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 approaches to managing and reducing the waste. Guidelines developed by Repak are very useful in this respect:

Monitor your waste streams

Remanufacturing is the rebuilding, repairing or restoring of an end-of-life product or part to return it to like-new condition. Remanufactured products or parts should be backed by the same or similar level of warranty as new products. From a customer viewpoint, the remanufactured product can be considered the same as a new product.

Look below the surface for savings

• Operating costs can be reduced in obvious and less obvious ways
• The key is to know where to look

A US company producing surfactant was looking at ways to reduce its operating costs. It decided to map energy consumption during production process, to identify any potential for improvement. This proved to be the right move.

Surprising gains from small changes

• Steel mill makes a small adjustment to a key process and saves around €1 million annually
• Adding insulation to its steel-making ladles saves a further € 635 000 a year

Heavy industry relies on seamless integration of processes and often large machinery which is not always easy to change or move around, even when the company can identify an inefficient operation or problem area. The steel industry is a typical example of this.

Changes and improvements to production infrastructure can significantly reduce raw materials used, and related costs of storage, as well as boost manufacturing efficiency.

Matches made in... Turntoo

• Clever sales models are reshaping the producer-consumer relationship with energy and resource benefits
• Intermediaries can design match-ups that yield good results for businesses, consumers and the environment

The Dutch company Turntoo shapes business models based on new lease-return-sharing concepts, including where products are not sold in the traditional way to the consumer, but remain the property of the producer throughout their lifecycle.

See-through, long-term business relationships

Good insulation of exterior walls, floors, ceilings/roofs, windows, and exterior doors can reduce your new building’s energy demand (both cooling and heating) by some 35 %.

Thermal insulation can also help you reduce CO2 emissions by more than a third, and improve the thermal comfort and indoor air quality within the building. It also helps owners meet building codes and standards as they become ever-more strict.

As the name suggests, functional sales business models focus on adapting the function and benefits of a product or service to customer needs instead of emphasising the physical product per se. In such models, the ownership of the physical product often stays with the provider, and maintenance, repair, and end-of-life considerations can be included in the offer.

Recycling waste energy just made sense…

• A metalwork plant built its own heat capping and recycling solution
• A simple, clever system to channel waste heat in- or outside the plant depending on the season and temperature outside
• Initial investment could be recouped within a year

Spiess Blechtechnik is an well-established iron and metalwork company based in Bavaria, Germany.