The business of waste

For an export business to be sustainable, every area of its operations must be designed that way.

All New Zealand businesses must comply with the Resource Management Act. There may also be other environmental regulations in place in other countries where your business operates.

Find out more about the Resource Management Act from the Ministry for the Environment.

Footprinting

Business ecological footprinting tools help your business use natural resources more efficiently. This can:

• reduce the environmental impact of your firm, and the cost of complying with local regulations
• identify efficiencies in suppliers and materials
• increase health, safety, wellbeing among employees and the wider community

Businesses as ethical consumers

As a sustainable business, using your own buying power to make sustainable buying choices is an important part of ‘walking the talk.’
Ways you can do this include:

• choosing energy efficient buildings  
• checking the Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics when choosing an IT supplier. It contains detailed information on the policies and practices of the main electronics companies
• choosing Forest Stewardship Council certified wood products like furniture, stationary and building materials
• research other internationally recognised certifications and buy certified products when you can.

Waste not, want not

One of the most fundamental ways to improve efficiency is to minimise waste. You can do this in three main ways:

• compliance with the Waste Minimisation Act (2008), and any equivalent laws in the countries your business operates
• voluntary measures: these might include undertaking a waste audit and creating a company waste minimisation policy similar to this
• sharing waste minimisation knowledge with partners in your supply chain.
  

Many local authorities provide information and advice to help your business minimise waste.

Find out more about minimising waste from the ZeroWaste Trust.

Waste as an ethical business

As some key raw materials become increasingly scarce or expensive, the market for waste and resource reclamation is expanding. However, there have been recent examples where waste from industrialised nations has been dumped on poorer countries without regard for basic health and safety precautions.

It’s important to be aware of relevant international regulations and guidelines, usually administered by the country’s environment ministry. Ensure your business partners around the world do likewise.

For example, New Zealand is a signatory to the Basel Convention. This considers broken computers and other electronic goods to be hazardous waste. This requires a consent with details of its destination to export it legally.

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