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                    Waste management

                    Recycling symbol of three arrows forming a triangle
                    Waste is a big part of any business and typically comes from fit-out construction, promotional materials, food and packaging.

                    ​Organise your business to minimise the waste you create by thinking about what you buy and where it will go. Work with your suppliers to minimise waste before it gets to your business, as you run your business and after it goes to your customer.

                    Packaging is a real problem area and ultimately something you pay for – in the products you buy and sell. Reducing packaging is good for the environment and your hip pocket, so consider whether it's actually needed. For example, encouraging customers to bring their own coffee cup, means you won’t need to buy so many coffee cups and you will have less waste!

                    Did you know?

                    Our waste is growing at double the rate of our population with 52 mega tonnes generated a year. Australia is ranked fifth highest for generating the most municipal waste in the world.

                    Check out more interesting facts about waste.

                    You may need to rely on your staff and customers to put their waste in the right bin, so it helps to educate them with appropriate signage, and importantly – make it easy with good access to bins in the right places.

                    Infographic depicting five waste management tips for businesses. See 'Top five tips' below for full details.  

                    Top five tips

                    1. Provide recycling bins (for example, mixed, IT, mobile phones) and organic waste collection bins.
                    2. Avoid single use waste as much as possible. If you can’t reuse it, refuse it. 
                      1. Straws 
                      2. Plastic water bottles 
                      3. Plastic bags, cutlery and packaging 
                      4. Any merchandise and giveaways that won’t be used ongoing. 
                    3. Reward customers and staff for bringing their reusable cups, bags and bottles with discounts or opportunities to enter competitions via social media. 
                    4. Add extra cost to single use items to encourage reusable items. For example, make coffees and alcoholic beverages 50 cents extra in takeaway cups. 
                    5. Partner with an organisation that collects leftover food, old IT equipment and furniture; and redistributes these items to people in need.

                    You could also:

                    1.  Purchase items that are made out of recycled material, are recyclable, reusable or have a guarantee they are made to last. 
                    2. Avoid products with excessive packaging or buy in bulk (for example, swap single-serve packaged products with loose or bulk packaged items). 
                    3. Purchase products with an environmental or social certification (such as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), fair trade or carbon neutral). 
                    4. Support sharing goods and services (hiring or leasing), rather than buying. 
                    5. Provide staff with reusable bottles (or ask them to bring their own) and provide or sell reusable bottles or cups to your customers. 
                    6. Ask caterers to avoid single use waste products or products with excessive packaging (for example, swap single-serve sauce packets for a condiment station).

                    Download the infographic

                    Sustainable business: Waste management tips
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                    Learn about some initiatives businesses undertook to reduce their waste through the 2017/18 single-use waste reduction fund

                    Planning template

                    To help you plan for waste and resource recovery at your business we’ve created a template:

                    Sustainable business: Waste management planning template
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