During times of economic uncertainty and staggering consumer
confidence levels, companies seek alternative measures to
increase business sustainability. Businesses incur additional
costs to cover operational expenses; however, companies
unintentionally waste their revenue on excess supplies and
inefficient policies. Sustainable businesses generate additional
revenue through targeting environmentally conscious customers,
and reducing consumption, reusing materials, and disposing of
waste responsibly.
The State of Garbage
Business sustainability counteracts the materialistic nature of
modern societies that creates an addiction to garbage and waste.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the United
States department dedicated to municipal waste (MSW) management,
businesses generate 45 percent of the total waste in the country.
According to data taken from the "State of Garbage in America"
survey in 2006, the country generates 413,014,732 tons of garbage
per year; however, only 35.5 percent (146,601,768 tons) of the
waste is recycled or reused. The remaining 64.5 percent (146,
601,768 tons) can be found in one of 1,800 landfills nationwide,
which defeats business sustainability efforts.
Waste in Relation to Business Sustainability
In order to build business sustainability one must plan and
allocate resources according to current needs. The type of waste
businesses produce depends upon the industry; however, common
categories include paper products, electronics and machinery,
hazardous waste, non-renewable energy, as well as expired
products. According to the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory,
office workers use 10,000 sheets of paper per year; however, only
66 percent of office paper is recycled and reused. It is
pertinent to utilize recycled products within the business to
increase resource efficiency.
While recycling rates remain steady for paper products, business
sustainability struggles to control electronic waste (otherwise
known as eWaste). With the rapid development and innovation of
computers, printers, and other office machinery, businesses are
constantly replacing outdated, slow, or broken equipment. Due to
the chemical composition of the equipment, the items cannot be
placed into landfills and require special handling to correctly
dispose of the parts. Electronics are by nature nonrenewable
investments; however, there are methods by which companies can
recycle them.
Managing Business Waste
In an effort to increase business sustainability, businesses
utilize a variety of techniques, including source reduction,
recycling, composting, waste to energy incineration, and
landfills. Most businesses attempt to recycle their materials;
however, it requires internal and municipal coordination, which
adds administrative costs, and diminishes savings. Businesses can
offset the cost and improve sustainability efforts by using
recycled products within their organization, such as printer
paper.
Internal sustainability efforts are complemented by municipal
services, who compost or incinerate materials to offset the
expanding landfills. Current business sustainability efforts are
band-aids to larger problems. Source reduction prevents waste
from entering the ecosystem by reducing the number of resources
businesses utilize. Source reduction enables businesses to
increase sustainability by changing internal manufacturing and
purchasing policies.
Increasing ROI Through Source Reduction
The costs to administer aggressive source reduction campaigns are
offset by the long-term savings on operational expenses. Source
reduction is based on the principle of a zero-waste ecosystem in
which businesses use every resource that is purchased. Companies
spend billions of dollars each year on products that are not
used, expired, diminished, stolen, or liquidated. Every
manufactured good has a set shelf life, including ink cartridges,
pens, and paper. Additionally, discarding empty printer
cartridges and broken electronics creates unnecessary hazardous
waste. Cost reduction and business sustainability initiatives
counteract these issues by obtaining extended warranties for
electronics and utilizing printer cartridge refill services.
Reducing Waste in the Workplace
Cost reduction indicates most businesses spend large sums of
money to buy office supplies in bulk. It is estimated that
businesses waste one-third of these goods due to expiration or
loss, which defeats any bulk discounts one would receive from
vendors. Additionally, the supplies take up valuable warehouse
space that could otherwise be reallocated. To effectively reduce
waste, analyze company purchasing policies and contracts, noting
areas of concern. Exceptions apply to these policies, as vendor
agreements vary depending on their business sustainability
practices.
Review company financial records, inventory databases, and
purchase orders to determine the amount and rate of materials
consumption. Monitor print and copy logs to verify the average
number of pages printed per month and adjust toner and paper
orders to reflect usage. Toner cartridges provide an estimated
number of copies it can produce. When developing waste reduction
plans, inventory the warehouse and sort them based on expiration
date, using the oldest supplies first.
Implement Waste Reduction Programs
Cost reduction programs are key to increasing ROI and business
sustainability. While every employee will not "go green"
willingly, everyone is motivated by "the other" green -
revenue. Form a committee at the corporate level and develop a
sustainability plan, outlining goals and objectives of the
operation while creating deadlines for major milestones. Once a
basic plan is established, create a task force at the employee
level, appointing two executives as the project managers.
The executive committee oversees the task force and communicates
with the project managers, who work directly with business
sustainability strategists. The task force will develop a mission
statement that is aligned with corporate figures and creates a
program outline that addresses the various goals and objectives.
Task force members actively survey all of the waste generated by
the company. By highlighting the problem employees realize the
economic and environmental impact of the waste.
Through aggressive internal ad campaigns and memoranda the entire
company will become aware of these issues. Business
sustainability and cost reduction efforts increase profitability
while positioning the organization as nvironmentally friendly.
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