Reduce your business waste to save money

Reducing the amount of waste your business has to handle is the most cost-effective and environmentally-friendly method of dealing with waste.

Six ways to reduce business waste

Here are some key tips to help your business reduce waste:

1. Look for easy wins - seemingly trivial changes can produce significant savings, such as printing and photocopying double-sided, refilling printer cartridges, switching off lights and electrical equipment, and using rechargeable batteries - see office resource efficiency.
2. Procure carefully - buy only what you need, control stock and streamline processes across departments. Buy equipment in bulk to reduce packaging and consider the product's durability and lifespan - replacing equipment less often will reduce the waste you create - see how to make your business more sustainable.
3. Review your processes - ensure that equipment and materials are used efficiently and packaging is kept to a minimum - see process efficiency to cut waste.
4. Product design - keep the amount of materials you use in products to a minimum - see ecodesign for goods and services.
5. Packaging design and use - make sure you use as little packaging as possible to achieve an adequate level of protection for your products - see packaging and packaging waste management and how to design packaging to reduce environmental impact.
6. Use advice about resource efficiency from a range of organisations, such as WRAP Northern Ireland, the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs or see if you can access advice and financial support from Invest Northern Ireland.

Adopting a strategic and systematic approach is the best way to achieve significant reductions in the amount of waste that your business produces - see waste reviews, policies and action plans.