FM and the circular economy

The EU’s Circular Economy Package provides facilities managers with the basis for a strategy to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill from their facility. Nicola Meadows, RWM Event Director at Ascential, explains that minimising waste can save time and money as well as the environment.
Reducing the waste generated by a facility should be a high priority on any manager’s action plan. The wide-ranging responsibilities of facilities managers mean there are lots of steps they can take, from improving recycling strategies to reducing the overall energy consumption of a building.

It’s not just that reducing the impact of a facility on the environment is a noble cause, the business advantages of making a facility more resource efficient are numerous. They include simple economics – it costs less to run a building if lights are switched off when they’re not being used – to goodwill and positive reputational impressions generated among staff, customers and visitors.

The regulatory tide is also turning, with the EU targeting recycling rates of 65% of municipal waste and 75% of packaging waste by 2030. Europe currently wastes around 600 million tonnes of materials, which could potentially be recycled or reused, and the idea is to reduce the proportion going to landfill to 20% by 2030.

The EU’s Circular Economy package provides an excellent reference point for facilities managers looking to create or expand their sustainability strategy. It includes proposals to amend the EU’s waste legislation, seeking to improve waste management practices, stimulate recycling and innovation in materials management, and limit the use of landfill.

Practical steps

Awareness campaigns about recycling within a building are a good starting point for facilities managers. Sorting and re-processing waste on-site is one of the best ways to make sure that a facility is recycling the maximum amount of material, and managers can’t do this on their own. Having the right infrastructure, such as recycling bins, and education campaigns in place on the importance of separating materials for recycling is vital.

In addition to pre-sorting initiatives, facilities managers could also look into whether waste could be reused by local organisations. This is particularly important when considering food waste. Facilities that include restaurants and cafes could consider introducing food donation schemes for food that is still edible but has not been sold that day. As well as giving unopened items to food banks, some unsold food can be used as a resource in animal feed.

It is obviously crucial for facilities managers to work closely with any catering businesses to develop a common policy. Setting realistic internal targets is also important, for instance aiming for a 10% reduction in food waste leaving the building in the first 12 months of implementing a scheme. At the same time, monitoring these targets and reporting on them consistently and transparently is also crucial for the success of a scheme. The same goes for introducing systems for treating and recycling water within a facility, such as introducing a grey water re-use system that sees tap water reused to flush toilets, and rain water collected for the same purpose.

Holistic strategy

All these initiatives should be seen within an overarching, holistic strategy for reducing wastage throughout the lifecycle of a facility. Installing solar panels on the roof, introducing intelligent building control technology for lighting, heating and ventilation, and opting to invest in products that have been designed for durability and re-usability are also central to reaching long-term sustainability goals.

Better resource planning and waste management is at the core of the circular economy concept. Through simple changes, co-operation and education, any facilities manager can help to reduce energy wastage, and even eliminate the volume of waste a building sends to landfill.

Network and debate the Circular Economy

The issues raised by the Circular Economy package and many others will be featured at RWM 2017 (12-13 September at the NEC in Birmingham, UK, www.rwmexhibition.com), as part of the workshop programme where government, businesses and regulators will come together in high level discussion.

Exhibits from major solution providers, equipment manufacturers and operators will be on show at what promises to be a powerful platform for shaping the future of the recycling debate.

www.rwmexhibition.com

Published in Tomorrow’s FM – January 2017