Managing hazardous substances

The business benefits of a sustainable approach to using hazardous substances include:

• Compliance with your legal obligations. Compliance helps minimise the likelihood of costs and damage to your business. You will also avoid the risk of prosecution or civil sanctions which can include compliance, restoration and stop notices as well as large and variable fines.
• Cost benefits. Using fewer hazardous materials saves you money, while creating less hazardous waste can reduce the costs of waste disposal.
• Marketing benefits. A sustainable approach can strengthen your image and help you win business.

One of the key principles of sustainability in business is simply consuming less. This is particularly important for hazardous substances because they have a worse effect on the environment than other resources.

A simple review of your business processes could help reduce your business' impact on the environment and benefit your bottom line. For example, could you reduce the amount of hazardous substances you buy and use every day?

As well as using fewer hazardous substances, could you replace hazardous raw materials with a more sustainable option?

Find out if you can reduce the amount of hazardous waste you create in your business processes, for example cutting down on processes that produce harmful by-products or recovering waste to reuse.