Warehouses are the hubs of the transportation and logistics industry. They store and transport goods all over the country, keeping the economy going. This produces an enormous amount of waste and it is important for warehouses to manage their waste properly.
Although many warehouses consume a great deal of energy and produce large amounts of waste, companies can take several measures to make their warehousing practices more sustainable. The following are tips for lowering the energy consumption and waste production of a warehouse, making it more sustainable and economically productive.
1. Managing Inventory: Matching customer orders to warehouse stock and improving the timing of inbound and outbound shipments can reduce the volume of inventory a facility stores. Controlling inventory helps reduce the amount of equipment, racking, and shelving in the facility. The ultimate example is cross-docking, where inbound shipments stay in the facility for only a few hours.
2. Less packaging: By using less packaging in products and making the boxes more efficient, warehouses can save money on packaging materials and on the amount of energy they expend in moving the products throughout the warehouse. Lighter packages also cut down on shipping costs.
3. Bio-degradable packaging: When using packaging that is environmentally safe, companies ensure that neither they nor their customers are causing any environmental hazards. Furthermore, they are at no risk of violating environmental regulations or incurring fines.
4. Stick to schedule: A schedule is key to ensuring that operations are running as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Having a set schedule and sticking to it ensures that you know exactly what needs to go out when and helps you eliminate multiple journeys to fulfill a task.
5. Reuse: Warehouses have long been experts at reusing items such as pallets and cardboard boxes, as long as they are in usable shape. Packaging material is reused less often, and can be expensive to manufacture and transportation.
6. Lighting: Environmentally friendly LED bulbs have a much longer lifespan than standard light bulbs and don’t produce heat. All warehouses should be equipped with lighting that is both environmentally and economically sustainable, reducing energy usage and electricity costs.
7. Turning off equipment: Oftentimes, office equipment and chargers still draw a small amount of power even when the appliance is not turned on. By installing switches, surge protectors, and similar products, the electronic equipment can all be turned off at night and when not in use, eliminating any extra power usage and lowering the electricity bill.
8. Proper insulation and building materials: Inefficient building materials and poor insulation leads to a loss in heat and air conditioning, sending electricity bills and energy consumption far higher than necessary.
9. Recycling: Warehouses are better suited than most for recycling products. The majority of the waste from warehouses is cardboard and paper products and these are usually recycled. Some warehouses, however, do not recycle as efficiently as they might, and thus cause higher energy consumption in the production of new cardboard and paper as well as sending more items to landfills.
10. Proper disposal: Another important factor in how warehouses manage waste is the frequency of when their trash and recycling is picked up and the types of containers used to dispose of their waste. Most warehouses opt for closed, front load dumpster containers, despite their smaller size. Large recycling bins are also necessary, especially for a warehouse that produces a log of cardboard waste.
These ten tips for waste management are all effective ways for warehouses to lower their environmental impact and economic expenditures at the same time.
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