Waste Management Notes

Waste is any material or resource discarded because it cannot be further used in the production process.

Waste minimisation: The process of reducing the amount of resources misused or discarded by a business during its operations.

A reduction in waste can:
- Lower the cost of production.
- Lead to increased efficiency, as fewer inputs are used per unit of output.
- Demonstrate a commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), making the business more competitive, leading to an increase in effectiveness.
- Lead to lower prices, improving price competitiveness, sales, and market share.

Wastage can come in many forms, not just raw materials (e.g., excess inventory).
- Transportation: Time wasted transporting resources or products.
- Inventory: Supplies that are unused, discarded, or idle.
- Motion: Excess movement of people, machines, and materials.
- Wait Times: Excessive wait times between production and distribution or waiting between processes.
- Overproduction: Producing more than demanded.
- Over-processing: Performing operations on the product that don’t add value.
- Defects: Defective products that need to be fixed or go to waste.
TIMWOOD: An acronym summarizing the 7 areas of waste: Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Wait Time, Over-processing, Overproduction, & Defects.
Exam Tip: The 7 areas of waste can be used as Lean Management Principles.

Wastage might occur due to:
- Poor quality materials
- Poor processes (e.g., inaccurate forecasting)
- Defective machinery/equipment
- Poorly trained staff

Reduce: Decreasing the amount of products, labor, or time discarded during production.
- Example: A business may choose to lower the number of employees producing goods if there is more labor than customer demand.
Reuse: Making use of items which would have otherwise been discarded.
- Example: A glass drink bottle business may choose to have customers return used glass bottles so they can clean and re-bottle drinks.
Recycle: Transform items which would have otherwise been discarded.
- Example: A pizza shop could recycle unused paper pizza boxes and transform them into other paper products.

Reduce is a waste minimisation strategy that aims to decrease the amount of resources, labor, or time discarded during production.

Reuse is waste minimisation strategy that aims to make use of items which would have otherwise been discarded.

Recycle is a waste minimisation strategy that aims to transform items which would have otherwise been discarded. Recycling involves transforming discarded resources and turning them into new products or materials that can be utilized. Through recycling resources where it is possible, a business can reduce the amount of money that is needed to purchase new resources, subsequently reducing the business’s production costs.

Yakult Honsha is a food business specializing in the production of a probiotic drink.
They engage in efficient waste management by making use of approximately 99% of their raw materials in operations.
Yakult also actively minimises waste by recycling their packaging. For example, Yakult recycles their plastic bottles into other plastic products such as chairs and tables.

Efficiency: By only using the required amount of materials, time, etc., a business can produce items faster, increasing their rate of production.
Effectiveness: Reducing waste lowers operational costs which can allow for a business to offer lower prices to customers. This can assist in meeting the objective of increasing customer satisfaction and sales.