ENERGY MANAGEMENT & SUSTAINABILITY
TURNING TO TECH
Well-considered communications, glossy PR campaigns and good intentions are no longer enough. Customers, owners, shareholders and employees are savvy – they want evidence and answers to increasingly probing questions about company’s sustainability goals and how they’re achieved. Technology has the potential to support this aim, says Dr Stephen Wise, Chief Product Officer at Advetec.
The public’s expectations of corporate responsibility are ever-increasing, as is the demand for operational transparency. Consequently, businesses are acknowledging the need to prioritise sustainability.
As building performance and sustainability are intrinsically linked, the pressure sits not only with those around the boardroom table, but facilities professionals too. It’s not just about ensuring that buildings and services operate smoothly, they must do so with minimum impact on the planet.
Waste management is a crucial part of boosting a business’s green credentials and FMs are taking an increasingly more strategic look at the issue. Environmental biotechnology company, Advetec, specialises in the reduction of residual mixed waste streams and works closely with FMs to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill or for incineration by up to half.
Sustainable waste management is about more than minimising consumption or putting recycling measures in place. It requires a strategic look at our individual waste behaviours, how waste is actually disposed of at a corporate
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level and the environmental impact of every decision we make. It’s this holistic view that will help organisations on their journey to net zero carbon.
Human behaviour is the first stage for FMs to consider critical in order to achieve sustainability. Desired waste reduction objectives can only be realised and sustained if occupants have access to recycling points and receive consistent, clear communication about how to reduce their waste.
No matter how committed a building’s users are to recycling, perfect segregation of waste is impossible to achieve. There will always remain a volume of general waste that exists once sorting has occurred. Typically, only 50% is sent for recycling and the remaining residual waste – made up of packaging, food leftovers and recyclables that haven’t been disposed of correctly – is sent to landfill or incineration – with devastating effects on the environment.
Sending waste to landfill is the least desirable option. They release greater quantities of greenhouse gas such as methane, produce leachate which requires treatment and can lead to offensive odours being released making them
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