Recycling and reducing in your organisation
Sustainability client stories
Reuse, reduce, recycle. By identifying the amount of unnecessary paper used within your workplace, you can reuse misplaced papers, reduce the amount you print, and recycle paper you no longer need, or perhaps never needed in the first place. At Ad Esse, we worked with East Sussex County Council and The Children’s Society to recycle wasted paper and reduce ordering unnecessary materials.
Sustainability reference
“It take 70% less energy and water to recycle paper than to create new paper products from trees. Recycling just one ton of paper saves 17 trees as well as 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space.” (source)
Also, reducing your paper consumption lowers greenhouse gas emissions generated by processing pulp into paper. (source)
More productive staff at East Sussex County Council after 5S
During a Lean transformation of Adult Social Care, East Sussex County Council recognised the importance of improving the workspace environment as well as processes. Ad Esse used a Lean tool called 5S to identify waste and any abnormalities in their working area.
As well as increasing productivity, a visual and orderly working environment achieved benefits for sustainability. With greater visibility of resources, the team are now able to easily identify waste to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
More productive staff at The Children’s Society after 5S
The Children’s Society is a charity who provide children with help and resources to overcome difficult situations in their lives. As part of a full transformation programme, Ad Esse delivered a physical 5S activity charity-wide.
The 5S uncovered 360 bags of wasted paper for recycling, along with 36 items of furniture and over 700 mobile phones. 47,000 leaflets / stationery were discovered for redistribution and reuse.
How 5S impacts sustainability
5S is a Lean tool that is used to visually organise a physical or electronic workspace. Here’s our guide for how to use 5S for yourself. Recycle the waste you’ve identified during the exercise. Once you have a clear view of your optimised working environment, you can reduce and reuse the number of materials you need.