How Can The Sustainable Development Goals Shape Your Waste Management Process?
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a 17-point list of targets, which were created to drive toward a net zero, environmentally friendly world. Following these can help your business succeed, while also fighting toward a brighter future. Read on to find out what the Sustainable Development Goals are, and how to align your waste management process around these.
What are the Sustainable Development Goals?
Introduced in 2015, the UN formulated these goals: “To end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2040 all people enjoy peace and prosperity”. These are worldwide goals, that have then been adopted and embraced by all United Nations members, so familiarising yourself with them and aligning your business behaviours with them is imperative. The 17 goals are listed below:
- No Poverty
- Zero Hunger
- Good Health and Well-Being
- Quality Education
- Gender Equality
- Clean Water and Sanitation
- Affordable and Clean Energy
- Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Reduced Inequalities
- Sustainable Cities and Communities
- Responsible Consumption and Production
- Climate Action
- Life Below Water
- Life on Land
- Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
- Partnerships for the Goals.
Though these policies apply to more than just business strategy, they provide a framework for the global community to follow, a set of goals to focus on, in order to make a strong, positive impact in the world. It has become particularly important for businesses to incorporate social and environmental responsibility into their business model and the SDGs are a brilliant model for this.
How can your Business Stick to these Goals?
The beginning of following the UN Sustainable Development Goals is understanding each of these and what they represent, more information is available here. Following this, prioritising and realistically assessing the goals can help your business focus on the areas that you can seriously affect, as not every firm can work toward every goal, as each business operates in a unique environment. Once familiarised with the goals, and with the relevant ones selected, integrating these into your business plans will be the next course of action.
Where does waste management come into this? The answer can come from more goals than you might think. Let’s focus on three.
- Affordable and Clean Energy
Whilst on the face of it, this goal is relating to solar panels, windmills, and other traditional energy sources, the goal can extend far beyond this. With exciting innovations, thanks to schemes like this, waste can create energy and save it. Let’s consider how to save your energy, and keep waste as circular as possible.
A byproduct in many businesses is high levels of waste production. This can make it difficult to manage the waste effectively. With the help of a third-party waste management partner, we can ensure your waste is disposed of correctly, and diverted from landfill whenever possible, ensuring SDG compliance. Further to this, diverting from landfill is a money saver for your business both from the perspective of waste costs and the failure of compliance fines.
- Responsible Consumption and Production
A primary target within this goal is the responsible management of chemicals and waste. This is a key target from our perspective. The incorrect management of chemicals and hazardous waste has a serious adverse impact on the health of the planet and of all its inhabitants. Dealing with hazardous wastes and spills can be incredibly challenging for a business but there are many tangible benefits such as avoiding fines and increasing a positive perception of your business.
- Climate Action
Climate change is a very real threat to the planet and our lives. It is important that every business considers this threat, and reduces its impact wherever possible. Something which all businesses can do is educate. Educate your workforce and third-party suppliers on the threat and what we can do to reduce it. This will help eliminate unnecessary product waste, for example. Educating staff on these goals can ensure that your entire business is aligned toward the rules, and reporting your annual progress toward this can communicate your commitment to customers and stakeholders.
Why your Business Should Adopt these Goals
Adoption of these goals can help your business in more ways than one. By operating responsibly you can save money, stay compliant, and build company trust. Aligning your waste management policy to just one or a few of these Goals will provide you with a great foundation in which to form your CSR strategy.
The Sustainable Development Goals should not be viewed as a burden to your business, with strict rules to follow, but an opportunity to better align your practices that ultimately benefit your business as well as the wider global community.
