This article explains how the Green manufacturing framework that helps manufacturers become sustainable is applied in real life.

What Are the 7 Green Wastes?

Energy

Here we refer energy to electricity and fuels that we use for powering electrical and mechanical devices.

Issues regarding energy are:

  • Overuse of energy that later on represents waste
  • Whether the energy has a renewable or non-renewable source
  • It has to be bought from someone else

To resolve all these issues and to stop the company from hurting the environment the manufacturer’s end goal is to switch to a renewable energy source which gives them advantage over their competitions and they don’t have to buy their energy.

Water

Looking at water as the second green waste, it is used in higher quantities by manufacturers for their product treatment, some examples are the garment and textile industry.

The increasing price of water hits manufacturers the most because they pay for using the water and discharging the water back into the system.

Companies must also take into account how much water there is in their region, because some companies must make sure they have enough water for their operations while being in a water-scarce region.

Materials

The current linear flow of materials affects manufacturer profits and sustainability – manufacturers need raw materials for production and at the end of their lifecycle they end up in a landfill.

There is a solution to this. By creating a system that collects the products at the end of their lifecycles and reuses them as new materials that will save money that would have been otherwise spent on new raw materials. To achieve this, we need to innovate the design stage.

Garbage

We all know what needs to be done with garbage and we know the impact it has on the environment. But there is a hidden aspect and that is the actual cost of throwing things away.

What that means is to have a certain item, you have to buy it first and when you don’t have any need for it you pay someone to get rid of it. The garbage contributes to the company’s GHG emissions.

The waste types that are the most impactful on the environment are also the ones with high costs for purchase and disposal.

Transportation

This waste includes are sorts of transport like humans, materials and finished outputs from one place to the other. This alone is the leading cause of air pollution in Europe. The solution to this problem is that we should use modes of transport that are 100% environmentally friendly.

Emissions

There isn’t just one benefit of eliminating this waste. The elimination of this waste reduces the impact the business has on the environment, but mostly it helps in reducing the fines and fees that come with it.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is needed to sustain life on the planet. It surrounds all living species on earth and their connections with each other. It represents a way of communication between plants and animals and they create an ecosystem that can sustain life.

The goal should be to preserve biodiversity and regenerate what has already been taken.

Steps to Eliminate Green Waste

Gather Data On The Current Situation

For example, if we use the Energy waste, we need to gather data about the energy source and use.

Step 2: Increase Efficiency, Minimize Consumption

This step ensures that the operations are lean and efficient as possible and it is considered the most important step. In this step you need to be on the look out to minimize the use of resources. This step pays back fast and reduces costs.

Step 3: Invest in Bettering Your Business

With this step you are one step closer to the end goal of any category before mentioned. We take a part of the budget from step 2 to invest into being green. Since each aspect of the business is different the journey will also be different but the end goal will remain the same – to become a green manufacturer.