Waste Reduction Prompts

 

Product Design

  • Design products to minimise waste and assembly costs.
  • Maximise the potential for re-use or recycling of waste material by not using adhesives or other contaminants.

Raw materials Selection

  • Discuss with your suppliers how to choose materials to minimise waste or facilitate the re-use or recycling of waste.
  • Are materials used over-specified, eg could a lighter grade of material or packaging be used?
  • Use recycled materials if practicable and if the cost compares favourably with virgin material.
  • Are any potentially hazardous materials used? Could these be substituted to cut costs of handling/storage/disposal?

Packaging

  • Can packaging be reduced or eliminated? Could the packaging received from suppliers be re-used?
  • Could you use waste from other parts of the business, eg office waste, paper shredding, for infill to packaging?
  • Draw a diagram of the packaging cycle and identify areas for re-usable packaging.
  • Discuss returnability of incoming packaging with your suppliers.

Process design and operation

  1. Part cleaning
    • Enclose all solvent cleaning units.
    • Use refrigerated freeboard on vapour degreasing units.
    • Improve parts draining before and after cleaning.
    • Use mechanical cleaning devices.
    • Use plastic bead blasting.
  1. Surface finishing
    • Prolong process life by removing contaminants.
    • Redesign parts racks to reduce drag-out.
    • Re-use rinsewater
    • Install spray or fog nozzle rinse systems.
    • Design and operate all rinse tanks correctly.
    • Install drag-out recovery tanks.
    • Install rinsewater flow control valves.
    • Install drip racks and drain boards.
  1. Surface coating
    • Use high volume low pressure spray guns.
    • Use electrostatic spray coating systems.
    • Control coating viscosity with heat units.
    • Use powder coatings.
    • Use high solids coatings.
  1. Equipment cleaning
    • Use high pressure rinse systems.
    • Use mechanical wipers.
    • Use a countercurrent rinse sequence.
    • Re-use spent rinse water.
    • Use 'pigs' to clean lines.
    • Use compressed gas to blow out lines.
  1. Spills/leaks
    • Use bellows-sealed valves.
    • Install spill basins or bunds.
    • Use seal-less pumps.
    • Maximise use of welded pipe joints.
    • Install splash guards and drip boards.
    • Install overflow control devices.
  1. Maintenance
    • Purify and re-use coolant on machine tools.
    • Rationalise uses of lubricating oils to extend oil change times and cut quantities stored.

Water use and discharge

  • Evaluate water charges, sewerage and effluent disposal costs to determine weekly/daily figures.
  • Locate and cure any leaks.
  • Use manual spray guns to control wash-down use.
  • Examine potential for re-use of water, e.g. wash-downs.
  • Can effluent be economically treated on-site to reduce disposal charges? Is there scope for sharing treatment facilities with adjacent businesses?
  • Fit an occupancy control if you have urinals flushing round the clock.

Energy management

  • Measure energy used in the manufacturing process.
  • What does your energy cost? Check that tariffs are appropriate.
  • How much energy are you consuming? How does it vary?
  • Measure your performance on a routine basis.
  • Survey the heating system to check the efficiency of:
    • boiler;
    • pipe insulation;
    • control system for time/temperatures.
  • Are heating methods effective and appropriate?
  • Check lighting systems for:
    • cleanliness (lamps/fittings/roof lights);
    • lights not left on unnecessarily;
    • age and condition of lamps;
    • controls (local switches/detectors).
  • Check insulation (walls, roof, windows, doors).
  • Assess energy use in processes together with overall process and waste arisings.

Waste management

  • Segregate wastes to facilitate recycling or to enable sale of materials that could become another company's raw material.
  • Segregate and re-use or recycle waste solvents.
  • Use filter presses to dewater sludge where metals can be recovered.

Transport and distribution

  • Control company cars to obtain most economical running costs.
  • Share vehicles.
  • Limit engine size of company vehicles.
  • Maintain vehicles properly.
  • Control your own commercial vehicles.
  • Fit spoilers.
  • Train drivers in economical driving methods.
  • Optimise vehicle routing.

Support activities

  • Optimise procedures to save paper.
  • Segregate waste paper.
  • Re-use or recycle waste paper.