Resource Management and Pollution Prevention
The environmental challenges businesses face are increasingly complex, involving systems that reach across public and private sectors, and between industries.
Whether it be water, waste, raw materials, energy, emissions, or the impact of the products you sell, analysing your company’s footprint and usage in these areas is critical to understanding many of the risks and opportunities that face your business, regardless of where these impacts arise. Having a leaner, lighter, and future proof use and distribution of resources will not only give you a competitive edge today, it will also keep you profitably in business tomorrow.
Our Services
Sancroft has been on the leading edge of environmental practice for twenty years. Our bespoke services help you meet the challenges unique to your organisation – whether strategic, technical, commercial or reputational. We do this through:
Resource use review.
From commodities to energy to water, we can examine your use and purchase of key materials and services. Viewing these through an understanding of resource scarcity, the legislative landscape and best practice, we can help to reduce your running costs, ensure your continued licence to operate, and advise you how to make changes in your natural business cycle to stay ahead of the issues you face.
Waste Analysis
Every business produces waste. The trick is to understand it, minimise it, and where possible, turn it into a valuable resource. We can help you assess:
- How much waste you are currently producing – analysing this helps us to assess the efficiency of your operations, the potential for reduction and the best means of disposal.
- How can you optimise your waste – from water to offcuts, packaging to coffee cups, the type and quality of your waste can always be improved. This can help you avoid environmental problems, such as possible pollutants, as well as identify how to modify your operations to reduce waste that is particularly difficult to dispose of.
- Cost into resource – much of the waste to your business can be a valuable asset to others. A comprehensive waste strategy can even help you turn a cost line into revenue. We can help you find the best end market for your waste and reduce cost and in many cases, turn it into revenue.
Product use and end of life.
The use and eventual destination of your products are at the core of the perception, reputation and legislative landscape in which you operate – particularly if you are producing an item that, for all its benefits, is seen as wasteful, frivolous, or a cause of litter or potential pollution. We can advise you on the best way to review your portfolio and, with sensitivity to both perception and likely legislative changes, advise on how to stay ahead of future changes to keep your company trading and take advantage of emerging trends.
Alternative strategy.
We can support the development of environmentally-preferable alternatives – whether materials, technologies or market relationships – and their uptake among customers, regulators and other stakeholders.
Collaborative initiatives.
We can convene innovative, multistakeholder collaborations – across your peers in industry and related sectors – to find practical answers to complex environmental challenges.
Benefits for your business
As well as being the right thing to do, understanding the environmental impact of your business is crucial for managing the risks and opportunities you face in operating costs and in future market conditions. Some of the benefits include:
- Reducing costs: All resources come at a cost. Reducing their use will save you money at all stages of their lifecycle.
- A mirror to your business: Looking at the resources you put in and the waste you produce is a one of the most effective sources of insight into your business. Beyond simple cost reduction, it has the potential to revolutionise your operations and their efficiency.
- Staying ahead of the legislative landscape: Business must always adapt to change, but being early to spot a trend can only enhance competitiveness. It is more advantageous to evolve your business ahead of legislation or changes in the market in the normal business cycle than it is to do so retrospectively.
- Reputation management: Public awareness of pollution risks – from air quality to ocean plastics – is higher by far than at any point in recent years. The best way to protect your company’s hard-won reputation, and license to operate and innovate, is to minimise your environmental footprint and have a credible, transparent plan in place for those areas that require longer-term strategic action.
- Future security and expansion: Environmental impacts are very real contributors of business risk, affecting the resilience and continuity of your operations, the development of markets, and the future viability of your business model. A strategy to identify and manage these factors will help you avoid surprise costs and disruption and generally strengthen your confidence to grow your business.
