Sustainability Final Assessment

Part A – Waste Checklist

Type of Waste	Recycling/Re-Use?
Printing Paper	Printing paper can be recycled by placing it in the recycling bin. Once it has been collected, it is taken to the nearest recycling centre. From there, it gets sorted and then it goes through a number of different processes including (but not limited to): ·         Pulping ·         Screening ·         Cleaning ·         De-Inking ·         Washing
Empty Ink Cartridges	Ink cartridges can be re-used by taking them to places such as Cartridge World and having them re-filled. You can also re-fill your own cartridges by buying re-fill kits. This is often a cheaper alternative to buying brand new ink. You can recycle ink cartridges by taking them to stores such as: ·         Harvey Norman ·         OfficeWorks ·         Australia Post ·         Cartridge World There are heaps of other options for recycling ink cartridges. Some printers will come with a bag that you can use to post your empty cartridges to the company that made them to be re-used or recycled.
Aluminium Cans	Empty aluminium cans are recycled by placing them in the recycling bin for kerbside collection. After it has been collected, the aluminium cans are compacted together into small, tight blocks. Like paper, it then goes through a number of processes to make it reusable. ·         Shredding the cans into small pieces ·         Powerful magnet separates steel from aluminium ·         De-coater is used to remove decorations from cans From there, it gets melted down and moulded into sheets of aluminium and is re-used again for the same purpose.
Plastic Bags	Plastic bags can’t be recycled the typical way (in your recycling bin) because they can cause damage to sorting machines. Some supermarkets have special recycling bins at the entrance of their store for plastic bags.
Glass Bottles	Glass bottles are recycled by placing them in the recycling bin for kerbside collection. Most recycling centres ask for the lids to be removed and the bottles to be rinsed out, but it all depends on your local government. ·         Sorted by colour ·         Washed to remove impurities ·         Crushed and melted ·         Moulded into new products such as jars and bottles Glass can be used over and over again as it doesn’t degrade during the recycling process.

Part B – Material Safety Data Sheets

Acute health effects

·         Skin contact - Unlikely to cause skin irritation.

·         Eye contact - May cause transient slight irritation

·         Inhalation - Minimal respiratory tract irritation may occur with exposure to large amounts of toner dust.

·         Ingestion - Low acute toxicity. Ingestion is a minor route of entry for intended use of this product.

Potential health effects

·         Routes of exposure - Potential routes of exposure under normal use conditions are skin, eye contact and inhalation. Ingestion is not expected to be a primary route of exposure for this product under normal use conditions.

·         Chronic health effects - Prolonged inhalation of excessive amounts of any dust may cause lung damage. Use of this product as intended does not result in inhalation of excessive amounts of dust.

·         Carcinogenicity - None of the ingredients have been classified as carcinogens according to EU, IARC, MAK, NTP,

·         OSHA or ACGIH.

·         Other information - This product is not classified as hazardous according to OSHA CFR 1910.1200 or EU Directive

·         1999/45/EC, as amended. This preparation contains no component classified as Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) or very Persistent and very Bioaccumulative (vPvB) as defined under Regulation (EC) 1907/2006.

Handling and Storage

Handling

·         Keep out of the reach of children.

·         Avoid inhalation of dust and contact with skin and eyes.

·         Use with adequate ventilation.

·         Keep away from excessive heat, sparks, and open flames.

Storage

·         Keep out of the reach of children.

·         Keep tightly closed and dry.

·         Store away from strong oxidizers.

·         Store at room temperature.

Part C – Reporting Breaches of Environmental Hazards

1.       Name the government agency that breaches of environmental regulations in your State must be reported to.

·         Environmental Protection Agency, Tasmania.

2.       Under what circumstances must owners and occupiers of land notify the agency?

Polluters and owners and occupiers of land have a responsibility to report pollution to either the Director EPA, or to Local Council.

Under section 32 of the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994 (EMPCA), persons responsible for an environmentally relevant activity which results in a pollutant being released into the environment are required to report the incident if the release causes, or may cause, environmental harm or environmental nuisance.

