Capital bus tours given top award for green tourism

Edinburgh Bus Tours has received top recognition for sustainable best practice from the world's largest sustainable certification programme of its kind.

Edinburgh Bus Tours have landed a gold award. Picture; Steven Scott Taylor

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The Edinburgh-based company, which is part of Lothian Buses has been awarded a gold award.

Having recently invested £6.5m in a new fleet of hybrid tour buses, Edinburgh Bus Tours prides itself on its continued commitment to sustainability.

The all-new tour buses feature smaller engines for greater fuel efficiency and are now Euro 6 standard. The buses also have great facilities for wheelchair users enabling an all inclusive passenger tour experience.

As part of ongoing sustainable improvements Lothian Buses depots have also installed LED lighting, A‐rated boilers and a water saving system. While also enhancing its robust recycling scheme to divert waste away from landfill.

Speaking about the latest award Jon Proctor, chief executive of Green Tourism and assessor, said, “This is a huge achievement for the team at Edinburgh Bus Tours, their increased commitment to sustainability is evident in the new fleet of buses and this GOLD award is testament to that. Monitoring of energy, water, waste and fuel is very advanced and this has enabled the organisation to keep on top of long-term goals and meet targets.”

Commenting on the gold accolade, Emma Roy, Environmental Officer for Lothian Buses said: “We are delighted to once again be recognised for our commitment to reducing our impact on the local environment. Our new fleet of Euro 6 tour buses form part of our overarching environmental strategy, across the Lothian Buses family of businesses, to cut our carbon footprint by 42% in line with the Scottish Governments 2020 Climate Change targets.”