Business, Accounting and Finance

BSBSUS401 Implement and monitor environmentally

Sustainable work practices

Learner Materials and Assessment Tasks

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Level 1, 398 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000 Australia
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Table of Contents

About BSBSUS401 Implement and monitor environmentally sustainable work practices

..................... 4
Identify environmental regulations applying to the enterprise
..................................................................... 9
Activity 1 .......................................................................................................................................................................
11
Metropolitan waste management reforms .......................................................................................................
25
Analyse procedures for assessing compliance with environmental/sustainability regulations
.......... 31
Collect information on environmental and resource efficiency systems and procedures, and
provide to the work group where appropriate ...............................................................................................
42 Auditing compliance
............................................................................................................................................... 43
Activity 2 .....................................................................................................................................................................
45
Collect, analyse and organise information from a range of sources to provide
information/advice
and tools/resources for improvement opportunities
..................................................................................... 47 Measure and document current resource usage
of members of the work group ............................... 49
Activity 3 .....................................................................................................................................................................
52
Analyse and document current purchasing strategies
.................................................................................. 64
Activity 4 .....................................................................................................................................................................
65
Analyse current work processes to access information and data to assist in identifying areas
for
improvement .............................................................................................................................................................
66 Seek input from stakeholders, key personnel and specialists
...................................................................... 68
Activity 5 .....................................................................................................................................................................
71
Access external sources of information and data as required
.................................................................... 73

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Evaluate alternative solutions to workplace environmental issues
............................................................. 75
Green office ...............................................................................................................................................................
77
Activity 6 .....................................................................................................................................................................
77
Set efficiency targets ...............................................................................................................................................
78
Activity 7 .....................................................................................................................................................................
80
Source and use appropriate techniques and tools to assist in achieving efficiency targets
............... 81
Apply continuous improvement strategies to own work area of responsibility, including ideas
and possible solutions to communicate to the work group and management
............................................. 84
Implement and integrate environmental and resource efficiency improvement plans for own
work
group with other operational activities ..............................................................................................................
88
Supervise and support team members to identify possible areas for improved practices and
resource efficiency in work area .........................................................................................................................
115
Seek suggestions and ideas about environmental and resource efficiency management from
stakeholders and act upon where appropriate .............................................................................................. 118
Implement costing strategies to fully utilise environmental assets .......................................................... 120
Use and/or develop evaluation and monitoring, tools and technology ................................................ 123

Document and communicate outcomes to report on efficiency targets to key personnel and
stakeholders .............................................................................................................................................................
126 Evaluate strategies and improvement plans
.................................................................................................. 127
Set new efficiency targets, and investigate and apply new tools and strategies
................................. 128
Activity 8 ...................................................................................................................................................................
130
Promote successful strategies and reward participants where possible
................................................ 133
Activity 9 ...................................................................................................................................................................
142
ASSESSMENT...........................................................................................................................................................
143
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Assessment Outcome record .............................................................................................................................
164

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About BSBSUS401 Implement and monitor environmentally
sustainable work practices
Application

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to effectively analyse the workplace in
relation to environmentally sustainable work practices and to implement improvements and
monitor their effectiveness.

It applies to individuals with responsibility for a specific area of work or who lead a work
group or team and addresses the knowledge, processes and techniques necessary to
implement and monitor environmentally sustainable work practices, including the
development of processes and tools.

No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of

publication.

Unit Sector

Industry Capability – Sustainability

Elements and Performance Criteria

ELEMENT PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
Elements describe the Performance criteria describe the performance needed to
essential outcomes. demonstrate achievement of the element.
1. Investigate current 1.1 Identify environmental regulations applying to the enterprise
practices in relation to
resource usage 1.2 Analyse procedures for assessing compliance with
environmental/sustainability regulations

1.3 Collect information on environmental and resource efficiency

systems and procedures, and provide to the work group where
appropriate

1.4 Collect, analyse and organise information from a range of

sources to provide information/advice and tools/resources for
improvement opportunities

1.5 Measure and document current resource usage of members

of the work group

1.6 Analyse and document current purchasing strategies

1.7 Analyse current work processes to access information and

data to assist in identifying areas for improvement
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2. Set targets for 2.1 Seek input from stakeholders, key personnel and specialists
improvements
2.2 Access external sources of information and data as required

