EXAM QUESTIONS FOR RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS UNIT Essay

EXAM QUESTIONS FOR RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS UNIT - Essay Example Various Methods of Waste Management Waste management deals with reducing waste through sustainable production of goods. This sustainability can be achieved through product design and process design. Production notions need to be changed to reduce waste. There are various methods of waste management, including product life cycle management, dematerialisation and industrial eco-management and through eco-friendly designs and eco-technology. Design phase of a product offers maximum possibility of managing waste. Latest Manufacturing Industry Trend A change in trends has been seen in manufacturing industries for attaining sustainable manufacturing by changing from end-of-pipe solutions to centring on product life-cycles for integrating strategies and systems to achieve environmental sustainability. The trend is increasingly shifting towards closed-loop circular manufacturing systems and for new business models (OECD, 2009). Preference for Environment Management Systems for Waste Control Businesses are going for Environment Management Systems (EMS) – integrated environmental strategies and management systems. Application of EMS ensures that environmental issues such as waste management are looked after through enforcement of programmes to achieve related goals, which are inspected for attaining performance level, rectifying problem areas and reviewing of systems for incessant improvement. Dematerialisation for Waste Management Another trend to control waste is dematerialisation wherein resource intensity of products and processes is cut down. It is the reverse end of the scenario for waste management. It is related to reducing and bettering the standard of the resources used in production of goods and services. Dematerialisation can be achieved through reduction in product size, weight, packaging, by increasing product life and variety of uses. Industrial Ecology for Waste Management Industrial Ecology (IE) can yet be another huge step towards waste control, wherein a firm’s by-products can be used by another firm as raw material, thus, reducing resource use and waste creation for the system overall. It offers a dynamic transformation in waste management from simply reducing waste from a specific function or location, to reducing its production at the bigger scale and level of the system as a whole. Role of the Government To analyse the measures taken by the government to manage waste, the government has released the document on Waste Strategy for England 2007. There has been a UK law promulgated from Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive on the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2003, the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007. Further, the government has made it legal to take all possible measures to keep waste less hazardous. It is the legal responsibility of all manufacturers, importers, stockists, logistics, disposal and managers of waste under the Duty of Care Regulations. There has been the provision on landfill tax, which is controlled by HM Revenue and Customs and presently charged ?72/tonne (+VAT) for Active waste and ?2.50/tonne (+VAT) for Inactive waste. Evaluation of NEXT Plc on Waste Management Testing Next Plc on the above theoretical frameworks, as per the NEXT CSR Report 2012, the Company has been successful in 10% additional waste recycling relatively the previous year. Overall, it is using 85% capacity of recycling functional waste.