Business Waste Management – What Your Business Can Do Better

Waste-Segregation-Middle-EastHave you ever wondered if your workplace has some policy regarding waste management that could be improved? Are you a business owner with the necessary awareness to manage a controlled environment where the production of waste is regulated or at least up to current standards? These are pretty valid questions in 2018, especially when corporate sensitivities are shifting to green initiatives and the adoption of energies due to the increasing requests of the world to regulate carbon emissions and save the planet. There are quite a few approaches to business waste management on corporate levels that can be adopted by your company depending on its size. We will be exploring the various options you need to consider for your business in 2018 and beyond.

Full-On Waste Audit

You should have your employees doing a permanent audit on the waste created by the operations of your company.  The procedure itself doesn’t take too long once they get educated. The trouble comes with finding out what your doing wrong and what you need your employees doing.  You can hire this part out or do the work yourself.

The basic motions required are the placement of differentiated bins to collect the consumables that are recyclable as well as the ones that need to be disposed of organically. Once it is all sorted out, it is up to maintenance to get rid of it using the proper methods.

Reduce Storage Packages

One of the most effective forms to save money and create less waste for a company is to switch to plastic containers for distribution. Single-use containers built with cardboard used to be one of the most significant expenses for many multinational corporations.

Many of them switched to plastic containers that need little maintenance and almost no replacement to take their products from one place to another. This is one of the easiest ways, especially in the beginning of your company transformation, to reduce your waste production. You may also consider using roll pallet cages to reduce wastage during storage and transportation process.

Implement a No-Paper Policy in your Company

One of the greatest things about technology is that it killed many physicals forms of communication that required paper. You no longer need to print a memo to inform someone about the new regulations in your office.

An email can do the trick just as good. Since internal servers are a thing in most companies these days, putting them to work within your internal communication is the key to environmental awareness. This measure can help you reduce paper consumption to huge heights on nearly anything that requires writing.  It can even save the company at least one-third of the annual budget on supplies.

Replace Water Coolers

Old fashioned water coolers work with plastic bottled water. This is an archaic method. Consider water filters that take the water directly from the pipes. There have been some technological advancements in the field for some time now and you don’t have to give a second thought to the quality of water these filters produce.

Another quick environmental hack is to diminish the use of paper cups by encouraging your employees to bring their own coolers from home or by placing the water filter in the resting room along with a few reusable glasses.

Motivate your Employees

Many of these initiatives have excellent intentions, and most of them get to be pretty successful if there are intent and discipline on behalf of your personnel to follow these directives. Oftentimes though, they may need a little push. Try to create incentive programs or rewards by departments when any of them fulfill the company’s goals to handle waste the right way.

An Interesting Case Study

It may be surprising but you can actually increase profit margins while transforming your company into an earth saving organization.  I want to leave you with an actual case study of a business in Woodstock Ga that increased profits 33% by implementing intelligent and sustainable waste management.

They began by utilizing an environmentally aware company for waste management in woodstock ga.  In collaboration, they transformed their use of paper and plastic to reduce expenses extensively.  They went nearly 99% paper free by utilizing custom online software and changing their infrastructure to use email wherever possible.  They continued their efforts by exchanging cardboard to plastic.  This made it easy to reuse containers in a few primary operations.

Conclusion

We hope you can learn from the various companies doing things right and that you spend some time thinking on the various operations that could be using reusable materials and conserving energy.  Thank you for your support of our home, planet Earth.

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About Salman Zafar

Salman Zafar is the Founder of EcoMENA, and an international consultant, advisor, ecopreneur and journalist with expertise in waste management, waste-to-energy, renewable energy, environment protection and sustainable development. His geographical areas of focus include Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe. Salman has successfully accomplished a wide range of projects in the areas of biomass energy, biogas, waste-to-energy, recycling and waste management. He has participated in numerous conferences and workshops as chairman, session chair, keynote speaker and panelist. Salman is the Editor-in-Chief of EcoMENA, and is a professional environmental writer with more than 300 popular articles to his credit. He is proactively engaged in creating mass awareness on renewable energy, waste management and environmental sustainability in different parts of the world. Salman Zafar can be reached at salman@ecomena.org or salman@bioenergyconsult.com

One Response to Business Waste Management – What Your Business Can Do Better

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