2.3 Evaluate alternative solutions to workplace environmental

issues

2.4 Set efficiency targets

3. Implement 3.1 Source and use appropriate techniques and tools to assist in
performance achieving efficiency targets
improvement strategies
3.2 Apply continuous improvement strategies to own work area of
responsibility, including ideas and possible solutions to
communicate to the work group and management

3.3 Implement and integrate environmental and resource

efficiency improvement plans for own work group with other
operational
activities

3.4 Supervise and support team members to identify possible

areas for improved practices and resource efficiency in work area

3.5 Seek suggestions and ideas about environmental and

resource efficiency management from stakeholders and act upon
where appropriate

3.6 Implement costing strategies to fully utilise environmental

assets
4. Monitor performance 4.1 Use and/or develop evaluation and monitoring, tools and
technology

4.2 Document and communicate outcomes to report on efficiency

targets to key personnel and stakeholders

4.3 Evaluate strategies and improvement plans

4.4 Set new efficiency targets, and investigate and apply new
tools and strategies

4.5 Promote successful strategies and reward participants where

possible
Foundation Skills

This section describes language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills incorporated in the
performance criteria that are required for competent performance.
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Skill Performance Description

Criteria

Reading 1.1-1.4, 1.6, 1.7, 2.3, • Identifies and analyses complex texts to
3.1 determine legislative, regulatory and business
requirements
• Reviews reported information to evaluate
workplace strategies and improvement
practices
Writing 1.5, 1.6, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, • Documents findings of investigations from
3.1-3.3, 4.4, 4.5 written and oral sources according to
organisational requirements
• Provides updates about progress using
formats and language appropriate to the
audience and context

Oral 2.1, 2.2, 3.3-3.5, 4.4, • Presents information and seeks advice using
Communication 4.5 structure and language appropriate to
audience
• Participates in discussions using listening and
questioning to elicit the views of others and to
clarify or confirm understanding

Numeracy 1.5, 2.4, 3.1, 3.6, 4.4 • Analyses numerical information to measure
usage and calculates metric measurements,
quantities/ratios and financial data using
appropriate tools

Navigate the 1.1, 1.2 • Recognises and follows legislative

world of work requirements and organisational policies and
procedures associated with own role

Interact with 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 3.3-3.5, • Selects and uses appropriate conventions and
others 4.2, 4.4, 4.5 protocols when communicating with internal
and external stakeholders to seek or share
information
• Collaborates and consults with a range of
stakeholders to achieve shared understanding
of
individual roles in meeting objectives

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Get the work 1.2, 1.4-1.7, 2.3, 2.4, • Develops plans to manage routine and
done 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.5, 3.6, nonroutine tasks for own work group with an
4.1, 4.3, 4.4 awareness of how they contribute to the
broader organisation
• Uses systematic, analytical processes to set
environmental targets, gather relevant
information, identify and evaluate alternative
approaches
• Evaluates outcomes of decisions to identify
opportunities for improvement
• Uses the main features and functions of digital

tools to complete work tasks and access information

Unit Mapping Information

Code and title Code and title Comments Equivalence status
current version previous version

BSBSUS401 BSBSUS301 Recoded to meet Equivalent unit

Implement and Implement and AQF standards
monitor monitor
environmentally environmentally
sustainable work sustainable work
practices practices
Assessment requirements

Modification History
Release Comments
Release 1 This version first released with BSB Business Services Training
Package Version 2.0.

Version created to better align unit to AQF level.

Performance Evidence

Evidence of the ability to:

• analyse information from a range of sources to identify current procedures, practices

and compliance requirements in relation to environmental and resource sustainability
• consult and communicate with relevant stakeholders to seek input and encourage
engagement with developing and implementing sustainability improvements,
encourage feedback and suggestions and report on outcomes
• plan and organise work group activities to:

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 • measure current resource usage
• solve problems and generate ideas for improvements
• evaluate and implement strategies to improve resource usage
• plan, implement and integrate improvements into operations
• meet environmental requirements

• apply continuous improvement approach to sustainability performance • apply

change management techniques to support sustainability performance.

Note: If a specific volume or frequency is not stated, then evidence must be provided at least
once.

