WHY WORK AT WASTE AT WORK

Reduce	*	Choose equipment that will last
Reuse	* * *	Who could make good use of your old furniture and equipment
Recycle	* *	Some manufacturers accept old machines for reconditioning
Buy Recycled	* *	How long is a recycled ruler?

Each year British businesses buy about 100,000 desks, 500,000 chairs, 150,000 tables and 250,000 filing cabinets. Many of these are bought as replacements, and the items discarded annually would furnish the House of Commons a hundred times over. In addition, numerous computers, office machines, carpets and fixtures are also thrown out The Warren Spring Laboratory report on The Recycling of Electronic Scrap (November 1992) estimated the total arisings of end of-life electronic equipment at 100,000 tonnes p a.

Increased amounts of personal computers are now seen amongst bulky household waste at Civic Amenity Sites. It has been estimated that approximately 1,800 tonnes of obsolete electronic office equipment will arise annually in future within the 2.2 sq km of the City of London. Most of these items are still usable but are often landfilled, occupying many millions of cubic metres.

All machines benefit from careful use and regular maintenance, which will increase their life span. Details about routine maintenance and clearing of printers, fax machines, typewriters and certain parts of computers, such as the diskette drives, will usually be contained in the manuals, and the instructions should be followed. If this is too demanding of staff time, a company which supplies remanufactured laser printer cartridges now also offers a clearing service for printers. Maintenance agreements, although often expensive, ensure that urgent work will be done as soon as it is needed minimising possible damage to equipment.

Where single large users provide a predictable supply of electronic scrap, it is possible to reclaim much of it. For example, British Telecom now recovers its rental telephones, recycling 83% by weight of material, specifically metal and plastic components. The local yellow pages may carry details of companies which spectacle in computer scrap, particularly the metals found on circuit boards. A recent development has been the growth of companies which specialise in reclaiming most of the component parts of computers and telecommunications equipments, and they are researching ways of collecting obsolete items for scattered sources.

Another option is channelling spare furniture and equipment to charities, via the various furniture reclamation schemes which exist throughout the country. Not all of these cover office furniture, however so that may not be appropriate, but most large centres commercial second-hand shops deal in office furniture and there are also companies who specialise in the renovation of chairs and desks for reuse.

If buying new equipment, look for features which cut down on waste generation. Plain paper fax machines, although currently more expensive to buy, make it unnecessary to photocopy faxes which are to be kept estimated at approximately a quarter of all faxes. Since standard fax paper is not recyclable, there is an additional advantage in using plain paper fax machines. However, this needs to be set against the fact, that plain paper fax machines rely on toner cartridges, which are also a source of waste. Some relatively new laser printers do not use conventional toner cartridges at all, and have long life drums which are designed to last the lifetime of the printer. There are now pieces of equipment which combine more than one use, for example the functions of a laser printer, copier, fax machine and scanner are now all available in a single machine, which can be integrated with a computer, enabling much of the intervening pieces of part required by many tasks to be eliminated. Rulers, desk tidies and even desks are available in recycled materials. Recycled plastic is used in a range of office items and desks and tables have been made from recycled cartons used for packaging milk and juices.

Buying second-hand furniture is the best option for reducing waste, and there are a number of companies which specialise in supplying reconditioned office furniture. Most towns of any size will also have shops that sell old filing cabinets, computer desks and similar items, although it is important that such items conform to current health and safety requirements.

NatWest Bancorp chose to purchase 90 plain paper fax machines, which could use recycled paper.

Capital Items - Furniture, Computers & Office Equipment