Implementing Zero Waste System
Industries and commercial entities do play very important role resolving the waste management process for the whole organization through one channelized system. Organizations are expected to contribute and be fully involved by complying with regulations related to hazardous waste about the generation of their respective waste, and methods to handle, transport and disposal it safely. In some situations these measures can very well acquire zero waste to landfill and this is known as the Zero Waste System which should be the targets of all sustainability initiatives.
Assets responsible for waste generation should be focused on and thus utilize it with a goal to avoid waste or maximize its recycling. These include methods like repairing items which are broken (instead of purchasing a new item), buying and utilization of second-hand products, and robustly designing re-utilizable and recyclable components.
Many laws and regulation controlling the operations of landfills are at times loose therefore monitoring and controlling becomes weak for various types of wastes like municipal waste, medical waste, special type waste, or hazardous waste. This looseness of the laws leads to high rise in hazardous waste leading to a toxic level where the landfill waste challenges continues up to many more years.
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Concept of 3R and 5R
Considering the nature of waste produced by industries and households, the three R’s recipe i.e. Reuse, Reduce and Recycle proves to be vital tools required to cope with this challenge. Care should be concentrated on examining these alternatives, ensuring that they are adopted under a comprehensive and sustainable system.
The concept of 3R is now updated to 5R. There are five simple ways in which an organization can promote the culture of "R":
- Recycle – This involves installing deposit center in workplaces for recyclable items.
- Reuse – This is option for reusing durable items. It entails avoiding disposable items.
- Refuse – This entails guiding and directing employees to refuse the use of non-biodegradable items such as plastic bags and disposable items.
- Reduce – This involves minimizing paper waste, by adopting approaches like paper-less work environment.
- Replace – This involves substituting non-biodegradable items such as plastic, nylon etc with biodegradable ones.
About the Author
Adebayo is a thought leader in continuous process improvement and manufacturing excellence. He is a Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt (CSSMBB) Professional and Management Systems Lead Auditor (ISO 9001, 45001, ISO 22000/FSSC 22000 etc.) with strong experience leading various continuous improvement initiative in top manufacturing organizations.
You can reach him here.
