Effective materials management can lead to savings in time, labour and money so therefore improving competitiveness.

A logical first step towards legislative compliance and realising cost savings can be achieved by means of a Fasttrack visit. A free, confidential onsite review, Fasttrack can help avoid producing unnecessary waste and generally improve the efficiency of your business. A resource efficiency expert will spend up to a day analysing avoidable waste and identifying specific areas where you can improve margins by making simple changes that require no capital outlay. A confidential report containing an action plan, savings targets and references to free Envirowise publications and software to help get you started will be sent to you.

Waste costs more than you may realise. When you consider the materials, costs of treatment, energy and wasted labour, the real cost is often 5-20 times the cost of disposal. By introducing a systematic waste minimisation programme - reducing the raw materials you use - businesses can potentially save 1% of their turnover.

Corporate social responsibility can also pay dividends where profits are concerned. Customers increasingly favour environmentally friendly companies and large organisations often operate a preferred supplier status with those taking steps to implement a recognised environmental management system (EMS) such as ISO 14001 and EMAS.