The Green Office Manual

A Guide to Responsible Practice

Wastebusters Ltd

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781134198054
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Architecture General
• Index: Business

This revised second edition highlights the opportunities for achieving cost savings and environmental improvements to enhance competitiveness in organizations of all sizes, with specific guidance for small businesses. The manual sets out effective and simple mechanisms to encourage participation and commitment from both staff and suppliers. It builds on the advice of the first edition, with a wide range of new case studies from different sectors, including retailers, hotels and hospitality, schools and educational institutions, airports and prisons, and plenty of office-based examples. A new chapter on environmental reporting considers international developments in environmental management, reporting and sustainable business, including the Global Reporting Initiative and the European Environmental Reporting Awards, with a link to DETR guidance. An extended chapter on energy and utilities provides an update on environmental legislation, government position and industry trends. An office waste chapter looks at examples of successful waste exchanges that save disposal costs to donors and purchase costs to recipients.

CHAPTER 1

Why Green Your Office?

INTRODUCTION

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Responsible environmental practice makes good business sense and is synonymous with a well-managed organisation.

Despite keen interest to develop environmental initiatives, the pressures of an organisation’s core business often result in a lack of time and resources necessary to research and implement environmental practice. There is plenty of information available telling organisations what they should be doing, but a lack of practical information on how to do it.

Wastebusters’ Green Office Manual aims to solve these problems by giving clear, concise information about environmental issues and listing the practical steps needed to create a greener office environment and cut costs at the same time.

The Manual is aimed at the person responsible for running the office – generally the office or facilities manager. It will assist all types of organisations, from a large manufacturing company wishing to ensure the office is not ignored in its environmental programme, to a small organisation where there is no one specifically appointed to take care of environmental issues. The Manual is therefore designed for people who are extremely busy, have very little time to spare and are probably already struggling to try to work their way through all their existing reading material!

Although the Manual is aimed at offices, the principles are equally applicable to other sectors, particularly schools, retailers, hospitality and small businesses.

The Manual will enable you to structure your own environmental programme including: self-audits to assess your current environmental performance, preparing an environmental policy and simple action plans. There is also guidance on environmental management systems and how to report on your environmental performance. The Manual will help you to:

•Identify what can be done, how it can be done and who will help.

•Plan a successful and cost-effective approach to environmental issues.

•Produce an environment report which is relevant to your business and of interest to your stakeholders.

Wastebusters’ experience of implementing successful environmental programmes has enabled us to highlight common problems and make sure you avoid them!

THE BUSINESS CASE

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Improving environmental performance is no longer optional. The minimum standards demanded by legislation require an awareness of the impacts of a business on its wider environment. However, the range of pressures is wider than legislation. Stakeholders are increasingly demanding of organisations and there are potentially substantial cost savings from cutting energy and waste. Non-financial data such as community involvement and environmental impacts, are increasingly incorporated into mainstream financial decision-making by ethical fund managers and concerned investors. These pressures and opportunities can combine to exert a powerful influence on organisations.

Increased costs of legislation

The last 20 years have seen environmental legislation grow from a few specific measures to a comprehensive programme of regulation. The European Union has enacted over two hundred pieces of legislation covering pollution of the atmosphere, water and soil, waste management, chemicals and biotechnology safeguards, product standards, environmental impact assessments and protection of nature. In the UK the role of the Environment Agency is to protect and enhance the environment and it is one of the most powerful regulators in the world.

Failing to comply with legislation is expensive and does major damage to an organisation’s reputation. There is also the prospect of directors being held responsible for their company’s action and receiving jail sentences. The principle of making the polluter pay is being implemented through taxes and duties on pollution. This affects every business and organisation that uses resources or creates waste.

A Better Quality of Life

In May 1999, the UK Government published A Better Quality of Life: A Strategy for Sustainable Development for the UK (DETR, 1999). This strategy aims to meet four objectives: social progress which recognises the needs of everyone; effective protection of the environment; prudent use of natural resources; and maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment.

