The Brudenell Hotel in Aldeburgh has received a Silver Suffolk Carbon Charter accreditation following a successful energy reduction programme over the past 12 months.

The Suffolk Carbon Charter, which offers Gold, Silver and Bronze awards, recognises organisations from the county which take their environmental responsibility seriously.

The Brudenell, which previously held a Bronze accreditation, upgraded its award by introducing a carbon reduction policy, with initiatives including the installation of a more energy efficient boiler and energy-saving lightbulbs, movement sensitive lights in its car park and reducing bedroom temperatures when guests are out.

A strong recycling programme has been put in place including paper, cardboard, glass and food waste, which is composted, and around 90% of office procedures are now carried out digitally, reducing paper usage.

Guests are also encouraged to reduce their environmental impact by leaving their car at the hotel for a day and exploring on foot or via public transport.

Stan Hellis, health and safety co-ordinator for the TA Hotel Collection, of which the Brudenell is a member, said: “We now hope to extend the Silver accreditation to the White Lion in Aldeburgh, which currently holds a Bronze award, and to roll out the programme to the Swan at Lavenham and Crown at Woodbridge, which already have many good initiatives in place and would welcome such an accreditation.

“The Brudenell’s upgrade to Silver demonstrates that we are on the right track and making progress. My thanks to the members of the ‘Green Team’ whose dedication is making this all possible including Jenny Hill, Graham Freeman and Ian Willet.”

Peter Osborne, general manager at the Brudenell, added: “The Suffolk Carbon Charter Silver award is a great recognition of the steps taken by our team to reduce the hotel’s carbon footprint and an incentive to continue making improvements with the aim of achieving Gold.”

The Brudenell’s Silver Suffolk Carbon Charter award follows closely on the award of a 2015 AA Silver Star award for its high standards of hotel keeping, quality, hospitality, service and cleanliness.

The Suffolk Carbon Charter is administered by Groundwork East of England and overseen by the Environment Agency and Suffolk County Council on behalf of the Suffolk Climate Change Partnership. For more information visit www.greensuffolk.org/charter.