efficient Product Labelling Scheme had taken the top honours in the 'Siemens Award for Water' Section of Sustain Magazine's 2010 Awards. The sustain' Magazine Awards for Sustainability, Business & the Built Environment are designed to celebrate the hard work, commitment and creativity, of all those achieving success in the field of Sustainability. The awards ceremony, during a gala dinner of over 450 guests at Chelsea Football Club on 2 March 2010 was attended by architects, housing developers, engineers, consultants, housing associations and manufacturers - all of them industry leaders eager to blaze the trail for sustainability. The award judges, in their citation said "plain and simply, this represents a world-first for water labelling and is notable for being industry led, not Government imposed". Orgill continued "This is a great honour for the BMA and its members. Our WEPLS labelling scheme is leading the way in providing both consumers and professionals with the information they need to make an intelligent choice of water efficient bathroom product. The number of products listed in the web-enabled database is fast approaching the magical 1000 mark. The award shows that WEPLS has a real relevance and importance in the bathroom market and is great recognition for the BMA and its members who have worked tirelessly to put it all together." The BMA stand, at the three days of the ecobuild exhibition, had been extremely busy embedding the BMA as The Voice of the Bathroom Industry. WEPLS is now recognised by government as a "cornerstone in water efficiency" and is set to grow further during 2010. The scheme recently underwent a major upgrade and is recognised by DEFRA, WaterWise, CLG, CCWater and The Energy Saving Trust. The WEPLS database is accessible via the web and can be found at www.water-efficiencylabel.org.uk/. Products listed in the scheme will be labelled to show their water efficiency credentials, details will be shown in manufacturers literature and a selection of point of sale material is being made available for retailers who register (free of charge) with the scheme.