RESOURCE EFFICIENCY – RECYCLING AND
REDUCTION
A key finding from the office survey showed that our larger offices with higher
headcounts are more engaged in recycling efforts. The figure below shows how
the percentage of our offices that have programs in place to recycle two or more
waste streams increases with the number of employees present at those locations. Our smaller offices with fewer employees are sometimes challenged by
lack of manpower, resources and landlord support to implement more extensive
recycling efforts.
Percent of offices with recycling
programs by office size based on
number of employees (Dec 2013)
Small
SMALL
72%
MEDIUM
Medium
82%
LARGE
Large
0%
88%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
One of our main efforts has been recycling paper, which is a key material used
for preparing technical documents for our clients, invoicing, and recordkeeping. In addition to recycling paper, our offices are encouraged to use paper with
recycled content and implement practices such as double-sided printing to
reduce paper consumption. We are currently working with our vendor Toshiba to
track paper usage through multi-functional-print device metering. TRC has also
implemented an electronic invoicing system and a new electronic records policy.
Eliminating the need to store hardcopy records can have a ripple effect on other
areas of our business, such as the energy use, toner use and record storage
space at each location. Our goal is to reduce office paper usage by 20% by 2020,
normalized to net service revenue (NSR).
We have also begun a partnership with Evolve Recycling, a comprehensive printer cartridge, toner, and small electronics recycler. This partnership provides
our offices with a path for recycling empty laser/toner and inkjet cartridges and
small electronics waste. An added benefit is that each office receives compensation for participating based on the amount of material being recycled.
In FY15 we will focus on identifying obstacles and implementing best practices
through better communications, including sharing best practices from those
offices with more robust resource efficiency programs through our Sustainability Hub Site.
FY14 Target Achieved: Establish baseline for office recycling programs and identify
mechanism for quantifying improvements in FY14.
FY15 Target: Reduce office paper usage by 20% by 2020, normalized to Net Service Revenue
(NSR).
50 | 2014 Sustainability Report