·         Director EPA must be notified (on 1800 005 171) - if the release has caused, or may cause, serious or material environmental harm, or if the activity is regulated by the EPA.

·         Local Council must be notified - if the activity is regulated by Council, or is a residential matter and is causing or may cause environmental nuisance.

3.       How soon must the agency be notified?

All notifications must be made within 24 hours of becoming aware of the release of the pollutant, potential or actual environmental harm, or of the land becoming a contaminated site.

Part D – Organisational Plans

What is the Agency target for the use of internal copy paper per end user (reams per annum) by July 2015?

Internal copy paper per end user (reams per annum)

·         Government Baseline – 18.6 reams per annum

·         July 2012 – 13 reams per annum

·         July 2015 – 9 reams per annum

What is the Agency target for the desktop energy usage per end user (kWh per annum) by July 2015?

Desktop energy per end user (kWh per annum, averaged across agency)

·         Government Baseline – 630 kWh per annum

·         July 2012 – 400 kWh per annum

·         July 2015 – 250 kWh per annum

What procedures should be followed to reduce desktop energy usage?

Desktop energy usage could be reduced in a number of different ways. These are some suggestions as to how you go about reducing desktop energy usage:

Using a laptop instead of a desktop computer – Laptops don’t use anywhere near as much energy as desktop computers. If you want to save even more energy, you could use smartphones or tablets which use less energy than laptops.

Using LCD monitors instead of CRT monitors – CRT monitors (the big, bulky ones) use almost five times the energy that LCD monitors use.

Set and use Power Management options – Desktop computers have a number of different Power Management options, each one saves more power than the other. These are the most common options:

·         Standby – A computer on standby mode still uses energy, but at a reduced level than if it was in use. It starts up again very quickly after being on standby mode as well which is an added bonus.

·         Hibernation – A computer that’s in hibernation saves the state that it’s in, and switches itself off. When you turn it back on again, it will load up the saved state and you can pick up where you left off. This option boots up faster than a regular boot, but not as fast as standby and also uses no energy.

Part E – Improvements to Workplace Practices

memorandum

to:	sarah markland (manager)
from:	Emma Woods (pre-press operator)
subject:	improvements to workplace practices
date:	November 22, 2014

Dear Miss Markland,

I am writing this report for the purpose of making improvements to workplace practices. ReadyPrint often uses portable electronic devices and we frequently have to dispose of batteries. This report will talk about how we can improve on this by researching the options that are available to us for the sustainable disposal of batteries.

Batteries are a huge part of the world now. Almost everything runs on some type of battery. Because of this, it is also a big part of the pollution in the world today since not everyone knows how to appropriately dispose of them. Most of them end up in landfills and poison the earth.

I researched the subject and discovered numerous ways that batteries could be disposed of to help improve the workplace and help the environment. After that, I carefully considered the pros and cons of each option which will be outlined in the table below.

Options	Pros	Cons
1. Connect portable electronic devices to the main power if and whenever possible.	·         Reduces wasted batteries ·         Helps save a small amount of money.	·         Still uses power and adds to the energy bill. ·         Prevents employees from using the equipment outside of the workplace.
2. Purchase and use rechargeable batteries.	·         Each battery can be recharged up to 1,000 times. ·         Reduces wasted batteries. ·         Helps save a large amount of money.	·         Used batteries will still have to be recycled.
3. Designate and label a box for used batteries to be delivered to a Recycling/Waste Management Centre or Battery World where they will be recycled.	·         Reduces wasted batteries. ·         Ensures that batteries are recycled.	·         Employee(s) need to be paid to deliver the batteries. ·         Costs more money.

After much deliberation, I believe that ReadyPrint would benefit more from using rechargeable batteries, which was option two. Although the batteries will still have to be recycled after they’ve outlived their purpose, this method will still help save the company more money in the long run and will reduce the amount of batteries we use.

Yours sincerely,

Emma Woods