Certification? Isn’t that just like giving a child a medal for participation at the school sports day? Actually, no. Certification is not just a pat on the back to make ourselves feel good about our environmental actions. Certification is far more important than that. It is concrete proof to our customers that we are doing what we say we are doing.
It adds to our credibility, and makes us more trustworthy. And that is not just a feel-good benefit. It will both save us money, and increase our profits. So let CEC help you go for the certification. It’s not just a pat on the back.
What is a zero waste company?
Zero waste is a philosophy that uses strategies, resources, and innovative approaches to completely eliminate waste, rather than managing it via disposal in landfill sites. The strategies can include reusing, repurposing, and recycling. Zero waste companies are great for the environment, but also help the economy.
The principles of zero waste focus on waste prevention, ensuring that all products are reused. The goal is for no trash to be sent to landfills, burnt in incinerators, or poured into our rivers and oceans. Currently only 9% of plastic is actually recycled, despite our earnest efforts. That shows how far we are as a society from where we need to be.
According to Zero Waste International Alliance, zero waste is the conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse and recovery of all products, packaging, and materials, without incineration, landfill, or polluting the air or water.
In the context of a company, zero waste simply means that whatever comes in as raw material is used completely. Nothing is left over that needs to be disposed of. Everything, including packaging, is reused or recycled.
How can I become a zero waste company?
You need a step-by-step strategy. You can begin by analyzing your current situation. What you are doing now is the baseline against which you measure your improvements. How much recycling are you doing? How much wasteful packaging are you printing in? Are you using renewable ink toners, composting waste?
Then you appoint someone (or a committee) within the company to be in charge of overseeing the new initiative. If no one is in charge, nothing gets done. You could call in outside help to come up with the best strategy. Working with experts will vastly speed up the process.
After your waste audit, go after easy targets to build momentum. Maybe reduce energy consumption, and increase the amount of recycling you are doing. Get your employees enthusiastic about zero waste. Small steps lead to big gains.
And record your progress meticulously. Your certification depends on proving your results.
How can we get zero waste to landfill?
Eliminating the need for landfill is our ultimate goal. Once you begin implementing your new waste management strategy you will rapidly make progress. This is a medium term project, not a long term chore. To put that in context, we helped the Maryborough Hotel in Cork reduce their waste by a massive 35%, and eliminate landfill completely, in just four months. We have helped other companies achieve similar successes.
How does a business get Zero Waste to Landfill certification?
Luckily at CEC we know all the intricacies of achieving certification. Getting to Zero Waste to Landfill is down to your work with our guidance – but proving it is easy with our software and systems. We can help you save time and money as you build a strong ZWTL application.
We will educate your staff on how to achieve zero waste, and help you implement the most effective strategies. Equally importantly, we can help you keep a record of the entire process. We use strong blockchain software, with sealed evidence packs. The record will be impeccable, proving the work has been done, and leading to that all important certification; the certification that shows your customers that your sustainability agenda is not just aspirational or greenwashing.
As our success with many companies proves, you can achieve all that in this calendar year. We’d love to help you. Book a consultation today to hear how your business, can get zero waste certified with CEC.
