1 April 2012

Please note: this news article is in our archive. Articles were correct at time of publication, but should not be relied on for accuracy after the passage of time.

RAPP, a marketing company on East Grinstead’s Birchwood industrial estate, cut its waste bill by £8,000 after office manager Helen Rimmer attended a UTILISE workshop which suggested ways employees could increase recycling rates and reduce the amount of office rubbish destined for landfill.

Helen said the key to the company’s success had been getting employees on board. “We prefer carrot over stick. Staff soon got into the habit of recycling when they found a sweet on their desk in the morning as a reward for good practice.”

Removing paper hand towels from lavatories  saved almost £5,00 a year, even after accounting for the extra £90 cost of electric hand-dryers.

And by recycling wherever possible and slashing the amount of waste leaving the office for landfill by 1.5 tonnes, RAPP saved more than £3,000 on its rubbish collection.

£450 per year more was saved by removing disposable plastic cups from water coolers and switching to refillable water bottles for meetings.

After a successful trial in Helen’s own team, individual general waste bins were removed from each desk and replaced with one central bin per department, next to the mixed recycling and confidential waste containers.

“There was some initial resistance,” Helen admitted, “and one employee even took his bin home so I couldn’t get my hands on it.  But once the reasons behind the measure were explained, including cost, landfill and time savings, employees soon came round.”

Helen is still keen to tackle the actual quantity of waste produced however, realising even greater savings could be achieved through elimination and reduction before recycling.

By focusing on reducing printing during an employee environmental awareness week, RAPP saved £174 on paper costs and per-click print charges.

They are now working on replicating this success throughout the year, with the money saved being donated to the Woodland Trust to plant trees.

To save money at your business by reducing energy, water and waste contact the Sustainable Business Partnership for details. Ring them on: 01444 477501. Email: info@sustainablebusiness.org.uk  or see the website at www.sustainablebusiness.org.uk.

Or contact West Sussex Sustainable Business Partnership CIC  at Oaklands, Oaklands Road, Haywards Heath, RH16 1SS.