Waste Management

Best practices

Total product redesign - diaper manufacturer

A diaper company applies cradle-to-cradle principles to its products It creates a reusable, disposable and partly biodegradable diaper gDiapers, a company producing diapers (nappies) decided to reduce the environmental impact of its products. Indeed, diapers are largely made of synthetic materials...
Best practices

Total product redesign - cleaning products

Clever 'post-mix' cleaners Company rethought its domestic cleaning products to reduce waste and costs They changed the composition and packaging of the product Replenish, a company producing domestic cleaning products, wanted to rethink its products to better meet consumers’ needs. The firm observed...
Best practices

Caterpillar paves the way in heavy machinery remanufacturing

Long history of sustainability on display Clever scheme to promote end-of-life product remanufacturing Almost no waste sent to landfill, and huge reductions in energy and water use Caterpillar is an American heavy machinery- and engine-maker with a strong brand and long history in remanufacturing...
Best practices

Making a waste prevention plan

Cutting waste in a systematic way will help SMEs to reduce cost and save material. A special waste-prevention plan will be very helpful in introducing such a systematic approach. It helps to understand where resources are used, where waste is generated, and to find and prioritise waste-reducing and...
Best practices

Waste has a value through industrial symbiosis

Industrial symbiosis is an association between two or more industrial facilities or companies in which the waste or by-products of one become the raw materials for another. This is usually done for both commercial and environmental reasons. It involves a collective approach to competitive advantage...
Best practices

Optimised packaging: reusable, lighter, biodegradable

Packaging protects and preserves products and ensures that they arrive in perfect condition. But producing packaging also consumes resources and disposing of it results in a large amount of waste, especially in the growing online trade. This is an economic and an environmental burden. Packaging and...
Best practices

Improving office management to reduce waste

Every office generates waste such as paper, cardboard, packaging, bottles, disposable plates, cups, cutleries, towels, food waster, etc. A 'wasteful' company typically has higher material and waste-disposal costs. So efforts to cut back on office waste can save your company money. There are several...
Best practices

Systematic monitoring of material efficiency and productivity

Good monitoring and management are vital to reigning in energy costs and carbon emissions. Measuring and tracking resource use (energy, water and raw materials) is a key skill that all organisations should master, regardless of size or sector. It can help to identify patterns of wasteful behaviour...
Best practices

Improving accounting of materials and energy using TOP 20 method

Traditional accounting systems are not routinely designed to provide companies with information about total costs related to the use of resources and generation of waste and emissions. When a company is able to calculate and allocate costs on so-called non-product outputs, it can better monitor the...
Best practices

Top 20 analysis saves energy and materials at Austrian cable company

The right balance makes a difference Top 20 analysis highlights where immediate energy and materials savings can be made Optimising the software on a heat pump saves about 20 000 kWh of electricity per year HAASE Gesellschaft m.b.H. is a producer of high-temperature, low-sag energy cables and rope...
Best practices

Improving material and energy use through better accounting in packaging production

Three ways to lose money... one way to stop it TOP 20 analysis highlights significant material and energy losses in packaging manfacture Measures taken to improve boiler, insulate buildings and rethink production (design and technology) FILL-PACK is a company operating in the Czech Republic with...
Best practices

Implementing a waste-management system

The core goal of a waste-management system is to think of ways to improve a company's handling of non-product outputs (waste with zero or negative market value), and implement measures to minimise waste generation through more efficient use of resources or re-use of materials and to separate waste...