As part of the global effort to help tackle climate change Conservative run Lincolnshire County Council has committed to be “net carbon zero” by 2050

Cllr Martin Hill, leader of the council, said:

“As part of the global effort to help tackle climate change, we have made a commitment for Lincolnshire County Council to be “net carbon zero” by 2050.

“Our teams have been working hard behind the scenes making big changes, and we’ve already made significant progress in reducing our environmental impact.

“Between 2012 and 2018, we reduced carbon emissions at the Council by 22%. But, we know we can do more, so we are proposing the Green Masterplan which sets out our continued programme to reach net zero.

“It focuses on three main principles: 

  • Don’t waste anything
  • What are the wider opportunities?
  • Take responsibility and pride

“Things we can all live by, at home, work and school.

“Here are just some of the changes:  

“In our public buildings, including schools and fire stations, we’re updating and modernising equipment, installing solar panels, eco-efficient boilers and improving insulation levels. Our new state of the art fire engines are also better performing with lower emissions.

“At Lincoln Castle we are just starting a new project to find ways to reduce its impact on the environment.

“We are implementing a new way of working for our staff which will mean we work flexibly across our council offices and from home – making a real difference to our carbon emissions.

“This includes things like reducing travel to work and business mileage by improving connectivity and technology, and looking again at the number of buildings we have and using them in a more efficient manner. We’re also committed to becoming a paperless organisation.

“We continue to work closely with our district colleagues on many recycling initiatives – for example the separate collections for paper and card – where it goes directly to a local processor – reducing road miles and carbon emission and actually creating a product which can be recycled again.

“Our £6.4m project converting our Streetlights to LED and part-night lighting has saved 6,200 metric tonnes of carbon per year, as well as allowing us significant savings on electricity costs. 

“On our road and construction projects, we are now reusing as much material as possible to reduce wastage. We’re also recycling our waste – for example our Highways signals contractors have achieved a 100% recycling rate as they replace signals around the county.

“Last year, we made a commitment to, together with partners and communities, improve the environment.

“We are proud to say this is happening across the county – for example in the Lincoln Eastern Bypass project we’re planting 305 new trees, over 10,000 smaller shrubs and plants and 38,000 hedges and will create a wildflower area the size of three football pitches.

“Our staff have also been planting trees on an former landfill site near Lincoln.

“We all need to play our role in tackling climate change – from our energy use, to transport, to the way we heat our homes. The Green Masterplan has many ideas, projects and principles which we hope you at home can adopt to join us on Lincolnshire’s journey.”