Treated correctly, the commitment to send zero waste to landfill can become a Golden Goose. It can genuinely lower CO2, deliver cost-savings, a feel-good factor, unite employees, engage stakeholders, and give customers a tick in their CO2 monitoring spreadsheet. What's not to love?
The problem is when the Golden Goose becomes the Albatross. And the difference, according to Tim Reed, is a simple matter of what deadline date you choose.
As more and more high profile companies rush headlong into zero-waste-to-landfill commitments, one waste expert suggests that we are all better off slowing down and taking a long deep breath before putting our names to a deadline.
Tim Reed, MD of Waste Efficiency Ltd, the environmentally-focused facilities management company, is an experienced waste consultant. He claims that too many companies are falling victim to the PR hype that accompanies the early deadline and dramatic statements, and as a result zero-landfill quests are costly, painful, or worse – fail.
He claims a long deadline is equally unwise. “Boredom and complacency set in. Failure will probably follow just because it’s all been forgotten about.”
Tim claims what’s really needed is a balance between the glitzy drama of a short-term lurch and the laid-back stroll towards a distant horizon.
The noughties era of zero-landfill
From a waste perspective, one observation of the noughties was the ever- increasing number of high profile companies publicly declaring their commitment to moving to zero waste to landfill. The timescales given varied from extremely short term such as 6 months to the rather less ambitious 12 years.
Companies were falling over each other to launch their statements to the press. B2B or B2C, everyone could see the benefits of being first to stake their claim, yet claims were wildly varied. Often two similar companies would announce deadlines that differed by 10 years! Why? And what’s the rush anyway?
What are the motivators?
Zero-landfill is, of course, a laudable goal. So is it reasonable to ask what motivates a company to set this goal and what are they really seeking to achieve?
Are they driven by the cold hard economics, believing that delivering what the customer expects, will ultimately result in increased sales?
Could it be that they see themselves involved in a sort of green arms race in which their competitors are perceived to be greener and they need to respond with a grand gesture to avoid being left behind? Or conversely, see it as an opportunity to steal a march?
Could it be the natural extension of a corporate social responsibility policy set at the highest level in the organisation designed to differentiate the organisation as an environmental beacon that deeply cares about the impact it has on the world and conveniently encompasses the first two points.
Is the date-setting being driven by their PR gurus? Urging ever faster, bigger commitments – and trading realistic promises for column inches.
Or perhaps, taking a less cynical view is the motivation more altruistic and represents the true commitment of an organisation to go about its business, deliver good returns to its shareholders and employment to its workers in a way that leaves the lightest tread on the environment.
Complex combination
In reality the answer is likely to be a complex combination of all of these factors.
Whichever factor or combination of factors apply, it is fair to assume that few, if any, have given serious thought to what is involved in ensuring that none of the waste produced by the organisation ultimately finds its way into a landfill site.
Going to zero landfill is a major undertaking for a small or medium sized company and can be truly daunting for a large multi site operation.
This leads us to the first home truth in the zero landfill quest: whether the organisation is small or large, resources will need to be invested in the programme.
Always a cost
Whether internal staff are assigned to the project or external experts are brought in the reality is that there is always a cost in going to zero landfill; and whilst these costs are likely to be at least partially mitigated by reductions in landfill tax paid to waste management contractors, it cannot be guaranteed that the total cost of going zero will be completely covered by the disposal savings made and the returns for recyclable materials.
At the start of the process it is well worth investing in some help from a reputable consultant who will be able to give a realistic assessment of the likely investment required to deliver the goal and the expected service costs once it has been achieved.
To guard against a situation arising where the project runs out of fiscal steam, the programme needs to be properly and realistically budgeted. Many organisations fall into the trap of painting a too rosy a picture and unrealistically raising expectations at board level. When the promised financial bonanza fails to materialise, stakeholder interest (and high level support) tends to drain away and the project stalls.
Setting the rules
Once the decision has been taken to go zero it is important to decide on a set of ‘ground rules’. These relate to what approaches the company is willing to take whilst working towards the goal.