Knowledge Evidence

To complete the unit requirements safely and effectively, the individual must:

• identify relevant internal and external sources of information and explain how they
can be used to identify sustainability improvements
• explain the compliance requirements for the work area with reference to legislation,
regulations, codes of practice and workplace procedures that relate to environmental
and resource issues
• outline common environmental and energy efficiency issues within the industry
• give examples of benchmarks for environmental and resource sustainability that are
relevant to the organisation
• outline organisational systems and procedures that relate to environmental and
resource sustainability improvements including:

• supply chain, procurement and purchasing

• quality assurance
• making recommendations and seeking approvals

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Identify environmental regulations applying to the enterprise1

Identifying the environmental regulations relevant to your organisation is one part of the
investigation process. Knowing what environmental regulations are relevant to your
organisation will help you determine what regulations you need to follow to make sure that
your work practices are compliant.

Before you can identify what environmental regulations are relevant to your organisation,
you need to know how regulations are defined. In Australia, environmental regulations are
defined at a federal, state or territory and local council or shire level.

Sustainability

What does sustainability mean?

Every day we hear the term ‘sustainable’ or ‘sustainability’ being used to describe a large
number of issues and news items. There is the ‘sustainable economy’, ‘sustainable
agriculture’, ‘economically sustainable’, ‘the need to be sustainable’, ‘sustainable work
practices’ and ‘sustainable water supply’ to name a few.

The Brundtland report

The Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, is seen by many as one of the first global
reports to address sustainable development. This report defined sustainable development as:
“…development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to met their own needs.” Brundtland (1987)

National strategy for ecologically sustainable development

Sustainable Development is defined by the Australian Government’s National Strategy for
Ecologically Sustainable Development as: “…using, conserving and enhancing the community’s
resources so that ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained and the total
quality of life, now and in the future, can be maintained.” Commonwealth of Australia (1992)

UNESCO Decade of education for sustainable development

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) defines
sustainable development in reference to the United Nations Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development, spanning from 2005 to 2014, as:
“Society: an understanding of social institutions and their role in change and development, as
well as the democratic and participatory systems which give opportunity for the expression
on opinion, the selection of governments, the forging of consensus and the resolution of
differences.

1
Sources: Sustainability Victoria, as at
http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/resources/documents/Sust_Vic_Bus_Serv_Learner_Guide-
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10%5B1%5D%5B1%5D.pdf, prior to 8th February, 2016; National VET Content, as at
https://nationalvetcontent.edu.au/share/proxy/alfresco/api/node/content;cm:content/workspace/SpacesStor
e/6b257cc4-a862-49eb-85d5-e902a6ac8e79/index.htm, as on 8th February, 2016..
Environment: an awareness of the resources and fragility of the physical environment and the
effects on it of human activity and decisions, with a commitment to factoring environmental
concerns into social and economic development.

Economy: a sensitivity to the limits of economic growth and their impact on society and on the
environment, with a commitment to assess personal and societal levels of consumption out of
concern for the environment and for social justice.”
UNESCO (2002)

Overall, sustainability is a broad concept that includes a balance of three objectives –

environmental, social (cultural) and economic. (National Centre for Sustainability, 2006)

ESD and sustainability

The term ‘ESD’, or ‘ecologically sustainable development’, is widely used within Australian
industry in conjunction with or in place of the term ‘sustainability’. Sustainability is referred to
in many other terms as well, such as the ‘triple bottom line’, ‘corporate social responsibility’,
‘extended producer responsibility’, ‘cradle to grave’ (or ‘cradle to cradle’), ‘ecological
footprint’ and ‘industrial ecology’. All these terms describe the interrelationship and inter-
dependence of the economy and the social and physical environments.

These terms have come about due to the recognition that the earth’s resources are finite and
that we must conserve and manage these resources for our own needs so that we do not
compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs. It introduces the concepts
of ‘stewardship’, or looking after the world’s resources, reducing and recycling resources and
looking to nature for examples of ways to develop without using large amounts of resources
(termed ‘biomimicry’).

Environmentally sustainable work practices

Meet Jane Greene, CEO of Greener Homes

Hello. My name is Jane Greene and I'm the CEO of Greener Homes. Greener Homes is a
family run company that has been building homes for over thirty years.

Times have changed since we first started building homes. And so has the environment. We
believe that it's our responsibility to do what we can to minimise our impact on the
environment.

