East Lancashire NHS Trust saves over £391,000 and cuts waste with Warp It

Yes, organisations can even upcycle.

Within organisation we are often to stuck in our ways to come up with innovative and new uses for our waste streams. In this article we look at what one healthcare organisation is doing. We also give you access to a free download to use to help you think more innovatively about your problem waste stream items and start to approach zero waste.

We have talked in the past about how overwhelming projects can be at work - and we always offer solutions.

When an old computer breaks, it seems an almost natural response to follow the standard waste disposal policy and think ‘ah, it’s outdated, I might as well send it to the dump and buy a new one’. However, the old phrase ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ is very applicable in this article. What if your broken computer is only broken temporarily, and that whilst you go and buy a new one, it can be repaired?

This blog post is about taking that step beyond reuse of surplus assets and moving into repair and refurbishment- to reduce procurement demand by extending the life span of products.

In this interview we talk to John Bailey, Head of Sustainability at the University of London about a project which has caused a buzz across the campus.

John talks about delivering a bee-keeping project which he has used as a way to engage on sustainability. John also talks about getting things done in large, sometimes bureaucratic, organisations. In particular: John talks about the importance of gettting backing for a project before you pitch your idea to a committee. The video is below followed by extracts of the transcript. 

In this blog post we explain exactly how reuse, and the development of a reuse programme, can reduce procurement demand in the procurement department. This in turn gives staff and colleagues in the procurement department an opportunity to reduce their workload on administrative tasks and focus on more meaningful jobs.

Are you thinking "How do I set up a reuse system"? Or "How do I set up a reuse system for free"?

In this session we talk to Mike Howroyd from the University of Leeds about the reuse program he developed to trade surplus assets. In my opinion Mike has been leading the way in the public sector around reuse for the last 10 years. Google thinks the same- If you are in the UK and you google "Reuse and University" you will see Mike gets the top spot ahead of any other University (and Warp It!). He was the first one I had seen set up their own internal online platform.

He has been on his own reuse journey and in this article we discuss how to set up a high performing reuse system.You can download the University of Leeds Case Study at the end of this article.

MIke set up his own internal system which ran for 5 years and was very successful he then saw some additional benefits of using Warp it and migrated over to our system in late 2017.

We welcome back David Mazzocco from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. David is a sustainability expert and in part one he talked to us about the problems faced implementing sustainability initiaitves in a large organisation. This time we talk about mentality and short cuts to success- in the face of obstruction!

We are very lucky in that we get to talk to loads of change makers as we go about our daily business. In this 2 part blog article, we discuss the challenges of implementing sustainability initiatives in a lagre organisation.

Warp It’s Daniel O’Connor welcomes David Mazzocco from the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, to talk about reuse and sustainability within a university environment. 

Warp It welcomes Ruth Innes from NHS Highland for an interview talking about communications, building interest, winning the support of departments, and trees…