These can be thorny and challenging, some examples are:
- Will the distance waste travels be taken into account, for example will the company give preference to recycling materials in the UK over exporting them? Taking this a step further will the company go as far as banning the exporting of their materials?
- Will the company pay more to recycle than landfill waste? If so how much more?
- How far along the waste disposal chain will the organisation apply the zero landfill rule? If a cardboard recycler finds a bale from your company to be contaminated and sends it to landfill will this be measured?
- Will incineration be used and if so how much? Would it be acceptable to segregate and recycle 95% of the waste and incinerate the final 5%? What if the final 5% represented 5,000 tonnes of waste? If waste is incinerated is it acceptable to landfill ash from the process?
- Would the company be comfortable to remove a waste stream from landfill if the available recycling route resulted in an increased carbon footprint (ouch!).
From this small sample of questions it can seen that setting the ground rules can be challenging but this is a vital precursor to success.
Developing the Strategy
Once the ground rules have been agreed and rubber stamped by senior management they need to be enshrined in a realistic and pragmatic strategy. This becomes the route map to take the project from the drawing board to completion.
The more detailed and carefully thought out, the more likely your strategy is to deliver the goal. It is truly essential that this stage is not skimped. This should be a thorough, careful and detailed process delivered by a properly constructed and motivated team.
The Team
The construction of the project team is as important as the profile of the individual members.
One characteristic of high-profile environmental initiatives is that they can attract people who, whilst being highly motivated and extremely well intentioned are not necessary in the right roles or sufficiently experienced to contribute effectively to the team.
In order to be truly effective the team should be cross-functional in nature with the key areas of the business represented. This should cover not only those functions that impact the generation of waste within the organisation but also those that influence the way raw materials and goods are purchased by the company.
It is also vital to look at your sales operations, production processes, distribution channels, customer needs, transportation, and marketing. Every single area of every business has an impact on waste outputs, so all areas need to be represented at a level of seniority that will both contribute to the debate and action the requirements.
It’s also key to assess your internal waste too. Waste that is non-production, such as drinks cans in the canteen, or paper towel waste in the restrooms. The most unlikely waste can cause big headaches if not included in review.
If the organisation is large it will be necessary to draft an HR representative into the team as communication of the project to the workforce will be an important factor in delivering a successful result.
High Profile
In order to be a success the project will need to be highly visible within the organisation. It needs to be sponsored at the highest level in the company and the delivery team will need to include senior managers who have made a firm commitment to give their time to the project. Review meetings are likely to be frequent and thereby requiring serious commitment from people whose time may be constantly under pressure.
The Scope
In order to be successful the strategy needs to address the entire business – in all its locations, with grit and determination. Needless to say conveniently forgetting about awkward waste streams or particularly challenging locations with truculent staff is not only failing to observe the spirit of the exercise it is also cheating the vast majority of workers who are diligently working to deliver the project.
Targets and Milestones
In any large and complex endeavour it is crucially important to identify milestones and fix them against timescales. This will not only give an ongoing measure of progress towards the goal but is also motivating for the delivery team to see real progress.
The targets should be published at the onset of the project, and progress should be clearly and widely communicated to all staff in the business. This approach has the added benefit of keeping the project in peoples’ minds, something that can be particularly difficult to achieve in a large and geographically diverse organisation.
Budget
As mentioned before, the programme will require the up-front commitment of funds, bearing in mind that even generating the strategy can have a significant cost associated. To ensure that the project is properly funded an initial budget should be agreed at board level with a detailed costing being produced during the strategy development stage
With the right team in place and properly financed you are now in a position to develop the strategy that will take you to Zero Landfill within the realistic timescale you have agreed and against the criteria you have set.
In the final analysis, going zero-waste-to-landfill is a full business process. Complicated and worthwhile, but it’s vital that your goal date is realistic, and achievable. To really achieve a golden egg from your golden goose, you’ve got to get right in and understand the goose from day one!
In the next thrilling episode we will consider the generation of the detailed strategy.
This article first appeared in the January edition of Facilities
Management, published by LexisNexis.
Waste Efficiency is based in Worcester, but covers the UK. Clients include major organisations, local government and retail sectors.
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