Tips to Reduce Waste for All Types of Companies

Waste is a problem for all companies and the environmental impact of waste if it’s not managed correctly can be disastrous. With that in mind, it’s essential for all companies, regardless of the sector they operate in, to reduce their waste as much as possible. There are some simple steps that companies can take, which can really benefit them and improve their environmental impact. In this piece, we’ll look at three key areas companies can target to reduce their waste.

Smart Manufacturing

Being smart about the way parts are produced is crucial in modern-day manufacturing. One of the most significant contributors to waste is excess material which can’t be used for another purpose and has to be disposed of. Even recycling materials such as metal uses energy. Manufacturing companies can use smarter techniques to reduce the amount of material waste with systems such as CAD. Computer-aided design allows companies to use machines to produce very accurate and intricate designs by fitting lots of shapes closely together into one piece of material, such as a metal. This means that more can be produced with less material as the machining is using the material more efficiently.

Reduce Plastic Usage

Plastic is one of the most significant issues for a variety of companies. It has become a massive part of our daily life and changing these habits is challenging but not impossible. One way to reduce plastic usage and was, which is very simple, is to stop supplying employees with plastic cups to use when drinking from water fountains. These single-use plastics are extremely bad for the environment and contribute significantly to damaging waste. The obvious solution to replace plastic cups is to provide employees with reusable water bottles that they can refill and use for years. Another area where plastic waste, particularly for manufacturing companies, can be reduced is through product packaging. Making sure the product is safe is clearly the priority, but the overall plastic volume in packaging can and should be reduced.

Recommended Read: How to Make Your Business More Environmentally Friendly

Don’t Be So Reliant On Paper

Companies in all areas have become increasingly reliant on paper. Not only is this problematic from a production point of view, with the energy needed to produce paper, but it can be damaging for the environment if the paper used is not recycled correctly. There are, therefore, two ways companies can improve in this area. Firstly, using less paper in general by moving to electronic forms of communication and note-taking. In meetings, for example, don’t print out the agenda or notes from a previous meeting, send them electronically to all in attendance. Furthermore, if you need to communicate to a large number of employees, don’t put a paper notices up on boards around the workplace, send out a company email instead.

The second area is to improve the availability of recycling bins around the workplace. Staff will learn to use recycling bins for paper very quickly if they are presented with the opportunity to do so. In offices where there is a printer it makes sense to put a recycling bin right next to the printer, as pages will be printed with mistakes on, so having a recycling bin immediately available will stop paper going into general waste. Similarly, as lots of note-taking happens at people’s desks, place recycling bins close by so that any paper notes can be disposed of correctly.

Overall, it should be a priority for any company to reduce their waste, and by focusing on the three areas listed above, they can start to do so.

This piece was written in collaboration with EDM Zone, a company that has taken reducing their waste seriously. You can find out more about EDM Zone here.