Engage Your Supply Chain
WST01
Proactively engaging your supply chain can be a game changed in terms of your waste reduction efforts.
The likelihood of your vendors or suppliers optimising their use of resources without encouragement from the customers is low and inefficiency on their part is likely to result in higher waste volumes for your facilities. Getting them aligned with your objectives is key.
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What is required?
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The most effective form of waste management is displayed with those items of waste that you can design out entirely. An obvious step in this chain is to write directly to your regular suppliers, sharing your waste management objectives, asking them to consider how they can avoid or minimize sources of waste from being delivered to your premises. It is recommended that when you write you are very specific regarding your objectives and how you are measuring success, ie are you targeting a total reduction in waste, if so are you measuring this by weight or volume or are you focused on specific waste types such as single use plastics. Clearer you are with your supply chain the better they will be able to align with your objectives.
Alongside your specific targets making clear that you want to reduce your waste, regardless of whether it is recyclable or not, is a key step in zero waste management journey.
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The most effective communication to your suppliers is a message that is customized specifically to them and the service they provide to you and its resultant wastes rather than a generalized email to all. The email needs to serve as a call to action for them to respond to. Be specific in your message that you would like feedback from the supplier as to how they will support your objectives and what improvements you can expect to see from them.
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What benefits can I expect from this waste management action?
The expected benefits of this communication are as follows:
Suppliers will take resource utilization seriously when enough of their customers tell them this is important to them, this communication starts that conversation. Their ability to invest time and cost into new processes and solutions will be enabled by having a clear understanding of their customers requirements.
Aside from setting out your clear objectives, your communication enables you to mobilize the innovation of your suppliers and get them thinking about how they can do things differently to support your objectives.
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Follow up actions
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For suppliers who are a significant contributor to your waste streams this communication alone is inadequate, it is highly recommended that waste reduction performance becomes a regular topic in your review meetings with them and specific targets and key performance indicators are set and monitored to embed better working practices.