As of 8th October some new legislation came in to force that makes application of the waste management hierarchy mandatory.  When waste is being transferred from one person to another a Waste Transfer Notice must be completed and, amongst other things, this must now include a declaration that that the waste management hierarchy has been applied.

So, what is the Waste Management Hierarchy?  It has taken many forms over the years but the basic concept is a process by which to incorporate waste minimisation strategies.  The aim is to help you establish the least environmentally damaging option for disposing of your waste, whereby the maximum practical benefits are derived from products, in turn generating the minimum amount of waste.  The new legislation therefore means that you are legally obliged to take all practicable steps to reduce, reuse or recycle your waste before deciding to dispose of it.

In implementing the waste management hierarchy, there are a number of options to be considered:

Reduce: generally considered to be the most cost-effective approach as this simply means using less, whether that is products or energy.  This can include the simple things like remembering to switch off lights, not leaving taps running or avoiding wastage of products purchased eg if they go out of date.  It also incorporates the minimisation of use of hazardous materials and the promotion of more biodegradable materials.

Reuse: where materials and products are reused, either by your own business or by other organisations.  This promotes the use of second hand equipment or machinery – just because a piece of equipment is no longer suitable for one company does not mean that it cannot be of use elsewhere.  Equally, try to avoid using disposable materials eg instead of using polystyrene cups for tea/coffee use durable and reusable mugs.  Also, if you have off-cuts, try to find another use for them, rather than just disposing of them

Recycle: where items that have reached the end of their useful life are separated out in to materials that may be incorporated in to new products.  This is different from Reuse in that energy is used to change the physical properties and reprocess the material.  It is usual for a waste management company to assist at this stage.

Recover Energy: where waste is used to generate energy or produce biofuel.  The aim is to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill by producing electricity, gas or heat through the use of thermal and non-thermal technology.

Disposal: to be considered as the very last resort.  Clearly, disposal to landfill or burning of waste without recovering the energy are the least sustainable options.

Quite apart from the legal requirement to apply the Waste Management Hierarchy it is proven that organisations that take a strategic approach to acting in a socially and environmentally conscious fashion will bring about financial benefits and improved bottom line results, as well as increasing their company image.

Andrew Bailey is Managing Director of Bailey Waste Recycling NI. For information on waste management solutions, or to arrange a Free Waste Audit, please contact BWR on 028 3834 1449, email admin@baileywaste.com or visit www.baileywaste.com.

The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute professional or other advice.

It is important for organisations to commit to substantial, long-range actions towards sustainability. It is not sufficient to focus on environmental problems in isolation: lower impacts in one area (such as less waste) may precipitate higher impacts in others (such as increased energy uptake and thus more greenhouse emissions). 

As mentioned in our previous article, there are many ways in which our running costs can be minimised whilst also benefiting the environment and the same can be said for procurement of the actual equipment too.

When Buying New Equipment

• First of all, do you really need a new machine or can you just maximise the potential of existing ones?  If you use networked printers this will enable you to run as few machines as possible.  You do not ‘need’ printers beside each desk – a short stroll to the printer is good for you and might even help to discourage people from printing unnecessarily.
• Challenge whether or not you really need other equipment that you may be considering e.g.
• Is a copier really necessary?  How much copying do you do?  Could the printer be used instead or perhaps outsourcing your requirements could prove to be more cost effective than buying and running a new machine.  Leasing is another option – the leaser is more likely to maintain the machine well, thus prolonging its lifespan and efficiency. Or better still, could your documents be distributed electronically rather than in hard copy?

• Why spend money on a new fax machine when you could make use of an internet fax service or utilise the fax function on individual computers?  This will reduce the amount of paper that you use as well as cut capital and operational costs down.

• Try to source equipment that scores highly on environmental ratings. It is not just the running costs of the machine when you have it that is important here but the environmental impact from the manufacturing methods.
• How many pages do you print/copy in an average document?  What do you really need?  The higher the speed the greater the capital and energy costs of the machine.
• Try to source machines with high capacity cartridges, thereby reducing the number of times the cartridges need to be replaced.
• Make sure you dispose of your old machines appropriately – they should be recycled and not just go to land fill.

All I suggest is that you think before you buy – questioning and considering the alternatives could save you money and lessen your businesses impact on the environment.

The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute professional or other advice.

Michael Quinn – Health, Safety & Environment Manager

Diana Boyd – Head of Premises

Samuel Adams – Printing Plant Manager

Running office equipment is expensive. In addition to the initial purchase or lease costs, there are ongoing costs for office consumables, staff time and waste disposal, all of which impact on your bottom line. So, it makes sound financial and environmental sense to find out how to use office equipment in more sustainable ways.

