Addressing Wasteful Workplaces
Rethink workplaces lacking progressive sustainability goals.
Just 15% of professionals in the United States think their employer does enough to tackle climate change, 71% of professionals state their organization doesn’t have progressive climate goals, 59% of professionals think sustainability should be a top workplace priority, and less than one in five think their workplace is very sustainable. These are findings from specialist recruitment company Robert Walters, which carried out new research to find that despite 59% of the companies surveyed stating sustainability and climate considerations has become a priority, efforts still seem to be falling short. Associate Director Emilie Vignon comments, “All members of the business community have an obligation to help reverse the dial on climate change—recent research found that plastic waste generation in the U.S. is projected to reach almost 90 million metric tons by 2030, and more than 140 million metric tons by 2060.”
How sustainable is your workplace?
Only 18% of respondents to the poll believe their workplace is very sustainable whilst the majority (60%) state their workplace is only marginally and over one in five don’t think their workplace is sustainable at all. “Should the onus for workplace sustainability fall exclusively on employers’ shoulders? Or should there be more responsibility on professionals to come forward and join the efforts to ramp up office sustainability?” comments Vignon. The poll asked professionals who they thought the responsibility at work lay with—24% stated HR and senior company leaders, 15% opted for office managers but three in five said that the responsibility lay with employees themselves.
Clear climate goals?
An office generates significant plastic waste. The average person uses 156 plastic bottles annually, and Americans discard around 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour. Additionally, an average American office worker produces a considerable amount of waste, including 10,000 sheets of office paper and 500 disposable coffee cups each year. What’s worrying is that only 29% of professionals state their company has a set of clear climate or sustainability targets across the business. The remaining 71% state that their companies don’t. “These figures demonstrate that we have a long way to go in achieving sustainable practices in the workplace. A strong environmental and sustainability stance can safeguard a company’s long-term success. It’s no secret that a robust ESG proposition is tied to higher equity returns,” says Vignon.
Nitty-gritty of green efforts
The poll surveyed professionals on their interest in environmentally focused initiatives—36% are interested in tree planting and reforestation projects, 32% in community clean-up events, and 32% in sustainable commuting and office recycling programs. “Plastic and physical waste is just the tip of the iceberg—there is also energy usage (lights, laptops, printers and other tech) and heating costs to the CO2 production of long commutes and company travel abroad. Not only does office waste and energy usage carry huge environmental burden, but also a financial one that can have an enormous impact on a company’s bottom line.”
Vignon shares some top tips for sustainable business stating, “Almost 30% of professionals state that their organization has clear climate goals yet nearly three in five think their employer is not doing enough to allow for meaningful, long-term sustainability. There are a host of changes that can be adopted by businesses to become greener for good.”
1 Carrying out a waste audit – hiring an external provider to conduct a workplace waste audit, outlining areas for improvement and compiling an action plan of waste reduction.
2 Assigning responsibility in your organization – an increasing number of ESG-related roles are being created in organizations to set climate targets and form initiatives to reach set goals.
3 Partnering with an ESG consultancy – not only to help hold your company to account but to keep up with sustainable industry expectations as well as stay abreast of upcoming policy changes.
4 Offering sustainable alternatives – from keep-cups to reduced single-use plastics, recycled notepads and materials, offering more sustainable alternatives is a surefire way of reducing unnecessary business waste.
5 Introducing collective sustainability incentives – work together as an organization to decide sustainability incentives and goals. If everyone feels they have a hand in contributing to greater sustainability across a business, there will be more chance of it becoming a reality.
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