Circling around business waste

Liz Allen small (2)Liz Allen explains why a circular approach to business waste could benefit the environment and your bottom line…

(Coverage in Adjacent Government Magazine February 2017,  Page 200)

We have become used to the idea of recycling. We do it at home, and more businesses are recognising the financial benefits of waste segregation and recycling in the workplace. But is this enough? What ‘matchmaking’ could you do for your business waste? Could your unwanted waste material be just what someone else needs? Each time a material is recycled, its quality is generally reduced leading to a higher demand for virgin raw material.

According to Friends of the Earth, humans today extract and use around 50% more natural resources than 30 years ago – that’s about 60 billion tonnes a year. If we continue in the same way, the amount could be 100 billion tonnes of raw material by 2030. It’s not just the environmental problems associated with resource extraction, there are often social problems, such as human rights violations and poor working conditions linked with these industries which we should be taking into account.

“We are great at accumulating ‘stuff’, and apparently up to 80% of the products made are thrown away within the first six months. As a society, we have gotten used to wanting the latest trend and another bit of kit, but this cannot be sustainable”

Read the full article on page 200 of Adjacent Government Magazine February 2017

Liz Allen is an Environmental Consultant with Hosking Associates.