Waste Reduction for Business

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Waste Reduction for Business

• Bob Sutcliffe CIWM
• Environmental Efficiency Consultants
• Bray, Co. Wicklow
• 01 276 1428

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Why reduce waste

• Disposal of waste may be a substantial cost of
  your business
• Real cost of waste often 5 20 times the cost of
  disposal
• Most waste reduction programme paybacks lt1 year
• Waste audits minimum saving 1 of turnover
• International experience savings 5 to 10 of
  turnover

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What is waste

• If we think of waste as just what goes out in the
  skip, then we are only seeing part of the story
• Waste is the inefficient use of resources

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Cost of waste

• When to get a skip lifted, you are paying
  for     
• lifting the skip and
• disposal charges
• Packaging prohibited from landfill
•  
• But you are also paying for
• cost of the material bought
• cost of storing the material
• work carried out on the material

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Waste minimisation

• Is reducing waste at source.
• The focus is
• business efficiency,
• reducing raw material use,
• making more from less and
• reducing the volume and hazard of emissions

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What is a waste audit

• Means accounting for waste
• Identifies the cost of waste
• Identifies the sources of waste

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How do you reduce waste

• Two ways
• Fast track
• Gives quick results
• Will encourage a greater effort
• Wont uncover all waste, only the tip of the
  iceberg
• Systematic approach using
• Process flow sheets
• Cause effect diagrams
• Takes more time, but will yield greater savings
• Could lead to paralysis by analysis

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Fast track - 1

• Walk around site, look
• at skips
• around the back
• in stores for old materials
• at spills from conveyors
• at hoses and taps left running
• at unoccupied areas
• at shop floor after production staff left for the
  day

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Fast track - 2

• Question what you find
• What is this
• Why do we do this way
• How do other people do it
• Why do we use so much
• How much should we be using

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People dont say waste

• sounds bad so they call it

.to give it an air of respectability
acceptability this is all waste - should be
reduced or eliminated
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Fast track -3

• For each type of waste
• Estimate cost of disposal per week/month
• Estimate purchase cost of material
• Estimate cost of any labour/added value
• Total the cost of waste

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Fast track - 4

• Identify some priorities
• Where the largest waste cost is
• Where the easiest solutions are
• Make an action plan
• Agree who to project manage
• Report back
• Measure the improvements

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Examples of fast track savings - 1

• For Environmental Efficiency, largest waste was
  paper printed only on one side.
• Cost of waste is
• Disposal charge
• Cost of buying paper
• Cost of printing the paper

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Examples of fast track savings - 2

• Understand existing process ask why
• Two types of paper use
• For reports and letters for issue to clients
• For internal communication, drafts of reports,
  internal manuals and procedures
• Two most used printers in office
• Colour laser, default printer (used for nearly
  everything)
• Monochrome laser (only used when colour printer
  down or too long a print queue)

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Examples of fast track savings - 3

• Disposal charge
• green bags at 4.80 each, 5 bags a week, waste
  paper 60 volume of bag), 720 year
• Value of paper thrown out
• Annual accounts show printing consummables
  14,000
• Assume 50 paper, 50 cartidges
• Assume only 50 paper goes to client, rest is
  waste 3,500
• Total cost 4,200 (6 times disposal charge)

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Examples of fast track savings - 4

• All waste paper segregated
• used one side, used both sides
• Used both sides sent for recycling
• small fee for lift
• monochrome printer
• loaded used one side paper
• Set as default for all users except Admin
• Colour printer only for finished reports to
  clients

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Examples of fast track savings - 5

• Savings
• Disposal 720 less lift fee 140 580
• Paper purchase, 1,750
• Cost per page less with monochrome, 800
• Total saving 3,130

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Update to office savings

• Duplex unit bought for colour laser
• Significant reduction in paper used
• Reports that were too big for stapling can now be
  stapled
• Saving cost of binding and time to bind
• Significant saving on postage
• All internal memos emailed
• Reduction in printing

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Systematic approach 1

• Create a flow diagram for each process showing
• Inputs to process
• Outputs from process
• Cost each of the outputs

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Systematic approach 2

• Identify causes of waste
• Look at Best Practice in other industries
• Look at web sites
• www.environment-agency.gov.uk/netregs
• talk to others in your industry
• Brain storming
• Cause and effect diagrams

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Examples of waste savings 1a

• 47 t water used to generate 12 t steam!

Steam 12 t/d
from softener
Boiler
47 t/d
100 C
Blowdown - negligable
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Examples of waste savings 1b

• A supercial look at waste may have just focused
  on disposal of the water treatment chemical bags
• Solutions based on this focus may have been
• buy water treatment chemicals in bulk
• use more concentrated chemicals

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Examples of waste savings 1c

• The more systematic approach yields much larger
  savings
• By identifying a fault in a valve the excessive
  use of water is corrected thus giving
• Saving in chemicals
• Saving in water charges
• Saving in water disposal charges

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Common saving areas

• Water usage
• Energy usage
• Catering
• Stationary
• Compressed air

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Water usage

• Most companies can achieve a 20 to 50 reduction
  in water usage
• You need to measure your SWC
• (SWC Specific Water Consumption)
• Compare your SWC with best practice
• For offices
• best practice 7 litres/person day
• Average practice 50 litres/person day

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How to save water

• Fit spray heads to taps
• Fit push button taps
• Timers on urinals
• Fit triggers to hoses
• Reduce the water pressure
• Fit undersink heaters

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Energy usage 1

• Most companies can achieve a 10 to 30 reduction
  in energy usage
• You need to measure your SEC
• Compare your SEC with best practice

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Energy usage 2

• Best Practice
• Office lighting, best 12 kWh/m2, average 46
  kWh/m2
• New offices heating, best 65 kWh/ m2
• Refurbished office, best 164 kWh/ m2

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How to save energy

• Replace old inefficient light fittings
• 8 foot flourescent tubes very inefficient
• Halogen lights, most inefficient
• Enable the power saving features on photocopiers
  and PCs
• Insulate hot water tanks
• http//www.irish-energy.ie

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Summary 1

• You could save at least 1 of turnover, this goes
  straight to the bottom line
• Profitability 10, increase profits by 10
• Profitability 3, increase profits by 33

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Summary 2

• Dont just look at costs of disposal
• Ask why is it in the skip
• Can it be re-used, recycled, returned
• How can we minimise the use
• Look at what others are doing
• Look at best practice
• Measure inputs and outputs

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What next

• Visit a good web site
• http//www.environment-agency.gov.uk/netregs/ and
  look at the management guidelines.
• Do a waste audit