Tips on reducing industrial waste
There are many businesses that produce industrial waste and cause damage to the environment. It is important that businesses follow environmental regulations to prevent pollution, ecological degradation, conservation, and promote sustainable ecological development. Taking care of the environment not only preserves natural resources but ensures that your business can survive in the long term.
Looking for effective ways to reduce your industrial waste? Read the tips below.
Measure Your Company’s Waste
Before you’re able to reduce your business’s industrial waste, you need to measure how much excess your company produces. You can calculate your company waste by conducting a waste audit. The audit will ensure you have a clear description of where the issue lies and what needs to be done.
A successful audit will help identify what your treatment solutions are and how your waste needs to be managed. If you had a waste management strategy before, review it and see whether the strategies have worked. If your strategies didn’t work and you’re still producing water waste or any other industrial waste, it is time to review your treatment system. Lastly, determine what type of waste your business is producing. For example, are you producing liquid waste, plastic, synthetic fibres or radioactive waste?
Once you have identified your companies waste then you can start taking the necessary measures to decrease it.
Review Your Manufacturing Process
The next step would be evaluating your manufacturing process. For example, if your business process leads to contaminated water, you need a wastewater treatment solution. When treating wastewater, it’s in your business’s best interest to have an effluent treatment company working with you as they are able to offer you expert advice.
Ever wonder what is effluent water? Effluent water is fluid waste from companies, which flows into the water sources such as rivers, lakes, oceans. However, the wastewater can be treated with the effluent solutions available. Your business can invest in a wastewater treatment plant, which will ensure that the effluent water can be released back into the environment without causing any harm.
The water goes through water purification to become potable water. Reviewing your manufacturing process and tweaking it won’t only help you take care of the environment. It will also be a cost-effective alternative because water treatment plants allow you to reuse the water for other purposes. By doing that, you’re able to save costs on your water bill.
Recycle Your Waste To Other Industries
Another effective way of reducing your business’s industrial waste is by exchanging it with other industries. With today’s technology and innovations, waste can be exchanged and reused by other industries.
Your business’s non-biodegradable waste can be used by the cement industry which uses slag and fly ash – a waste product from the steel industry. This allows your waste products to be reused instead of leading to environmental damage.
Educate Your Employees On Industrial Waste
In order to combat your companies waste, you need to educate your employees about recycling. Industrial waste doesn’t only come from your manufacturing process, it also applies to the office.
Think about all the solid waste which could be recycled. Objects like plastic bags, bottles, and cardboard can be reused and recycled, therefore reducing your business’s industrial waste. This is why you should educate your employees on the importance of recycling. Have recycling bins around the office and outdoor premises, and use reusable goods.
By educating your staff on the importance of recycling at work and in their personal capacity, it can make a vast improvement as everyone will work together. Teach your employees the three “Rs” – reduce, reuse and recycle. During this process, take food waste into consideration. If you run a food and beverage company and have a lot of food waste, instead of throwing the leftover food away, rather donate it to a homeless shelter.
There are many people who are in need of a warm meal and will be grateful for any leftover food. Then you aren’t only just saving the environment but you are helping those in need.
Final Thoughts
Decreasing the quantity of waste your company generates will have a huge impact on the environment and your business. As mentioned previously, being environmentally conscious can have a great impact on your business. Many consumers have become conscious of how the environment is being treated and would want to spend their money on companies that aren’t harming the environment. Reducing your waste will also help you break into the green consumer market, which will bring in more profit.
The content in this article was provided by Rogerwilco – a South African marketing agency based in Cape Town.