Reducing Inputs Reduces Waste and Saves Money
Reducing waste to landfill makes business sense from a cost-savings perspective.
There are many steps that can be taken when looking at making your business more eco-friendly and green. One of the actions that is usually at the top of the list for sustainability projects is waste reduction. Reducing inputs to the business that result in waste, as well as reducing outputs that go to the landfill, can save money as well as help the environment.
Below are three case studies of small businesses that were able to reduce waste by reducing their inputs and subsequent output, as well as some take-aways that may apply to your organization. These case studies also show that as a small business, you can find resources to help you without breaking the bank.
Peerless Coffee (US)
Peerless Coffee, located in San Francisco, is a small, family-owned business with a retail store and an online presence. Peerless also provides high-end coffee to East Bay hotels and restaurants. Their two biggest sources of waste were coffee chaff and Mylar packaging. The coffee chaff is the pieces of skin that come off the coffee bean in the roasting process. The Mylar scrap was left over from the calibration process, when the packaging machine was manually switched from one product size to another.
Peerless Coffee reached out to StopWaste, a non-profit in Alameda County that supports local businesses in reducing waste. Through StopWaste, they were able to obtain two grants, one for $5,000 and another for $100,000, to help them with their waste reduction efforts. StopWaste identified a vendor who could take Peerless’ coffee chaff and could also compost coffee grounds and food scraps, along with recycling. The $5,000 grant went to purchasing recycling bins. This, plus recycling wood and burlap coffee sacks, led to reduced annual costs of $10,000.
The packaging waste was next. Because the packaging machine couldn’t be altered to reduce the waste, it was replaced with a machine that was calibrated electronically. The $100,000 grant went to replacing the original machine with the new one. The result was a reduction in Mylar packaging waste by 95% and $100,000 annual savings in reduced packaging costs. All in all, Peerless Coffee was able to obtain a total of $105,000 in grants and as a result, save $110,000 annually because of changes they made with that grant money.
Take-Aways
Ask for help, especially if you don’t have the time to do it yourself
Look for grants to support your goal(s)
Significant waste reduction may mean a change in processes and/or equipment
Castle Climbing Centre (UK)
The Castle is an indoor climbing center which includes climbing space, a shop, a café and a garden, and employs 45 people. In 2009, The Castle set out to become a zero waste establishment by 2015. They currently have a Zero Waste to Landfill policy and work with a local company, First Mile Recycling, to recycle as much as they can from the business. The Castle focused on preventing inputs into their business that may end up as waste and on reusing items as much as possible.
Prevention has included a no plastic bag policy, reducing the amount of printed paper, and selling energy drinks in powder form instead of bottle form. They also changed their milk delivery from plastic to glass bottles, and use the new milk supplier to source juices. Their food and drink offerings are served in reusable plates and cups. They offer reusable bottles instead of disposable, cloth towels instead of paper towels, and donate equipment that is no longer needed. The Castle has also replaced their trash bins with clearly marked recycling and reuse bins, to educate their customers and staff. Per their website, all compostable waste is composted on-site and used in their garden. Some wood and cardboard is also reused in the garden instead of being recycled, since reuse is more sustainable.
Take-Aways
Reduce inputs that could end up as waste, then reuse and recycle
Educate customers and staff as to how and why to reuse and recycle, and make it easy for them to do so
Look for suppliers that meet your requirements – they are out there!
Purdy’s Chocolates (Canada)
Purdy’s Chocolates is a chocolatier and confectionary manufacturer. Purdy’s would be considered more of a medium sized business, with a 57,000 square feet factory and 70 stores in Canada, as well as an online presence. In 2010, they set out to reduce their waste to landfill and worked with ClimateSmart to learn to track their emissions. Purdy’s efforts to reduce their waste to landfill were relatively straightforward, according to a ClimateSmart interview with Purdy’s Director of Chocolate Operations, Jim Pritchard.
Jim asked one of his staff members to find a company that would take the items that were currently being sent to landfill. He found one company that would take everything and just needed the items to be separated and stored until pick-up. This also resulted in less waste hauling trips. Purdy’s reduced their solid waste by about half and related emissions by 47% in one year.
Take-Aways
Taking steps to be eco-friendly doesn’t have to be tough
Your colleagues and staff are great resources for ideas to become more eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable
Depending on your situation, you can take relatively large steps in a relatively short period of time – it doesn’t have to be drawn out over many years.
As a small business, there are many steps you can take around sustainability, or to be more environmentally and socially responsible, and waste reduction is a great one.
If you're considering implementing sustainability at your organization, be sure to download our free sustainability checklist that can help you determine what you are already doing and some additional actions you can take.