The number of Blue Chip UK firms adopting a standardised approach to environmental management has climbed 10 per cent since 2006, according to new research from standards body BSI British Standards.

Released today to mark World Standards Day, BSI's survey of 100 companies on the FTSE 250 companies found that 81 per cent of respondents have now implemented a standardised environmental management system, such as BSI's ISO 14001 which sets out guidelines for how firms should develop, manage and monitor a company-wide environmental policy.

A spokeswoman for BSI said that the organisation was now responding to growing demand for environment-related standards, as more and more firms seek to embrace green best practices, and was aiming to launch a number of new standards in the coming months.

PAS 2050, setting out specifications for measuring full lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from goods and services, will be launched at the end of the month, while sustainable event management standard BS8901 will be published in November and PAS 2020 for reducing the impact of direct mail marketing will be published in December of January.

"They have all been greeted really enthusiastically by businesses," said the spokeswoman. "Sustainability and the environment are really biog topics for BSI and we'll continue to develop more standards in this area."