Being green has paid off for the Perth office of international engineering firm Hatch Associates, with an annual 18-tonne reduction in waste from the introduction of straightforward environmental initiatives.
Being green has paid off for the Perth office of international engineering firm Hatch Associates, with an annual 18-tonne reduction in waste from the introduction of straightforward environmental initiatives.
The motivation to operate a more environmentally friendly office came in 2005, when huge power bills prompted an energy audit.
Hatch’s alumina technologies specialist Mark Edwards was part of the audit team.
“Once we had a look we found we were horribly inefficient. About $300 a day was on top of our power bills just due to inefficiencies; air conditioning, lights being left on and things like that,” Mr Edwards said.
“I’ve always had a keen interest in environmental issues anyway.
“Once I found several hundred thousand dollars of savings from the power, I said why can’t we do things like waste-stream splitting and worm farming in the building and the boss said I could try some other things.”
From there, he started a sustainable development team in the office, which created the Green Office Program.
Mr Edwards took on the title of sustainable development design lead, while continuing his role in the alumina engineering division.
“We’re a group of about eight members at the moment, we meet to discuss different projects, we split up the work a little bit, but mainly myself and an assistant get the projects implemented,” he said.
“We look for opportunities to save water, gas and power and reduce our waste streams, even to the point that we’ve reduced our office suppliers and selected alternatives, based on better products, such as fair-trade products and products that involve lower emissions in production.”
In 2008, when business activity turned down due to the GFC, it provided him with an opportunity to undertake sustainable development training in the office.
“I’ve engaged with the cleaners, been down to the recycling depot and started a waste management program,” he said.
“We went from a standard paper and landfill and some cartridges being recycled, but now we have 12 different streams; different sources for e-waste, fluorescent tubes, batteries, mobile phones, paper and cardboards and plastics. We worm-farm all our kitchen waste and have auto-light control systems.”
The result has been a cut in waste by about 18 tonnes a year, and savings of $3500 a year.
The Green Office Program caught the attention of the state Department of Environment and Conservation, which praised Hatch in the Water Reduction and Resource Recovery Initiative category at the inaugural Waste Awards this month.
Judges said Hatch provided “a great example of what can be done on a small scale to reduce environmental impact” that was “potentially applicable to a number of businesses in a range of geographical locations”.
Other companies honoured at the Waste Awards were Waste Reduction Management, for its production of clean and marketable end-products to be re-used by industry, and Lomwest Enterprises, which created a moulding system that allows production of wall units using recycled products.
Mr Edwards said he hoped to implement more eco-friendly initiatives in the office in the next 12 months, including developing a garden on the office’s roof, and more staff involvement in good causes, such as Clean Up Australia Day.
Initially Hatch staff showed reluctance to the Green Office Program, but Mr Edwards said attitudes have since changed significantly.
“We’ve had a shift from the resistance to people actually suggesting and noting things they think would be good for the Green Office Program,” he said.