Biffa, the waste management company, has launched an online web conferencing service to enable it to deliver internal training courses to 5,000 of its staff at more than 160 locations across the UK.

Using Citrix software, Biffa can deliver training sessions to employees’ desktops as if they were there in person – cutting out staff travelling time, with the knock on environmental benefits in the process.

“Waste management legislation is constantly changing in line with EU law and as a result it is imperative that our operations across the country are always kept up to date, " explained Neil Rogers, training manger at Biffa. "Traditionally we arranged regional-based courses that required our employees to drive up to 150 miles per session. But we realised that not only was this badly impacting on the environment but we were wasting our employees’ time as they were often spending the best part of a day driving to a course.

“Not only have we been able to reduce travel but we have also more than doubled the number of attendees on some courses from 12 to 25,” added Rogers. “Our regular online training sessions ensure that all our employees are completely up to speed on the latest legislation.”

“As more and more companies are becoming ‘green’ aware, they are striving to decrease their carbon emissions,” commented Bernardo de Albergaria, vice president and general manager, eCommerce, Citrix Online. “Reducing company travel by replacing face-to-face training sessions with interactive online meetings enables businesses of all sizes to reduce their carbon footprint, while reducing spend on travel.”