Warships might be the last thing you'd expect heralded as environmentally friendly, but defence firm BAE Systems is claiming exactly that.

Changing the way they have painted the Type 45 anti-air warfare destroyer, Govan-based BAE Systems have saved tens of thousands of pounds and enough paint to cover 12 football pitches.

Solvent-based paint has been replaced by a powder-coating process for component parts of the ship, cutting down the amount of solvents emitted into the atmosphere.

At the same time, water and epoxy-based paints are being used instead of solvent based ones for other parts of the ship, leading to greater levels of recycling. This has cut the levels of landfill waste they produce by 326 tonnes a year.

As a result of the changes, BAE Systems are saving 12,600 litres of paint in the Type 45 programme alone and have reduced emissions by 10 tonnes a year. Their efforts have earned them Business Commitment to the Environment UK Best Practice Award.

"This new method not only saves us time and money but is also more environmentally-friendly, which is a huge bonus," said Fred Stephenson, BAE Systems surface fleet solutions outfit manager. He added: "The days of workers using a tin of paint and brush are long gone."

As well as these improvements, the Type 45 destroyers will be the most fuel-efficient ships of the Royal Navy, capable of going 7000 nautical miles without refuelling - the equivalent of travelling from Portsmouth to New York and back again.

BAE Systems, is hoping to expand its environmental awareness by introducing the new paint processes to its other programmes.