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Recycling at work handy hints to employers
It is estimated that avoidable waste costs UK businesses up to 4.5°/o of their annual revenue. Reducing waste in the workplace is about being efficient. By becoming more efficient, businesses not only increase profits but they also save natural resources.
On the island of Jersey, for example, the amount of waste produced each year has doubled since 1980. In 2004 it topped 100,000 tonnes and 60% is generated by local businesses. A lot of waste for a small island!
Setting up a company scheme
Waste audit Before starting a recycling scheme, perform an audit. This will make you aware of how much waste you are producing in the company.
Company policy Consider switching your office waste contractor to one that provides are cycling service. Buy recycled paper. Although this is sometimes more expensive, costs can be reduced by lowering consumption and using duplex printers.
Get everyone involved • Raise awareness internally within the company, perhaps by putting up educational posters. • Allocate a person to be the point of contact for anyone with queries.
There are also a couple of ways to increase motivation: • Hold internal competitions between different departments. For example, see which can reduce their waste the most within a specific time period. • Send out regular newsletters reporting on all waste improvements. Staff will then see the impact their actions are having.
WHAT TO RECYCLE AND HOW
Paper According to a recent survey 65% of waste produced is paper waste. Waste paper will inevitably be produced in the workplace but it is not necessary to discard it. It can serve a variety of purposes before it is recycled such as writing notes. Envelopes too can be re-used for internal mail.
Plastic cups Rather than supplying disposable plastic cups in your workplace get ceramic mugs that can be re-used. Not only do they make your tea taste better but they can reduce your office waste by up to 1%!
Electrical equipment Rather than giving up on any old electrical equipment and just throwing it away why not try upgrading it? This reduces waste as well as avoiding the need to manufacture a new machine -a process which creates a large amount of waste. You could also consider donating your old computers to charities when it comes to replacing them.
Read the text below and answer Questions 22-27
To start, take a tip from consultants who coach executives on how to handle media interviews. They say you can deliver the message you want to an employer, regardless of the question you’re asked.
Unlike some politicians, who take no notice of press questions and immediately introduce a different topic in response, job candidates must answer employers queries, says John Barford of the interview training firm Genesis. However, you can quickly make the transition from your answer to the important points you want to convey about your qualifications, he says.
He advises candidates at job interviews to apply the formula Q= A + 1: Q is the question; A is the answer; + is the bridge to the message you want to deliver; and 1 is the point you want to make.
Diligent preparation is also necessary to effectively answer any interview question, say senior executives. They give a number of useful tips:
• Learn as much as you can beforehand. Ask company employees questions prior to job interviews to gain as much insight as you can if the company is publicly owned, find out how viable it is by reading shareholder reports. You can then tailor what you say to the company’s issues.
• Be prepared for questions that require you to show how you handled difficult challenges. These questions require stories in response, but as it’s unlikely that you’ll have one that fits every situation, try to recall some from your past experience that show how you coped with a range of issues.
• Count on being asked about a past mistake or blemish on your career record, and don t try to dodge the issue. Ms Murphy, president of the Murphy Group, a media interview training firm, says that it’s important to steer clear of lies at all costs. Just answer the question and move on.
• When discussing a mistake, focus on the positive outcomes. You learn as much by dropping the ball as you do by catching it says senior executive Mr Friedmann. When he was being interviewed for his current job, he mentioned he had been involved in many successful turnarounds and one that failed. ‘And I said how I’d benefited in many ways from going through that experience,’ he says.
