Our Environmental Plan
To show Centennial Park's dedication towards helping preserve the environment for future generations, we have produced a comprehensive Environmental Management Plan. This plan sets out our approach to ecologically sustainable development over the next three years. Key environmental objectives that will guide environmental management for the medium to long term include:
- A focus on ecologically sustainable development.
- Sustainable waste management focussing on waste minimisation and resource recovery.
- An Authority actively addressing climate change through low energy use.
- An Authority managing and using water resources sustainably.
- Effective conservation and enhancement of existing natural resources.
- Actively support third party suppliers with demonstrated environmentally sustainable practices.
Click on the image below to view our Environmental Management Plan.
Note: This file may take several minutes to download depending on the speed of your internet connection.
World Environment Day Awards
Centennial Park was named the winner of the Business Award category for Environmental Best Practice in the United Nations Association of Australia’s 2009 World Environment Day Awards.
Other finalists in its category were Toyota Australia and Australian Arrow.
Centennial Park’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Bryan Elliott, said the win was an endorsement of the cemetery’s position as the environmental leader in Australia’s cemetery industry.
“This win recognises the hard work and dedication that has gone into making Centennial Park as environmentally sustainable as possible,” he said.
“We are the first cemetery in Australia, and possibly the world, to manage our entire greenhouse gas emissions with a carbon offset scheme.
“We have chosen to absorb this cost rather than pass it on to families or make it an optional extra.
“Our staff have really embraced our environmental journey with many now making a more concerted effort to reduce their environmental footprint in their own homes.”
“We are continuing to examine how we can reduce our impact on the environment with the aim of being a world leader in our area.”
For further information regarding Centennial Park’s environmental journey please read on.
For furthur information regarding Centennial Park's environmental journey please read on.
Our Environmental Journey
Centennial Park offsets all of its carbon emissions with fully certified carbon credits. You can be assured that by choosing Centennial Park, you are choosing to help preserve the environment for future generations. The information below outlines the many ways that Centennial Park is contributing towards a greener world.
Did you know that on the day a cremation or burial takes place, the volume of carbon dioxide produced is four times higher for cremation than for burial?*
But did you also know that when the long-term environmental footprint is considered, burials have a 10% greater impact than cremations?*
Neither did we, until we conducted an 18 month greenhouse gas emissions audit and became ‘Carbon Measured’.
Burial has a greater longer-term impact than cremation because it is a more labour and resource intensive process, consumes more fuels and produces larger quantities of waste.
At Centennial Park we now measure and offset all of our greenhouse gas emissions with certified carbon credits. This includes all cremations, burials and funeral services as well as operational emissions from our administration building, garden maintenance, vehicles and equipment.
The certified carbon credits that Centennial Park purchases are used in three areas, out lined below:
- Carbon Saving GHF (Greenhouse Friendly) and NGACs (NSW Greenhouse Abatement Certificate). These are generated from shower-head and light bulb replacement programs in New South Wales and are administered under the GGRS (NSW Government’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Scheme). One NGAC represents one tonne of CO2 saved from entering the atmosphere.
- Forestry Sequestration NGACs. These are sourced from within NSW via Forests NSW. These certificates represent a tonne of CO2 that has been “removed” from the atmosphere and will be stored for 100 years. The land that the forests have been cultivated upon must have been cleared prior to 1990 and should anything happen to the trees themselves in the 100-year period, then carbon credits must be replaced from an alternative source.
- Methane Destruction GHF & NGAC. Under these certificates the application of advanced flaring technology and the burning of waste gas means that harmful methane is unable to escape into the atmosphere. It should be noted that Methane is said to be 20 times worse on the environment than CO2 hence the reason it is burned off.
This makes us ‘Carbon Managed’.
Centennial Park is committed to being environmentally sustainable and we have a dedicated Environmental Management Plan. In recent years we have reduced our energy consumption, operational waste, vehicle emissions and reliance on mains water.
Due to these efforts, Centennial Park has been certified as ‘Carbon Minimising’.
Recycling
Centennial Park has reduced operational waste sent to landfill by more than 97% — from 260 tonnes to 7 tonnes each year. This has been achieved by introducing recycling bins for our green waste, waste metals (ferrous and non ferrous), plastics, glass, cardboard and paper, polystyrene and concrete. We also now recycle all fluorescent globes.
Around 3000 tonnes of leftover soil is generated from burials each year and is now re-used within our gardens instead of being sent to landfill.
Energy
We have also reduced energy consumption by 9%.
Our high wattage light bulbs have been replaced with low wattage energy saving globes and staff understand the benefits of turning off lights, air-conditioning, computers and other appliances when not in use.
We have installed motion sensor lights and timed water pumps as well as solar panels on the roof of our administration building. We have replaced some cars with electric vehicles and we now use bio-diesel and bio-ethanol for other vehicles and machinery.
Water
Centennial Park has always used water responsibly. We have two bores for watering our gardens as well as a sub-surface drip irrigation system.
More recent measures include waterless urinals, dual flush toilets, water softeners (reducing water flow by more than 75%) and the removal of unnecessary taps. Possible future projects include storm water harvesting.
Centennial Park is looking positively towards a greener future and we have plans to reduce our carbon footprint even further.
As this takes place, Centennial Park’s environmental journey will continue.
* These measurements are specific to Centennial Park’s procedures and may vary between cemeteries.