Community media business Archant Suffolk, whose titles include the East Anglian Daily Times and the Ipswich Star, has achieved Silver level accreditation under Suffolk County Council’s Carbon Charter scheme.

The charter provides public recognition for businesses which are working to monitor and reduce their carbon emissions, with Gold, Silver and Bronze awards available.

Silver is awarded to businesses which, in addition to implementing best practice measures for managing and reducing their energy use, have also already made significant progress in reducing their carbon footprint.

Greg Parton, group head of procurement and sustainability at Archant, said the Carbon Charter accreditation had taken about four weeks to complete, including site visits to the company’s offices in Ipswich at the beginning and end of the process.

The panel had recognised the achievements of Archant Suffolk in areas including reduced energy consumption and lower emissions from its company vehicles, he added.

In a letter confirming the accreditation, Ned Harrison, low carbon economy officer within the council’s Creating the Greenest County team, said: “The panel felt that you have hit all of the required targets in order to meet the Silver level of accreditation.

“The panel was pleased with the company’s implementation of sustainability awards and sponsorship of sustainability events. They were also impressed to note your green incentive scheme to encourage employees to purchase cars with eco credentials.”

He added: “Lastly I would just like to congratulate you on this achievement, and on your highly commendable environmental commitment.”

The Carbon Charter honour is the latest in a series of “green” accolades received by Archant. In 2010 the group achieved the BS EN 16001 energy management standard across four of its sites, including its head office and print centre in Norwich and its offices in Ipswich and Ilford, with each location achieving the Carbon Action Standard Plus energy efficiency standard.