The Green Government Project, recently ratified by the cabinet, has saved the government NIS 12.3 million ($3 million), a recent report by the Environmental Protection Ministry revealed.
As part of the project's pilot program, launched in 2011, the various ministries were asked to reduce water and power
consumption, increase recycling of paper products ,bottles and cans, as well as increase their use of eco-friendly office supplies by up to 25%.
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The report was presented to the cabinet prior to the vote on the regulations and rated the various ministries' compliance with the proposed measures and revealed that not all ministries were able to keep up.
The ministries found to be most environmentally friendly were the Environmental Protection Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and the Housing and Construction Ministry.
Cabinet meeting (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
The Finance and Health ministries ranked second, while the Defense, Transpiration and Religious Services ministries ranked third.
Fourth place was shared by the Water and Energy, Communications, Public Security, Science and Justice ministries, alongside the Culture and Sports Ministry and the Trade, Labor and Industry Ministry.
- The Immigration Absorption, Interior and Negev and Galilee Development ministries ranked fifths in eco efforts across the past year.
Venturing off the top five were the Prime Minister's Office and the Tourism Ministry, which ranked sixth.
The Agriculture Ministry and the Ministry for Senior Citizens failed to file performance reports altogether.
The new regulation now mandate ministries to increase their use of eco-friendly and biodegradable office supplies to 20% by 2020.
- The Environmental Protection Ministry plans to expand the project to included all State institutions and municipalities across Israel – a move likely to save the market tens of millions of shekels a year.