British SMEs lead demand for greener goods

That is the finding of a major new Eurobarometer survey for the European Commission analysing how much the bloc's 21 million SMEs are boosting resource efficiency and entering the green market.

The wide-ranging survey reveals that UK SMEs are among those leading the drive to save resources, particularly waste and energy. Eighty three per cent of UK SMEs said they were taking action to save energy, compared with the EU average of 64 per cent.

The report found that UK firms are set to make more effort than any EU SMEs to save waste and energy over the next two years. More than 80 per cent of UK firms plan to take extra steps to save energy, while nearly 90 per cent plan to step up their efforts to minimise waste and recycle more.

Significantly, the uptake of renewable energy is set to double over the next two years. While 12 per cent of SMEs currently use green energy, including on-site production such as solar panels, 27 per cent plan to increase their use of green energy by 2014.