By Matthew Legg

Last updated at 15:11, Friday, 08 January 2010

A Cumbrian postal firm, which mails up to one million letters a month, has received an international eco award.

Penrith-based Cumbria Mailing Services (CMS) has been awarded an ISO 14,001 certificate for environmental management by international standards chiefs in Switzerland.

The company sends out council tax forms and rent statements on behalf of Carlisle City Council and South Lakes District Council.

It also boasts clients in the private sector including well-known financial institutions, car dealerships, hotels and membership clubs, often for direct marketing mailings.

Despite operating in an industry with a notorious reputation for waste, CMS has introduced a comprehensive package of green measures, focusing on recycling, reducing energy consumption and environmental management.

The firm. based at Haweswater Road on the Penrith Industrial Estate, also offers customers the opportunity of wrapping their letters or magazines in a bio-degradable plant starch-based polythene, which breaks down naturally and is not sent to landfill.

Peter Hilton, CMS’s chief executive, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have received the ISO’s environmental award.

“We underwent a very thorough inspection in which they looked at not only what we do as a company but also all the people we can influence, like suppliers and customers by going about things in a responsible and environmentally-friendly way.

“We spent a large sum of money bringing in a consultant and building up our own environmental management systems.

“However, environmental issues have always been very close to my heart. In fact, I drive my wife mad by insisting we recycle everything at home.”

First published at 14:09, Friday, 08 January 2010
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk