Industry Updates

New Year New Office: Improve Your Workplace to Become Zero-Waste

Still in the spirit of entering both new year and decade, what plans do you have in mind or have started doing? Decluttering and cleaning up the house? Or perhaps improving your lifestyle? What about your workplace and/or office?

Source: Damir Kopezhanov/Unsplash 

Perhaps it rarely crosses our mind to revamp or improve one’s office or workplace, which is a bit ironic because taking into consideration the standard work duration of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week, the working class in Jabodetabek spent more time outside than in their own house. Not to mention the commuting time that most workers underwent through when traveling from their house to their office/workplace.

With a total of 8 hours at the office along with extra 2-4 hours commuting time, at least more than half of their day is spent outside.

The Amount of Waste Generated from Office Complex

The significant amount of time that is spent by employees at the office ultimately affects the amount of waste that is generated from the office complex.

Data from DKI Jakarta Environmental Agency in 2017 stated that the amount of waste produced in the capital city from January until November 2017 is as many as  2.278.715 tons. From that amount, waste that is generated from offices became the second biggest contributor after residential waste, which amounts to 22,5%.

Huge pile of garbage under the Wiyoto Wiyono highway in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta. Source: Liputan6

In addition, according to research that was quoted in Forbes, the average employee spends more than 10,000 papers every year, and that is just paper waste. Meanwhile, the types of waste that are generated from office complex might vary from plastics, food waste, and electronics.

The Obligation to Manage Domestic Waste 

Improving one’s workplace and office to become zero waste is not only important to help overcome the existing waste and environmental problems, but also because there are laws that govern it. Generally, Indonesia has two main regulations in regard to the management of domestic waste and domestic waste equivalents, namely Law No. 18 of 2008 and Government Regulation No. 81 of 2012

Article 10 of Government Regulation No. 81 of 2012 stated that every person is obliged to reduce and manage the volume of their waste, and this includes the reduction, recycling, and reuse of the waste

Creating An Ecosystem of Responsible Waste Management in the Offices 

Your office and/or company can, in fact, take part in creating an ecosystem of responsible waste management in the office sector. How?

1. Implement New Regulation/Policies that support Zero-Waste in the Office

Encouraging employees to start adopting a less-waste lifestyle in the office can become one of the main challenges.

Therefore, the zero-waste efforts in the offices should be backed up by rules and obligations that encourage or even oblige the employees to be responsible for managing their waste.

Such policies and obligations can take part in various forms and instances, such as

a. A rule to bring their own tumbler or mug (also by providing reusable drink containers). This rule will be ideal if it is supported by the existence of water dispensers in various spots throughout the office such as the pantry, meeting rooms, as well as the hallway.

b. An obligation to segregate waste. This obligation should also be accompanied by providing segregated waste bins and posters/infographics regarding the category of waste that needs to be sorted.

Contoh tempat sampah terpilah yang bisa digunakan di perkantoran. Sumber: discardstudies.com
Example of a segregated waste bin that can be used in an office complex. Source: discardstudies.com

c. An obligation to reduce the use of paper / become paperless. This should also be backed by a flexible work culture that does not require every document or paperwork to be printed. Moreover, an option to use recycled paper instead should also be taken into consideration.

d. Providing lunch using easily degradable containers such as besek (food container made from rattan) or banana leaf.

Contoh wadah makanan yang lebih ramah lingkungan dengan menggunakan besek bambu. Sumber: cateringmurahbali.com
Besek and banana leaf are examples of a more environmentally-friendly food container. Source: cateringmurahbali.com

e. An agreement between the food vendors in the canteen to minimize single-use packaging and/or to shift to degradable packaging and a more environmentally friend such as paper rice compared to styrofoam.

f. A consensus and/or rule to choose buffet instead of rice box which has the potential to generate much waste during a lunch or dinner event.

Makanan prasmanan lebih minim sampah dibandingkan nasi kotak. Sumber: Franz Schekolin/Unsplash
Buffet food saves a lot of potential waste that will otherwise be generated when using rice box. Source: Franz Schekolin/Unsplash

To see other tips, kindly read the articleUntuk melihat tips lainnya, silahkan membaca artikel 5 Tips Zero-Waste di Kantor

2. Creating A Zero-Waste Event or Mini Competition

To further support the existing rules and regulations, your office/company can also hold a small event or competition between divisions in terms of responsible waste management.

For example, the competition can be in the form of a point system for every staff or employee who has implemented and obey the rules and regulations toward zero waste. Extra points can be given to groups or divisions who have their own initiatives to be even more zero waste.

Consequently, penalty or point deduction can be applied to employees or staff who forgot or violate the rules.

Such events and competitions in an office environment do not only help to encourage the employees and management to implement a less-waste lifestyle but also to train and enhance their teamwork and collective performance in reaching a specific goal.

3. Provide Education about Responsible Waste Management to Employees, Management, as well as Cleaning Staff 

Last but not least, the rules and regulations to be zero waste will not be complete without a comprehensive education on why and how we should be responsible for managing our waste.

Because the first and foremost reason why these rules exist is not for the sake of winning an award or to the company a good image, but rather to become a part of the solutions in overcoming the waste crisis that Indonesia and even the world is currently facing.

Education Session about Responsible Waste Management provided by Waste4Change
Education Session about Responsible Waste Management provided by Waste4Change

Therefore, everyone starting from the cleaning staff, employees and even the management should get adequate information on the importance of managing one’s waste in a responsible manner.

For Jabodetabek area, Waste4Change provides Responsible Waste Management and Zero Waste to Landfill services to make sure that your company and office waste will be recycled optimally. In addition, our existing clients include the Greenhouse Co-working Space and Kafe SELATAN.

Read the article in Indonesian version in here.

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