• Waste Minimisation can be viewed as:

'The reduction of unnecessary resource consumption and the minimisation of the amount of materials going to final disposal, in order to reduce operating costs and minimise environmental impacts.'

The following Environment Agency definition is also widely applied.

"Waste minimisation is the reduction of waste at source, by understanding and changing processes to reduce and prevent waste. This is also known as process or resource efficiency. Waste minimisation includes the substitution of less environmentally harmful materials in the production process"

Waste Minimisation: An Environmental Good Practice Guide for Industry, Environment Agency (1998)

Increasingly, businesses of all sizes and across all sectors are gaining significant commercial benefits due to implementing waste minimisation and effective resource management initiatives. A survey conducted by Envirowise estimated the waste costs of UK industry to be at least £1billion/year - equivalent to some 4.5% of total turnover.

• But what exactly is waste minimisation and effective resource management?
• And why has it come about in the UK?

Good business practice has always promoted implementing efficient systems and processes in order to avoid wasted time and resources, waste management is simply applying this principle. In the past decade this principle has also become fundamentally linked with promoting environmental best practice.

Indeed, within modern day business practice waste minimisation has developed into the more comprehensive concept of resource management, as defined:

'A systematic approach to determining and employing the most efficient use of resources (materials, water, energy) within any process or activity in order to reduce costs and improve environmental performance without compromising the viability of the end product or service'
EcoSys (2000)

An effective resource management system can help ensure that your organisation is meeting all relevant legal obligations, has increased its resource efficiency, is demonstrating environmental best practice and therefore, is in a strong position to satisfy all stakeholder demands.

Developments in business practice through research, technological innovation and management techniques mean the expanding discipline of resource management can meet the needs of your business and provide the competitive edge necessary in today's markets.