And I'm not just talking about minimising our impact by choosing sustainable materials when
we build our homes. I'm talking about changing all aspects of the company – from the way
we dispose of waste in landfills, to the way we purchase products from suppliers.

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That's why we've decided to introduce a new policy for companies who wish to provide
subcontracting services for Greener Homes.

The policy requires all subcontractors to have a sustainability plan in place before we contract
them for further work. The sustainability plan will outline the environmentally sustainable
aspects of the subcontractor's work practice.

We see the introduction of this new policy as our way of minimising our impact on the

environment and promoting environmentally sustainable work practice in the building and
construction industry.

That's enough from me. I'll now hand you over to Henry Park. Henry is our Environmental
Sustainability Officer. He'll take you through the process of developing a sustainability plan.

Meet Henry Park, Environmental Sustainability Officer for Greener Homes

Thanks Jane. Hello there, as Jane told you my name is Henry Park and I'm the Environmental
Sustainability Officer for Greener Homes. My job is to help you develop your own
sustainability plan. When developing your sustainability plan you will need to:

• investigate your organisation's current work practice and identify areas for
improvement • set resource efficiency targets for your organisation
• apply resource efficiency strategies to your organisation
• monitor the performance and outcomes of your resource efficiency strategies.

Now that you know what you need to do, you can start developing your sustainability plan. I
recommend that you start by investigating your organisation's current work practice.

Activity 1

Think of other terms that are used to describe sustainability. List at least 5.

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Activity 1

Business sustainability is a goal for most enterprises. As a micro business owner you may
want to sustain an income to retirement or to hand over a viable business to your family. You
might be involved in a larger company which has a responsibility to protect the investment
from shareholders and aims to increase its value.

But what is sustainability and how can manufacturers achieve it?

Traditionally businesses maintain a strong focus on factors that have a clear and direct effect
on their economic performance. This is usually assessed by looking at financial measures
such as cost of materials and overheads, quantity of sales and profit margins.

Increasingly firms are taking a broader view and taking account of their relationship to the
environment and the community.

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This is not just for the ‘feel good’ factor. It enables them to fully assess the potential and
actual impact to their business – the costs and the benefits – from their interactions with the
local and broader community and with the physical environment.

You might be making the perfect product with great profit margin. But it is pointless if no
one will buy from you because you have a supplier who is known for exploiting underpaid
workers or using child labour. Or if the community prevents your trucks picking up or
delivering and you can't get your product to market.

The cost of an environmental accident can go beyond clean up and downtime costs into
rehabilitation, legal costs, compensation, customer backlash and negative marketing
campaigns.

A broad future focus is essential for the long term viability of a business and ‘sustainability’.

'People - planet - profit' ... the triple bottom line

Sustainability usually makes us think about carbon footprints, greenhouse gases and
ecosystems.
This is the environmental aspect of sustainability.
Two additional aspects are generally recognised as contributing to sustainability: economic
factors and social factors.

Together these three pillars of sustainability are often referred to as ‘people – planet – profit’.

Sustainability is a balancing act where business decisions take into account the impact they
may have on the three aspects of sustainability including the economic viability of the
business.

Social sustainability activities focus on maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with

employees, customers and the community.

These activities often have benefits in terms of positive profile and customer and community
support.

Environmental sustainability activities focus on the impact of resource usage, hazardous

substances, waste and emissions on the physical environment.

These activities may have a direct benefit for a business by reducing costs.
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Economic sustainability activities focus on business efficiency, productivity and profit.

Sustainability and the Australian economy

ESD and sustainability

The term ‘ecologically sustainable development' or 'ESD', is widely used within Australian
industry in conjunction with or in place of the term 'sustainability'.

The Brundtland Report ’Our Common Future’ (1987) defines sustainable development as:

’development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs’

Sustainable development is comprised of three major aspects:

Sustainable development implies using:

• renewable resources, such as wood, in a way that does not eliminate or degrade
them
• non-renewable mineral resources, such as aluminium and steel, in a way that does
not unnecessarily preclude easy access to them by future generations

• non-renewable energy sources, such as oil and coal, slowly enough to allow an
orderly transition to renewable energy sources.

ESD aims to reduce energy use and to minimise other adverse environmental impacts.

