Eurostar has laid claim to be the greenest train operator by unveiling plans to be completely carbon neutral when it moves from Waterloo to St Pancras.
From 14 November, when the first service leaves St Pancras, Eurostar will offset all emissions from its trains to Brussels and Paris.
It announced plans to cut its carbon dioxide emissions per passenger by 25 per cent by 2012, and unveiled a "Tread Lightly" initiative that will transform how it handles waste on its trains.
Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown said it would go carbon neutral by working with environmental organisations to offset all carbon dioxide emissions.
He said the operator will cut emissions by reducing power consumption on its rolling stock, making better use of train capacity, installing energy meters on trains, and sourcing more electricity from lower emission generators, possibly abroad.
The Tread Lightly initiative includes a 10-point plan to cut Eurostar's environmental impact by reducing the consumption of raw materials, sourcing responsibly and recycling more waste.
It hopes the plan will be implemented within three years in the UK, Belgium and France. As well as cutting carbon emissions, the plan involves:
• Recycling all on-board waste, including food.
• Recycling waste from stations, offices and the Temple Mills maintenance depot, with the goal of zero disposal to landfill and with 80 per cent of waste to be recycled by 2009.
• Improving energy efficiency of lighting, heating and mechanical plant at stations and depots.
• Developing a Ôswitch-off' culture and procuring electricity from greener sources of energy.
• Reusing water from train-washing at Temple Mills and investing in rainwater collection to reduce consumption.
• Reducing paper use by switching to e-tickets and bar code ticketing downloaded to mobile phones.
•Ensuring on-board disposable items are biodegradable or fully recyclable.
•Refurbishing or recycling used staff uniforms.
• Sourcing on-train food from local sources, including organic suppliers, in UK, France or Belgium wherever available, or Fairtrade for overseas supplies.
Speaking at the Railway Forum's conference on sustainability, on the day Eurostar launched its plan, Mr Brown admitted he was "not entirely sure" of the details of how the operator would cut its emissions by 25 per cent.
But he said it could become carbon neutral by offsetting all carbon dioxide emissions. Offsetting involves investing in tree planting or renewable energy, and Mr Brown said Eurostar would bear the full cost rather than passing it on to customers.
Eurostar could "shop around" for electricity because it was international, so could source it from outside the UK, he added.
Mr Brown said recycling of waste on trains would help promote rail because customers would see the action being taken.
"It is time for the transport industry to do more to tackle climate change, instead of claiming that it makes a minimal contribution to global warming, or simply blaming other industry sectors," he said.
"More and more people are looking to minimise their carbon footprint. Our consumers are looking to us for a solution."
The scheme was endorsed by Stuart Rose, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, who said all staff were encouraged to travel by rail rather than plane.
Transport 2000 executive director Stephen Joseph said Eurostar's plan went "beyond anything airlines were doing".