Green Advantage for Small Business: Case Studies
ECU and the Perth Region NRM have regular face-to-face contact with small business owners in Western Australia who are learning to save money and help the environment through better environmental practice.
What are they doing in their businesses? What kind of direct and indirect benefits are they experiencing in terms of costs, measurable waste reductions, positive contributions to our environment as well as employee and customer satisfaction rates? Find out by reading their stories.
Jarcourt Furniture Design
Mark Pearce (L), and Cleve Tait (R)
Recycling polystyrene saves the company $17,000 per year.
Jarcourt Furniture Design is a furniture importer and wholesaler based at Maddington. Waste disposal has been a long standing issue for the company because of the large amount of packaging associated with its products.
"Our imports from China have increased dramatically over the past 2 years and so has our responsibility for the disposal of tonnes of cardboard, plastic and polystyrene", said Bruce Harding, Director Jarcourt Furniture Design.
Jarcourt Furniture Design has progressed its waste disposal and recycling techniques from originally cutting up its cardboard waste by hand, to purchasing a butcher's saw.
The company now uses two electric balers in its warehouse and on average per week produces 30 bales of polystyrene, ten bales of cardboard, and one bale of waste plastic.
"We've saved significantly. Recycling the polystyrene alone saves the company $17,000 a year."
"We save in labour costs because there’s less time dealing with the waste and it’s not being dumped as landfill so we’re not paying extra for waste disposal."
The cardboard bales are collected each week by Amcor Recycling and the polystyrene and plastic bales are collected by Claw Environmental.
SFM Engineering
Frank Camporeale, SFM Engineering
The more recycling we do the better for everyone.
While innovative transport equipment manufacturer SFM Engineering has recycled steel for more than 20 years, over the last 12 months the company has explored new recycling options at their Bellevue factory.
Steel is our main waste product and we have a bin collected each week," said Frank Camporeale, Purchasing Officer.
Four tonnes of steel is collected from SFM Engineering every fortnight.
"Our steel off-cuts are either recycled or bought by the steel merchants. It makes environmental and economic sense."
SFM Engineering has also recently improved its waste oil collection practices and taken part in a trial with Swan Catchment Council to provide a cardboard collection point for surrounding Bellevue industrial companies.
"We’ve always known the value. The more recycling, the better its going to be for everyone."
Rainstorm
Greg Kerr, Rainstorm
Adding value is a key business approach.
Recycling is a priority business focus for Rainstorm which specialises in providing dust control solutions across Western Australia and nationally.
Each year Rainstorm transforms 1,500 tonnes of old newspapers into its main soil stabilising product Hydro Mulch.
"For us recycling newspapers is a key business activity not just a by-product of what we do", said Greg Kerr, Rainstorm’s national director.
For Rainstorm finding a bulk source of resource material makes economic and environmental sense and mountains of old newspapers are collected and stored at the Canningvale based business.
"We find things that are of little value to other people and add value to them."
Rainstorm is now finishing work on a road binder substantially composed of by- products from other industries. The type of cement with recycled origins would be used on mining roads, hardstand areas and road shoulders.
Belmont Forum Shopping Centre
Euan Moffatt (L), and Jill Goodwin (R)
Belmont Forum Shopping Centre has been rewarded for its excellence and commitment to environmentally sustainable practices with a string of awards including the 2007 WA Small Business Environment Management Award and the 2007 Western Australian Environment Awards – Corporate Business Leading by Example.
The introduction of the "Earthbeat" initiative has been instrumental to Belmont Forum’s success.
The program focuses on recycling, waste management, energy consumption, water consumption, and hazardous chemicals as well as the quality of the Centre’s indoor environment.
Belmont Forum Centre Manager Ann Manifis said, "The program has seen the introduction of an Environmental Committee and implementation of a five year Environmental Management System," said Belmont Forum Centre Manage Ann Manifis.
Between 2006 and 2007 Belmont Forum reduced common power use by nearly eight percent, recycled almost 30 percent of its waste and decreased water use by 38 percent, which is the equivalent of more than six hundred swimming pools.
