Cleaner Safer Group (CSG) held its first conference, ‘Innovating for a Sustainable Tomorrow’, at the National Self Build and Renovation Centre in Swindon on 14 November.
According to a statement, over 40 industry representatives were in attendance, including manufacturers, industry bodies, local government representation and sector professionals.
CSG stated that it will build on the work of its sister organisations HETAS and Woodsure, bringing together each organisation’s resources, expertise and stakeholders.
After an introduction from Kaye Welfare, Cleaner Safer Group’s chair, Calvin May, HETAS head of technical services, gave a presentation on the solid fuel industry’s current progress, HETAS developments and CSG’s mission for the future.
Alan Young, HETAS quality assurance manager, continued the theme of looking ahead and examined the areas that drive change within the biomass and solid fuel industries.
Jason Harries, head of Woodsure, and Helen Bentley-Fox, director of Woodsure, rounded off the presentations with an examination of the current wood fuel sector. Both looked at where the sector needs to be and ways in which industry collaboration can encourage compliance as global developments continue to arise, such as the expected legislative updates to the EU Deforestation.
The statement said that the presentations were followed by breakout sessions, which saw industry leaders and experts from a variety of fields come together, ideate and inform one another.
The topics of cross-sector collaboration and a more unified message across the solid fuel and biomass industries remained a hot topic, it noted, with many agreeing that this kind of unification is what is needed to drive change and deliver a more sustainable and robust sector that is united in championing cleaner and safer choices.
Kaye Welfare rounded off the conference. She said: “It was my pleasure to introduce Cleaner Safer Group to our attendees and I am incredibly pleased by the responses we received. We are looking forward to building on the strong foundations of HETAS and Woodsure to evolve, expand, and innovate.
“Collaborative efforts are the foundation of change, and this event demonstrated the passion for that across our industries. I hope we can continue to build on that passion and use it to work together for a cleaner, safer, and more sustainable environment.”