In order to meet these objectives, the Government will require businesses, local authorities and all organisations to take action.

Waste minimisation is one area in which everyone can make significant improvements through simple steps. Waste minimisation does not stop at the rubbish bin, it includes utilities such as energy and water, transport and purchasing. Everything you buy in is an asset to your company; wastage of resources is therefore detrimental to your company and any cost savings you make through waste minimisation go straight to your bottom line.

The costs of waste disposal are rising. European and UK legislation requires increased environmental protection at waste disposal sites, leading landfill operators to invest in highly engineered sites and to raise the cost of disposal to landfill accordingly

The recently published Waste Strategy (DETR, 2000) sets out the Government’s strategy for achieving more sustainable waste management and the role of business in achieving national targets. This document highlights the importance of the waste hierarchy of reduction, re-use, recovery and disposal. Waste reduction at source is always the best commercial and environmental option.

Costs savings from waste minimisation

Waste reduction is a growing area of business interest for many organisations. One of the principal driving forces for this trend is the realisation that waste is a commercial issue; the less waste you create, the less you pay to have it removed.

Savings in waste disposal costs can be particularly significant. The costs of waste disposal tend to be underestimated, despite their recent substantial increase with the introduction of the landfill tax. They are likely to continue to rise as the government discourages landfilling of waste. Efficient recycling and waste minimisation programmes can significantly reduce your waste disposal costs by retrieving materials for recycling and improving resource usage. On average 70 per cent of office waste is recyclable, so there is significant potential for savings.

The Environmental Protection Act (Duty of Care) Regulations on waste already impose stringent controls on the disposal of waste, placing an additional burden on the busy facilities management team. The initiatives described in this manual can help reduce your liabilities under the Duty of Care and Special Waste Regulations.

Benifits of waste minimization

Significant environmental and commercial improvement

Cost savings from reduction in waste disposal costs

More efficient waste management practices to achieve reductions in waste produced and increase waste recycling

Waste reduction measures which are cost effective and promote good housekeeping

Increase in staff awareness of environmental issues

THE BUSINESS CASE

Environmental performance and sustainable development

Numerous studies have demonstrated a link between the environmental policies and performance of companies. The Ethical Investment Research Service (EIRIS) is used by a growing number of investors in the UK to research the environmental and ethical track records of leading British companies. Insurers have begun to charge higher premiums to those companies which cannot demonstrate effective environmental management strategies to reduce risks.

New indexes such as the US Dow Jones Sustainability Index will gauge a company’s grasp of wider sustainability issues, and environmental and social performance will become more important to investors as government and public attitudes change in defining the ‘sustainable business’.

Government position

The UK government has yet to introduce mandatory requirements for industry to communicate its environmental performance. However, the government strongly encourages companies to report on their environmental impacts voluntarily. The UK government is putting particular pressure on the FTSE 350 to produce environmental reports which demonstrate efforts to improve performance. Progress so far has been limited – whilst 65 per cent of the FTSE 350 report in some form, only 19 per cent produce more than two pages on their environmental impacts.

The popular view is that a regulatory approach by the government is being held in reserve, pending a failure of industry to take the voluntary approach. The government’s approach has been characterised by a steady flow of specific guidance and a willingness to ‘name and shame’ laggard companies who are yet to move on reporting. The Environment Agency publishes an annual list of the UK’s biggest polluters and Business in the Environment publishes annual league tables of engagement. The DETR has wr...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• List of Figures, Tables, Case Studies and Guest Articles
• About Wastebusters
• Acknowledgements
• Acronyms and Abbreviations
• 1 Why Green Your Office?
• 2 Getting Started
• 3 Office Waste
• 4 Purchasing
• 5 Building Management
• 6 Transport
• 7 Communication
• 8 Environmental Management
• 9 Environmental Reporting
• 10 Contacts and Resources
• Glossary
• References
• Index