Corporate Environmental Licence - a world first

Goulburn Valley Water has been issued the world's first corporate licence.  Prior to amalgamation we held 26 EPA liences, totalling 226 pages of licence requirements.  Our new corporate licence is an eight-page document that will save our business at least $50,000 a year in administration.  it also includes a range of projects to further cut costs for us and benefit the environment, including:

• a carbon neutral strategy

• projects to reduce water use and trade waste by GVW customers

• assessment of existing ways of working to identify resource efficiency and offset opportunities.

Having only one licence to administer means a significant reduction in paperwork.  This will allow our organisation - particularly our Environmental Services group - to direct more energy towards outcomes rather than bureaucracy.  It is important however that corporate licensing not be seen as simply reducing the paperwork.  It is a shift in mindset to one of trust, cooperation and working to 'do the right thing', and having processes in place to minimise the risk of non-complying environmental outcomes.

We have embraced the sustainable business concept and have been working over the last two years to transform aspirations into actions.  The corporate lincence is another measure in achieving our sustainability goal.  It will help ensure our staff embrace the concepts of sustainability more quickly and with greater commitment.

Goulburn Valley Water has made its Corporate Licensing Fact Sheet available in Adobe PDF format. 
If you do not have the Acrobat Reader please click on the button below to obtain your free copy.

Corporate Licensing Fact Sheet

For more information about Corporate Licensing please visit www.epa.vic.gov.au