Triple bottom line

Triple Bottom Line is also known as - ’people, planet, profit’ or the ’Three Pillars’. Triple
bottom

Environmental Social Economic

line is the inter-dependence between people, resources and business viability; it is used to
measure an organisation’s economic, ecological and social success.

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Australia’s National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development, 1992, defines ESD as
‘using, conserving and enhancing the community’s resources so that ecological processes, on
which life depends, are maintained and the total quality of life, now and in the future can be
increased.’

Source: University of Michigan Sustainability Assessment, 2002

Climate change
Scientists from the Australian Government Department of Climate Change and Energy
Efficiency agree that the worst effects of climate change can be avoided if pollution levels are
reduced.

’Our climate is changing, largely due to the observed increases in human produced
carbon pollution. These changes we have seen over the 20th century include increases in
global average air and ocean temperature, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising
global sea levels. The extra heat in the climate system has other impacts, such as affecting
atmospheric and ocean circulation, which influences rainfall and wind patterns.
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 Another serious impact of increasing carbon pollution is ocean acidification. Around a
quarter of human-produced carbon dioxide is absorbed by the oceans. As the carbon
dioxide dissolves in seawater, it forms a weak carbonic acid, making the ocean more
acidic. There are early indications that some marine organisms are already being affected
by ocean acidification.

Each decade in Australia since the 1940s has been warmer than the last—2001 to 2010
was the warmest decade on record in Australia and around the globe.’

The Australian Government’s Clean Energy Future plan introduces a carbon price, options to
invest in renewable energy, a plan to reduce reliance on polluting energy sources and ways
to encourage land management practices that store carbon in the soil, all aimed at reducing
major pollution sources.

View - Securing a clean energy future – The Australian Government’s Climate Change Plan
http://www.cleanenergyfuture.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Consolidated-Final.pdf

You can identify the environmental regulations, Acts or codes that are relevant to your
organisation by:

• identifying the key areas in your work that have the potential to affect the
environment
• identifying the relevant environmental regulation.

For example, consider this building and construction problem.

It's summer and the ground is dry and dusty. The excavation equipment has caused dust to
be thrown into the air. The employees would like to use reclaimed water to suppress the
dust.

The key areas for this problem are the dust in the air and the workers intent to use reclaimed
water.

Using the Internet

Search the internet for environmental regulations based on the key areas that you have
identified.

Depending on your location, further research may be required for state or territory specific
regulations and Codes of Practice.

If your work site is in Victoria the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) website is a good
place to find out more information about environmental regulations.

Identify the relevant environmental regulation

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This site is located in Victoria, so we can identify the relevant environmental regulation on
the Environment Protection Authority website.

The EPA Publication 464.2 – Guidelines for Environmental Management: Use of Reclaimed
Water is relevant to our key areas.

This guideline specifies reclaimed water as a Class A water, which is safe to be used as a dust
suppressant on a construction site. Workers are safe if exposed to Class A water.

That completes our demonstration of how you can identify relevant environmental
regulations.

Applicable Legislation

All Australian businesses can play a part in environmental management, but whether
environmental laws affect your business directly will depend on your business activities.

Federal, state and local governments jointly administer the environmental protection laws in
Australia through bilateral agreements. As a business owner, you should understand which
laws apply to you.

The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act , administered
by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, covers the assessment
and approval process of national environmental and cultural concerns. The Department also
administers specific Acts that cover activities relating to:

• the sea
• importing
• heritage issues • hazardous waste
• fuel quality.

State and territory environment laws apply to specific business activities and are
administered by both state and local governments in the form of licences and permits.

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act) is the
Australian Government’s central piece of environmental legislation. It provides a legal
framework to protect and manage nationally and internationally important flora, fauna,
ecological communities and heritage places — defined in the EPBC Act as matters of national
environmental significance.

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) is the
Australian Government's key piece of environmental legislation which commenced 16 July
2000.

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The EPBC Act enables the Australian Government to join with the states and territories in
providing a truly national scheme of environment and heritage protection and biodiversity
conservation. The EPBC Act focuses Australian Government interests on the protection of
matters of national environmental significance, with the states and territories having
responsibility for matters of state and local significance.

The Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population

and Communities (the Department) administers the EPBC Act.

