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Reducing the amount of waste your business has to handle is the most cost-effective and environmentally-friendly method of dealing with waste.

Six ways to reduce business waste

Here are some key tips to help your business reduce waste:

1. Look for easy wins - seemingly trivial changes can produce significant savings, such as printing and photocopying double-sided, refilling printer cartridges, switching off lights and electrical equipment, and using rechargeable batteries - see office resource efficiency.
2. Procure carefully - buy only what you need, control stock and streamline processes across departments. Buy equipment in bulk to reduce packaging and consider the product's durability and lifespan - replacing equipment less often will reduce the waste you create - see how to make your business more sustainable.
3. Review your processes - ensure that equipment and materials are used efficiently and packaging is kept to a minimum - see process efficiency to cut waste.
4. Product design - keep the amount of materials you use in products to a minimum - see ecodesign for goods and services.
5. Packaging design and use - make sure you use as little packaging as possible to achieve an adequate level of protection for your products - see packaging and packaging waste management and how to design packaging to reduce environmental impact.
6. Use advice about resource efficiency from a range of organisations, such as , the  or see if you can access .

Adopting a strategic and systematic approach is the best way to achieve significant reductions in the amount of waste that your business produces - see waste reviews, policies and action plans.