What Is Sustainable Waste Management? Definition, Tips & Solutions

Central to the ethos of sustainable waste management are the principles of reducing, reusing, and recycling waste; highlighting the importance of skillfully cutting back on waste as soon as a material is created.

Sustainable waste management is applicable to almost every kind of material or item, including food, electronics, plastic, metal, and paper. For example, 80% of the paper and 75% of the aluminum cans we use in the UK are recycled.

Composting, recycling, and energy recovery (in which energy from waste is used to power homes and businesses) are all great examples of sustainable waste practices.

The benefits of sustainable waste management are multifaceted. Waste sustainability practices help reduce carbon emissions, conserve resources, and cut production and waste disposal costs. Take the recycling and composting of municipal solid waste, which has saved over 193 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Sustainable waste management is also essential for protecting human health. Single-use plastics are some of the most polluting materials, polluting our water and food sources with microplastics. The UNEP found that practices that reduce plastic production could cut global plastic pollution rates by 80% by 2040.

Getting rid of waste without sustainability in mind is expensive business. Analysts note that circular economy principles (such as the three Rs) could potentially save us over £500 billion globally.

Sustainable waste management is a necessity for protecting our health and environment, preserving our natural resources, and reducing waste management costs for businesses across the sectors.  Let’s explore some of these benefits in more detail.

Cut costs for businesses

In the UK, businesses have a legal duty of care to safely and responsibly dispose of their own waste. Over time, these waste disposal costs can rack up. Due to the Landfill Tax, sending your business waste to landfill can cost up to £126.15 per tonne.

But recycling and reusing your waste works out economically smarter. Correctly segregating your recyclables could save you over 70% on waste disposal costs. These savings amount to over 24k per year.

Job creation

Beyond saving costs for businesses, sustainable waste management could also boost the economy by providing thousands of new jobs each year.

It’s estimated that seven to eight million jobs could be created by the circular economy. A large proportion of those jobs will spring up in the waste management sector as businesses and communities look to waste management experts to help them recycle and reuse waste.

Protects the environment

One of the biggest benefits of sustainable waste management is clearly the benefits it offers to the environment. Less waste getting transported to landfills and processed in incinerators means less carbon emissions.

While recycling could cut carbon emissions from 5.5 to 6.02 gigatons by 2050. That’s the equivalent of taking one billion cars out of the transportation system for a year.

Conserves resources  

Sustainable waste management encourages reusing and recycling materials over sourcing and creating new ones. By engaging in these practices, our need to extract other natural resources drops; whether that’s wood or metal. This reduces climate-crisis-tipping activities such as deforestation.

Protects human and animal health and wellbeing

Through waste practices, we protect our natural resources and reduce pollution of water, soil, and air. For example, by reducing emissions, sustainable waste management helps reduce the number of people who develop lung-related illnesses like asthma and cancer as a result of polluted air.

These practices can also help protect biodiversity and support our ecosystems. Whether it’s fish, butterflies, or foxes, unpolluted habitats help support healthier living for insects, fish, and animals. The Convention on Biological Diversity notes:

“Effective waste management protects green and blue spaces and, in many instances, can liberate them from heaps of solid waste that make them akin to dumpsites. Keeping green and blue spaces waste-free lets them cater to both biodiversity and human well-being.”

Let’s take a look at some of the best ways to improve your waste sustainability.

Put a clear policy and action plan in place

When it comes to improving sustainable waste practices within your business, the first step is to put a clear sustainable waste management policy and action plan in place.  

Both your managers and your team need to understand what their roles and responsibilities are when it comes to managing waste. What kind of guidelines are you providing on recycling, reusing, and reducing waste?

A good policy and action plan should include:

• Your legal waste management responsibilities
• Definitions of roles and responsibilities
• Guidelines on practices for handling different types of waste
• Breakdowns of equipment and facilities
• Goals and deadlines for reaching them

Encourage positive habits

To encourage good habits among your employees, you first need to put the right frameworks in place. Two examples of this include placing clearly labelled, colour-coded bins for different kinds of recyclables throughout your breakrooms or adding stickers below light switches to remind people to turn off the lights when they leave a room.

Even outside of the office, colour-coded bins have been shown to improve recycling rates. The council in Leeds City Center added colour-coded, labelled recycling bins to their streets and upped recycling rates from 17% to 49%.

Another way to encourage good sustainable waste management practices is to gamify sustainable practices. For example, you could provide a reward like a gift card or extra day off to whoever recycles the most in the last month.

Track the impact of your efforts

Another way to help encourage your business to stick to more sustainable waste management practices is to closely track the positive impact that engaging in these practices has on your business.

How much have you saved by sending less of your waste to landfill? What does your recycling rate look like? How much have you reduced your energy usage (benefiting both the environment and your bottom line)?

Regularly conduct waste audits

A waste audit is a review of your waste materials and practices by an external waste management expert. It can help highlight how much waste and the types of waste your company is creating. An audit can show you how you can improve your sustainable waste management practices, such as going nearly completely paperless or ditching all single-use plastics.

Partner with recycling companies

A partnership with a reputable recycling company can potentially help you responsibly cut your waste by up to 40%. Whether you need to sustainably process large amounts of industrial waste like metal and plastic, or you want to recycle electronics you don’t use, a recycling partner can safely and responsibly recycle your waste for you. This reduces the cost and burden of doing so on your own premises.

Let’s take a look at some of the best sustainable waste management solutions.

Implement waste management software

Our cloud-based waste management software can help you track, report, and more easily manage a range of waste types from commercial waste to hazadous waste. Our software makes waste collection, disposal, and tracking easy.

As a cloud-based platform, you can seamlessly track your waste and monitor your key sustainable waste management metrics. Download the brochure to see how it can help you manage your waste more sustainably.

Track and manage your company’s carbon footprint

One way to give your sustainability initiatives a boost is to closely monitor your carbon footprint. Implementing sustainability management tools allows you to accurately assess the carbon emissions produced across your company. Such detailed tracking not only provides insight into your environmental impact but also helps identify areas where improvements can be made, ultimately supporting your organisation’s commitment to sustainability.

Switch to sustainable waste management practices

Sustainable waste management practices help create a greener world, cutting carbon emissions, protecting human and animal health, and preserving our natural resources. Put these tools and practices into play to help protect the environment and reap the economic benefits of running a greener business.

Book a personalised demo of Access Weighsoft and discover how waste management software allows you to reach your sustainability goals.