As part of Henry Schein’s environmental focus areas, we strive for circularity in our operations and continually look to reduce waste, recycle and reuse materials. In 2021 we began our data collection ensuring we are measuring, monitoring and reporting on our environmental impacts. We had a baseline of 71% of waste diverted from landfill through already established recycling practices.
A significant event that occurred for Henry Schein NZ was our office and distribution relocation which occurred across 2022/2023. With the business growing significantly it was an optimum time to consolidate and shift from two buildings down to one larger more collaborative premises. Due to Henry Schein being in the building for 25 years there was a huge amount of equipment and items to work through. It provided an ideal opportunity to reuse, sell, recycle, or dispose current resources ensuring they are going to the appropriate waste streams. Examples of areas we explored include:
- Archiving important records
- Increasing the number of paper bins for paper recycling
- Skip bin for items that had no available recycling options
- E-waste collection initiative - 8kgs of E-waste diverted from landfill
- Office furniture was all reused and repurposed in the new building, donated to local communities and staff who required it or disposed of.
- Equipment and racking reused, sold or donated.
At the end of 2022 and concluding the office move, there was a reduction in total recycling waste to 65%. This was largely due to the additional skip bins (4.9 tonnes of waste) required to remove from the site as the opportunity was taken to do a thorough cleanup.
|
% Recycled Waste at Albany DC
|
|
2021
|
2022
|
2023
|
2024
|
|
71%
|
65%
|
76%
|
80% Target
|
As part of the new Distribution Centre numerous areas were built with Sustainability in mind. An example being the outbound benches, the waste segregation requirements were considered in the layout and made it easier for the team to recycle.
In 2022 we set the ambitious target to reach 80% of waste diverted from landfill by 2025. This year we will continue to strive towards this goal by working with our waste partner who is a market leader and continually exploring new opportunities to increase the opportunities to divert from landfill. Whilst taking the opportunity to continually train the team, increase signage and guidance to ensure we continue to improve our circular economy and contribute to reducing the impact waste has on our environment.