The buzz word nowadays is all about having a ‘paperless’ office and whilst this is a very admirable ambition, it is not always that feasible in practice. Yes, we should all be trying to reduce our impact on the environment, and certainly minimising the paper usage in the office is important, but it is not just about paper. There are some other simple things that you should be considering on a day to day basis to help you save money and the environment. These pointers are far from exhaustive but they are a good place to start:

• Use recycled paper whenever possible. Also, try to re-use paper that has only been printed on one side if you are printing draft documents or ones for internal use only. If you have 2 trays on your printer then you can designate one for draft paper.
• Make sure the duplex function is maximised and have double sided print set up as default on every computer.
• Recycle paper– make it easy for staff to recycle all paper that is being disposed of. If you are not currently recycling then it is likely that you are spending more money on waste disposal that you need to and you are also placing a greater strain on the environment.
  Make the most of your company website, reducing or eliminating the need for hard copy brochures being produced.
• Move to e-invoicing – not only will this reduce the paper and ink that you use but it will save you money on postage.
• Develop a well organised e-filing system with thorough back up systems to reduce the amount of hard copies that need to be printed.
• Set all computers up to print to draft quality by default, thereby using less ink. It is easy to manually change to high quality should you need to.
• When printing/copying set the default as black and not colour. Colour ink is generally more expensive and also uses more chemicals in its production.
• Always recycle empty cartridges or consider refilling them rather than buying new ones. Most manufacturers provide you with the wherewithal to return empty cartridges for recycling – make someone in your office responsible for making this happen.
• Make sure the power save option is enabled on all machines so that they automatically power down when they are not in use.
• In addition, make sure you switch off all equipment when it is not being used and don’t just leave it idling on standby. For example, remember that your laptop power cable is still using power when it is plugged in to the power supply, even if it is not attached to your computer. The same applies to most other machines, in a similar way to your TV at home still drawing power when it is on standby as opposed to being switched off completely. It may not be practical to switch things off during working hours but why not at night? Or you can try to schedule times that machines are switched on so that bulk print/copy runs can happen at certain times and the machine is switched off at other times.
• Try to extend the life of your office equipment by understanding how it works, taking care of it and getting it repaired as soon as a fault is noticed.

Lead by example and encourage those around you to buy in to the notion of championing the cause. Bad habits need to be broken and the new ‘greener’ behaviour embraced – it makes financial and environmental sense.

Our next article will provide some helpful tips on what to consider when buying new office equipment.

Andrew Bailey is Managing Director of Bailey Waste Recycling NI. For information on waste management solutions, or to arrange a Free Waste Audit please contact BWR on 028 3834 1449 or email admin@baileywaste.com.

The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute professional or other advice.

What many managers and businesses don’t understand is that waste has a commercial value – if you have the operational capability and market knowledge to sell it. Like most businesses there are economies of scale so volume is a big factor too when trading waste on the international market.

In today’s environment, there is both a moral and a legal obligation for you to manage your waste appropriately. Legally you must be compliant (harsh penalties await those who are not) and morally you are doing your bit for the environment, provided the waste is recycled correctly.
So, in at nutshell
a) Waste shouldn’t cost the Earth (the impact on our environment must be minimised)
b) Waste shouldn’t cost local businesses the earth (the cost to the business should and, more importantly, can be minimised)

Waste Management companies who operate legally, efficiently and on a large scale will have business models that allow their customers to share the benefits. We recommend that you open your mind to the savings that can be made in your business by reviewing your approach to waste. Trimming costs is more important now than ever before and a fresh approach (without compromising service or security) could mean big savings. By way of example, in order to help you meet your obligations under the Data Protection Act, at BWR we are able to offer a fully compliant confidential shredding service that is free of charge. The mechanic is that you pay a modest fee up front, we collect your paper over a period of time and when we have received 50 bags in total from you, you get all your money back. It is a win win – you get ALL your paper shredded and recycled (so no time wasted sorting through your paper to work out what should and shouldn’t be shredded as there is no cost impact on you). We get ALL your paper, which we then trade on the commodities market. At BWR we estimate that every ton of paper recycled saves 17 trees so not only are you saving money and meeting your legal obligations but you also have a positive impact on the environment.

With a reputable waste management organisation there should be no nasty surprises. They will, of course, need and want to make money but not at the expense of customer service and value or at a cost to the environment. Don’t ‘waste’ time thinking about it, review your processes now and reap the rewards.

For more information on waste management solutions please contact BWR on 028 3834 1449 or email admin@baileywaste.com. The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute professional or other advice.

The speaker line-up included 5-time Olympic Gold Medallist Sir Steve Redgrave; Former F1 Driver Eddie Irvine; Ulster, Ireland and Lions Rugby Player Stephen Ferris; Director of the Liverpool FC Academy Frank McParland and 2-time World Judo Masters Champion Dr Lisa Bradley.

Craigavon Borough Council’s Chief Executive, Dr Theresa Donaldson, commented: “Northern Ireland has always punched above its weight in terms of sport and has produced some of the world’s finest sporting talent. Through the Raise Your Game event, we can show local managers and leaders that they can do the same in business.”

The event was hosted by international leadership speaker Bryan Dunlop and was attended 120 local business people.