Why Waste Reduction Is Essential to Carbon Reduction Strategies

Why Waste Reduction Plays a Critical Role in Carbon Reduction

As an organisation, whether you are at the start of your sustainability journey or well on your way, carbon reduction is likely a priority. It is essential when we begin to reduce our emissions that we consider all the interlinkages between sustainability topics, as they are all interconnected. For this post, we are going to look at how waste reduction supports carbon reduction.
For most organisations, waste will be produced, whether this is in the office or out on site. When we look at waste reduction, it’s not just about how we can embed good housekeeping (although this is a good starting point), it’s also an opportunity to prevent waste from the get-go. Waste is visible and measurable; it is an area of sustainability that we can set KPIs for, collect data on and continuously improve upon – all with a direct impact on our carbon footprint.
In this blog, we are going to break down the interlinkage between carbon and waste, particularly looking at where to start, what you can do and the benefits associated with it.

Developing your Carbon Footprint to Identify Waste-Related Emissions

A great starting point is to collect the data and calculate your carbon footprint. This will allow you to measure the greenhouse gases being emitted by your organisation. This is all emissions from Scope 1 (direct emissions) through to Scope 2 (indirect emissions, mainly electricity use) and Scope 3 (all other indirect emissions).

While waste may be a small element of your carbon footprint (falling under Scope 3 Category 5), we can think about the emissions of a product from a lifecycle perspective.  Every item you purchase has already generated carbon emissions and has embodied carbon associated with it. We then have the likes of transport emissions associated with the delivery of products, and then if you throw that product away, the disposal process then emits further emissions.

If we bring in the waste hierarchy, by preventing waste, you will have a lower whole life carbon and your operations will be more circular.

Practical Steps Organisations Can Take to Reduce Waste and Carbon

Once you’ve developed a carbon footprint (or collected your waste data), you’ve got something to measure! It should hopefully then be clear what areas of your business are creating the most waste, and/or have the highest impact and highest carbon emissions.

The next step is to create an action plan. But what does this entail?

• Identify your hotspots / highest impact waste streams to prioritise your focus (but also look for the quick wins – these might be smaller waste streams, but easy to eliminate).
• Assign responsibilities, but also collaborate internally and with your supply chain to reduce waste.
• Set SMART targets, ensuring those responsible have time frames to aim for and measurable goals to hit.
• Align your action plan with other policies and sustainability targets (including carbon targets), and if you have the resources to do so, develop a standalone waste / circular economy policy to showcase your ambitions.
• Include both short-term and long-term actions to help get as close to prevention as possible.

Putting an action plan in place allows for accountability and a structured approach to driving change.

The Business Benefits of Prioritising Waste Reduction for Carbon Reduction

There are many reasons we should be focusing on waste reduction, including (but not limited to):

• Environment: As already mentioned, waste reduction supports emissions reduction. But not only this, becoming more circular means we send less to landfill, we reduce pollution, and we support biodiversity.
• Costs: By preventing waste and striving for a circular economy, we reduce costs as we pay for fewer materials in the first place, we keep products in use for as long as possible, and ultimately spend less on disposal costs. This makes businesses more efficient.
• Reputation: Waste and/or carbon reduction may be something your clients are asking for, so showing you are actively measuring against these can help with tendering processes and strengthen stakeholder relationships.
• Collaboration: Involving employees and your supply chain can improve processes, increase efficiencies and improve internal engagement.

Conclusion: Waste Reduction as a Driver of Carbon Reduction and Circularity

Reducing waste has a direct connection with reducing carbon emissions. We all produce waste, so preventing it will make a difference, whether this is a small or a big impact. By eliminating as much waste as possible, this will make our organisations more circular and lower the whole life carbon.

Becoming more circular can also have wider benefits to your organisation, including improving relationships with your stakeholders and ultimately saving you money. If you’re not sure where to start, consider looking at the quick wins – but if in doubt, remember, waste is visible and measurable, so collecting the data is a great place to begin.

For more information or to explore how Action Sustainability can support your organisation, please contact our team.