When it comes to business, many believe a choice has to be made between the economy and the environment. The Greens have long argued that no such choice needs to be made.

In short, greening business can be good for the economy, creating many new jobs, and good for the environment. And Brighton has the potential to be a real hub for innovative green business.

Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting Tiger Enterprise Ltd on Marina Way. Tiger are specialists in recycling and reusing hundreds of tonnes of building material, material that otherwise would just be a part of the 20 million tonnes of construction, demolition and excavation waste that gets dumped in landfill sties every year.

Tiger lead a group of successful, innovative, green businesses that have made a success out of re-using material.

Others of note include Furniture Now, a project dedicated to recycling furniture across East Sussex, and B&H Wood Recycling project on Circus St, who recycle 1000 tonnes of wood year and generate a turnover of £110,000, becoming a model for similar schemes across the UK in the process.

It's unacceptable that millions of tonnes of potentially reusable material gets cast off to rot in landfill sites year upon year when companies such as these are boosting the economy by making good use of them.

We're therefore committed to fighting to make sure the law is changed so that recyclable material has to be reused, and to providing the necessary support and investment to companies like Tiger who provide these vital services. 

Supporting local business is vital, and something that our 13 Councillors here in Brighton and Hove have a track record of doing. Just a few days ago, for example, they won a freeze on licence fees for stalls at farmers markets and street trading, against Conservative proposals to raise them by 10%. Brighton urgently needs more jobs in thriving local businesses - and that's what we're committed to achieve.