Business Waste

For businesses, waste minimisation achieves the following:

• Reduces the generation of waste and pollution
• Conserves resources
• Reduces waste disposal costs

For many companies, the potential financial savings provide sufficient stimulus to embark on a waste minimisation project. Other companies view compliance with the regulations as equally important. By implementing a waste minimisation and recycling programme, your business can start to reduce the amount of waste it is sending to landfill, saving money on waste disposal and increasing profitability.

Getting Started

The first step towards minimising waste and saving money is getting to know your waste and what it is costing. You should ask yourself the following questions before embarking on a waste minimisation project:

• How well do you know your waste?
• Do you know what is in your skip and why it is there?
• Do you know where in your processes raw materials are being used or wasted?
• Do you know what happens to your product once your customer has finished with it?
• Do you understand the hidden costs in purchasing, transporting, storing, sorting and removing what is eventually thrown away?

The following eight steps are useful in initiating your project:

• Set up a project team.
• Observe where waste is created in your business.
• Measure your waste.
• Think of ideas to reduce waste.
• Work out the costs and benefits of implementing your ideas.
• Implement those ideas that will bring greatest benefit to your company.
• Measure the difference.
• Review your progress.

Advice on Common Business Wastes

Waste	Advice
Batteries	Buy rechargeable batteries, or appliances that use mains electricity.Rechargeable batteries often contain hazardous metals, so look for ones without mercury or cadmium. From 26th September, 2008 retailers and manufacturers must provide facilities for the free take back of batteries. Never place batteries in your waste disposal or recycling bins
Cars and vehicles (ELVs)	Consider low-emission and easily recycled vehicles for your fleet. Provide employee incentives for car sharing, or walking and cycling to work. Assign company cars only where necessary. Avail of permitted ELV recovery facilities for depositing ELVs. Many old vehicles are abandoned each year. However, on average 75% of a vehicle is currently recyclable. Vehicles should always be kept in a manner which does not cause environmental pollution and taken by the registered owner for destruction at the end of their life.
Chemicals, paint and oils	Regularly review systems to minimise waste and ensure safety. Use a specialist waste collector to remove residual waste from hazardous chemicals, paints and oils.Wherever possible, substitute non hazardous alternatives for hazardous chemicals. Always, follow relevant health and safety advice. Speak to the Health and Safety Authority for further advice on chemical safety.
Office furniture	Your old furniture may be very useful to someone else. Donate unwanted items where possible.Local charity shops, schools, and community groups can sometimes use unwanted items. Make sure all furniture is clean and in good repair before you donate it.
Glass	Businesses should not put waste glass into Cork County Council glass banks.
Clinical waste	Clinical waste is usually incinerated, rather than recycled. Occupational hygiene and sanitary waste at work should be disposed of according to health and safety guidance from the HSA. High waste management costs can often be reduced by putting safe systems in place for segregating clinical from other wastes.
Metals	Place can recycling points by office vending machines. Segregate metal waste at source and arrange for collection by a local recycling company. Metals are usually classed as either ferrous (iron and steel) or non-ferrous (aluminium, copper, lead). This can be tested by using a magnet. Crisp wrappers (metallised plastic film) cannot be recycled. Metallised plastic springs back when scrunched. Note that businesses processing or handling metal waste should hold a waste management permit, as required by the Waste Management Acts, 1996-2003 and Waste Management Permit Regulations, 1998.
Paper and cardboard	Backdoor packaging waste from commercial premises must be recycled. Speak to your waste management contractor. Reuse cardboard boxes, or buy second-hand boxes for packaging. Shred waste paper for use as filling. Use scrap paper for notebooks in the office. If you read newspapers, recycle them after use. Alternatively, read news online. Set your printer to print double sided, and buy recycled paper.
Plastic	Buy in bulk to reduce packaging, and arrange for take-back of packaging by your supplier where possible. Reuse plastic containers for storage. Ask your supplier to use returnable crates where appropriate. There are over 50 different types of plastic. Plastic packaging waste can be often be recycled. However, plastic containers that have contained paints and dangerous chemicals cannot always be recycled. Contact your waste contractor for further information.
Lighting	Install cut-off switches in rooms that are not often used. Fit switches that turn on tubes slowly, which will prolong their life. Buy low-energy light bulbs, or use natural daylight wherever possible. Keep blinds open and windows clean. The contents of one fluorescent tube can pollute 30,000 litres of water. Many are inadvertently landfilled each year. Some waste contractors specialise in the recycling of fluorescent tubes, sodium street lamps and low-energy bulbs.
Timber/wood	Use returnable or hired pallets. Note that wood packaging is one of the materials that falls within the scope of the Packaging Regulations, 2003. The disposal of wood in landfill sites causes problems, as it is often bulky and decomposes slowly. Look for products made out of recycled or renewable wood sources.
Waste electronics	Try to repair broken items rather than throw them away. Buy durable items with long lifecycles. Under the Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment Regulations 2005 all manufacturers are obliged to provide for the recycling of electrical/electronic equipment. Accordinly, such equipment can be recycled for free at Council civic amenity sites.  Mobile phones, toners and printer cartridges can be recycled through phone retailers and charities such as Oxfam.