RECYCLING & WASTE MANAGEMENT CUTTING OUTWASTE
FMs have always been well placed to drive environmental improvements. Dany Jammal, Environmental Consultant at Valpak by Reconomy, explains how waste management innovation holds the key to business-wide benefits.
Over the years, waste management has evolved from the basic provision of bins to fully-fledged strategies built on data and designed to follow the waste hierarchy. Whether change is driven by internal goals or government regulations, investor demands or customer expectations, waste management affects everything from carbon footprint to procurement costs. Regardless of the underlying goal, businesses frequently find that smarter waste management affords both environmental and financial benefits.
Not surprisingly, waste management features prominently in facilities management KPIs. The most common metrics track total waste volume, diversion rates and costs, and feed into areas like overall environmental impact and regulatory compliance.
Facilities managers are also uniquely-placed to spot opportunities and act as strategic partners that benefit other areas of their organisation. For example, while they may not exert an obvious influence on manufacturing processes, FMs act as gatekeepers to valuable waste data that can provide procurement, R&D, and production teams with the information to drive meaningful change.
Research suggests that facilities managers can influence up to 25% of total greenhouse gas emissions within the built environment; reducing a facility’s carbon footprint helps FMs to cut costs, reduce risk, improve building performance, satisfy stakeholders, and future-proof both the asset and their own role.
When it comes to reducing carbon footprint on-site, measures vary from quick wins such as optimising heating and lighting efficiency, to initiatives such as shutting down
machinery during breaks, or switching to electric vehicles and upgrading insulation. While these energy-focused initiatives help to reduce impacts, Valpak evaluations for projects such as life cycle assessment or zero waste to landfill certification reveal that scrutiny of waste data can identify overlooked opportunities. The benefits extend across multiple departments, improving efficiency, lowering costs and reducing environmental impacts.
Valpak’s analysis often identifies potential for change. For example, it is not uncommon to find that manufacturing companies are purchasing 30% to 50% more raw material than is used in final product. These losses – caused by high rates of offcuts, reject batches and process inefficiency – incur unnecessary financial outlay and waste management costs, as well as effectively squandering carbon emissions. Addressing this loss cuts costs, while also saving up to 20% of a product’s carbon footprint.
Businesses are increasingly looking for new ways to maximise resources. For example, Nuneaton Roof Truss Ltd, a timber product manufacturer, employs computer- aided technology to minimise cutting waste. However, with products sized to meet specific customer requirements, a certain number of offcuts is unavoidable. Nuneaton Roof Truss Ltd feeds these offcuts into an on-site biomass boiler, which provides heat for the entire facility. This approach delivers substantial environmental and economic benefits: by displacing fossil fuel consumption, the company achieves significant energy savings, while simultaneously reducing its carbon footprint.
Valpak has also worked with companies that turn waste into a resource by feeding regrind offcuts of plastic waste back into their product, cutting waste whilst reducing the volume of raw materials used per product and also limiting the carbon footprint of their products.
Beyond reducing and reusing waste, organisations are mindful about increasing circularity and reducing the environmental impacts of waste management. Valpak is seeing greater take-up of zero waste to landfill certification, with cost considerations also playing a role as Landfill Tax rises to £130.75 per tonne from April 2026.
FMs are uniquely-positioned to treat waste as an opportunity. The potential benefits of expert analysis extend beyond facilities and into the financial wellbeing and environmental footprint of the entire business. Instead of focusing on disposal, forward-thinking FMs who collaborate and innovate can use waste to cut carbon, cut costs and safeguard their business well into the future.
Companies are recycling waste plastic back into their products.
www.valpak.co.uk 20 | TOMORROW’S FM
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