HOWZAT

A further initiative saw the company remove a plastic liner bag used in its delivery boxes. That simple move provided a further €4,000 in savings each year. “The great thing about ISO 14001 is that it is about continuous improvement,” said Carley. “Every year you set new objectives and targets and because you look at everything to see if you can save money, ISO 14001 pays for itself over and over again.”

Companies interested in pursuing ISO 14001 can contact the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI).

The cost of accreditation varies depending on the business and the number of employees, but the approximate lead-in price for a firm employing less than 50 people is €4,000.

Once you have the standard, maintaining it requires two annual audits, currently costing from €960 per day each, typically over one or two days.

According to the NSAI, there has been a significant increase in interest in the environmental standard from small firms.

This may be because new legislation means any company with a turnover of more than €1m, and that places more than 25 tons of packaging on to the Irish market a year, is now deemed a “major producer” of waste and is obliged to comply with packaging regulations.

This has brought many more small firms into the legislative net, obliging them to join a collective packaging-recycling scheme such as Repak, fees for which start at €808 plus vat. Repak is a packaging compliance scheme established by agreement between industry and the Department of Environment and Local Government.

Their only alternative is to recycle packaging from customers on their premises, showing evidence of its correct disposal.

In addition the new regulations oblige all businesses, regardless of whether or not they are deemed a major producer, to deal responsibly with their backdoor waste.

It is now illegal for any business to send specific packaging materials, including plastic film wrap, fibreboard, glass, aluminium and steel packaging, to landfill. All companies must dispose correctly of common recyclable materials consumed on the company’s premises such as aluminium drink cans, cardboard and paper.

Enforcement is carried out by local authority officers, who have the power to prosecute firms that do no comply with the rules. Even without the regulations, the cost makes sending waste to landfill prohibitive.

“It costs €180 per ton to send waste to landfill so it makes sense to take as much out of landfill, by recycling, as possible,” said Darrell Crowe, the marketing manager for Repak. The average business is estimated to spend 4.6% on waste management. By introducing simple waste management and recycling programmes, savings of up to 30% can be achieved.

There are financial supports available for environmental initiatives. Enterprise Ireland’s Environmental Policy Unit offers small firms a grant towards the cost of engaging independent consultants to devise environmental management systems such as ISO 14001 or the European Union’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme standard.

Enterprise Ireland can provide financial support to help companies assess ways to reduce the environmental impact of their products, without compromising product quality or cost.

Last year, Morris Bros, a grocery wholesaler employing 25 people in Convoy, Co Donegal, won a Repak best practice award. Traditionally Morris Bros paid for all its plastic and cardboard waste to go to landfill. Now that this material is compacted and baled, it is collected for recycling for free.

The company introduced metal delivery cages, which have taken 55 tons of wooden pallets out of the supply chain. And by investing in a shrink wrapper, it has reduced the amount of plastic it places on goods by a third of a ton a year.

For firms taking a DIY approach, a guide to waste management systems, including a step-by-step workbook, is available free from Raceagainstwaste.ie. Other useful websites are Nsai.ie, Repak.ie, and Enterprise-ireland.ie.