Waste reduction campaign aims to save firms money
Oct 01 2003
Environmental business advice programme Envirowise, along with the British Chambers of Commerce and the Institute of Directors, is launching a campaign to help companies reduce wastage and increase profits.
The new partnership intends to show businesses how being more efficient and less wasteful can lead to reduced overhead costs and therefore increased profit. Government-funded Envirowise claims its simple techniques to reduce waste can save businesses up to £1,000 per employee.
Dr Martin Gibson, manager of the Envirowise programme, believes every business can save money by introducing waste reduction measures, even if it is only a few hundred pounds a year, which he claims is a lot of money to a small business.
Obviously, methods of waste reduction will depend on the kind of business, but Gibson says a good starting point for all types of business is to ask themselves the following series of questions when using raw materials:
In this way, Envirowise is encouraging businesses to think about reducing and reusing materials before recycling. This will reduce both costs to the business and damage to the environment.
While Gibson still advocates recycling, he points out that the physical process of it often has a detrimental impact on the environment. By reducing paper use, say, by printing double-sided where possible, and reusing, as scrap paper or fax paper, the amount of paper you use can be cut dramatically. However, when paper is recycled it must be transported to a recycling centre, which itself takes energy to run.
Envirowise runs a number of initiatives for small businesses, including a freephone helpline, a series of sector specific guides and free full- and half-day visits to help establish a policy on reducing waste. For more information, visit www.envirowise.gov.uk or call 0800-585794. Also, take a look at our Environment section for more help on green matters.
(1/10/03)
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