The benefits of efficient waste management for organizations

Abstract

Objectives The objectives of this thesis are to discover the different types of organizational waste, the ways it can be processed and the possible benefits that can be gained from these different waste management procedures. In addition, the effect of ecolabels and Environmental Management Systems (EMS), specifically ISO 14001, will be assessed.

Summary Waste management is an integral part of nearly every business, especially those operating on manufacturing fields, that should be taken into serious account in organizations. At its best, waste management can be an efficient way to diminish costs. In order to find more information on the specific waste management methods resulting in cost savings, existing literature was researched and three companies from different fields were interviewed regarding the subject.

Conclusions The main findings of this research concentrate on the gained benefits of efficient waste management techniques. It looks both at what the techniques and benefits are and how they are related to each other. In addition, the effects of ecolabels on consumers are assessed. The results seem to indicate that there is a link between efficient waste management and cost savings at the least for the interviewed companies. What comes to ecolabels, they were perceived more as a supposition for the organizations rather than a huge differentiating factor.