This week the government and the UK Marine Alliance launched a new initiative to raise the awareness of the important roll that the marine industry plays in the UK economy.

Business Minister and Co-chair of the Marine Industries Leadership Council Mark Prisk said

"Britain's marine industries are one of our best prospects for high value, high skilled economic growth. That's why we are launching the Marine Industries Growth Strategy to harness that potential and grow the industry by £8billion by 2020".

This sounds very exciting to me and this has a major positive impact on the UK electronics industry. Much of the manufacturing related to the marine industry is electronics based, from navigation & communication systems through to advanced control systems.

What's more, there is a great potential for the next generation as Lloyd's Register and the University of Southampton have already forged the largest university and business partnership of its kind in the UK.

The University's Vice-Chancellor Professor Don Nutbeam said:

"As a leading global centre of marine research and innovation, with strong links with maritime industries including SMEs and larger companies such as Lloyd's Register, we recognise the importance of establishing long-term relationships between business and academia. This approach ensures that university research is relevant to marine industries and that they in turn can benefit from our innovation. We therefore welcome this new strategy for sustainable growth."

This initiative, you will be pleased to here, is industry and not government lead. It is in my book a great example of how industry can get co-ordinated and then get the government to get excited about industry sectors that are often assumed to be dormant in the country.

This is very good news!

One thing that is good about big companies is their responsibility to society and, more specifically for the purpose of this blog, the environment.

The bigger the company the more pressure is put on them to show how much they care and want to make a positive difference. So let's look at who's been doing what in the connector industry to benefit the environment...

...Now, that's how the blog was supposed to go. However, after spending a lot of time searching for manufacturers with credible eco credentials, I was only able to find the following.

• Tyco Electronics, has just signed the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), further reinforcing the company's commitment to corporate responsibility and ethical business practices around the world.
• Molex has received the Earth Flag award from SCARCE (School & Community Assistance for Recycling & Composting Education), a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the DuPage County, Illinois community about conservation and recycling. The award-winning Earth Flag Certification Program was developed by SCARCE to help businesses become more environmentally responsible.
• Alpha Wire's new EcoWire is the latest innovation in hook-up wire. A true engineering breakthrough, EcoWire achieves increased performance in a wire that is fully recyclable.
  
  EcoWire derives its advantage from its unique insulation, a modified polyphenylene ether (mPPE) thermoplastic. mPPE-based insulation is non-halogenated and contains no heavy metal pigments, allowing it to help manufacturers meet Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) requirements.

I expected to find many more awards and plaudits given to big companies rewarding their efforts.  I would at this point welcome a correction so any reader that knows of a manufacturer with credible eco awards please do let me know.  

It is true everyone has great environmental policies and big statements on their websites but anyone can write an environmental policy with key values.  I like to see real measurable action.

So go-ahead let me know who else is doing great work out there!