Objectives of the EPBC Act

The objectives of the EPBC Act are to:

• provide for the protection of the environment, especially matters of national

environmental significance
• conserve Australian biodiversity
• provide a streamlined national environmental assessment and approvals process
• enhance the protection and management of important natural and cultural places

• control the international movement of plants and animals (wildlife), wildlife

specimens and products made or derived from wildlife
• promote ecologically sustainable development through the conservation and
ecologically sustainable use of natural resources

The eight matters of national environmental significance to which the EPBC Act applies are:

• world heritage sites

• national heritage places
• wetlands of international importance (often called 'Ramsar' wetlands after the
international treaty under which such wetlands are listed)
• nationally threatened species and ecological communities
• migratory species
• Commonwealth marine areas • the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
• nuclear actions.

In addition, the EPBC Act confers jurisdiction over actions that have a significant impact on
the environment where the actions affect, or are taken on, Commonwealth land, or are
carried out by a Commonwealth agency (even if that significant impact is not on one of the
eight matters of 'national environmental significance'). Information about this special
Commonwealth category is not included in this fact sheet.

Why do we have the EPBC Act?

Matters of national environmental significance are important to all Australians and, given the
interconnectedness of the global biosphere, internationally as well. The EPBC Act aims to
balance the protection of these crucial environmental and cultural values with our society's
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economic and social needs by creating a legal framework and decision-making process
based on the guiding principles of ecologically sustainable development.

Specifically, the EPBC Act aims to:

• provide for the protection of the environment, especially matters of national

environmental significance
• conserve Australia's biodiversity
• protect biodiversity internationally by controlling the international movement of
wildlife
• provide a streamlined environmental assessment and approvals process where
matters of national environmental significance are involved
• protect our world and national heritage
• promote ecologically sustainable development.

Who does the EPBC Act affect?

The EPBC Act affects any group or individual (including companies) whose actions may have
a significant impact on a matter of national environmental significance. This includes:

• landowners
• developers
• industry
• farmers
• councils
• state and territory agencies
• Commonwealth agencies.

Example: If a developer was planning a new resort close to a wetland of international

importance, that developer would need to find out if the action of building and running that
resort might have a significant impact on any matter of national environmental significance.
In this instance, the matters the developer would need to carefully look into would include:

• whether the development would affect the wetland—as wetlands of international

importance are matters of national environmental significance
• whether the development would affect any nationally threatened plants, animals or
ecological communities
• whether the development would affect any migratory animals
• whether the development would affect any world or national heritage places.

If the developer concluded that the development might have a significant impact on any of
these matters of national environmental significance, then he or she would need to apply for
approval to proceed under the EPBC Act.

This approval process under the EPBC Act would be in addition to any state or local
government approval that might be required.
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Anyone unsure of whether the EPBC Act applies to them, or of what they need to do to
comply with the EPBC Act, is strongly encouraged to seek further information. A good
starting point is the website of the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water,
Population and Communities: www.environment.gov.au/epbc/index.html

When does a project need to be assessed?

The EPBC Act comes into play when a proposal has the potential to have a significant impact
on a matter of national environmental significance.

When a person (a 'proponent') wants an action (often called a 'proposal' or 'project')

assessed for environmental impacts under the EPBC Act, he or she must refer the project to
the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. This
'referral' is then released to the public, as well as relevant state, territory and Commonwealth
ministers, for comment on whether the project is likely to have a significant impact on
matters of national environmental significance.

The minister or the minister’s delegate will then decide whether the likely environmental
impacts of the project are such that it should be assessed under the EPBC Act. Any relevant
public comments are taken into consideration in making that decision.

What is involved in an environmental assessment under the EPBC Act?

There are five different levels of assessment, depending on the significance of the project
and how much information is already available. Each level involves considering technical
information assembled by the proponent and comments made by the public.

Who approves a project after it is assessed?

Once a project has been assessed by the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water,
Population and Communities, the department makes a recommendation to the minister or
delegate about whether or not the project should be approved to proceed.

The minister assesses all the information provided by the department before making a
decision about whether or not the project should proceed, and if so, whether any specific
conditions need to be attached to that approval.

In addition to considering potential impacts on matters of national environmental

significance, in making a decision the minister also considers the social and economic impact
of the project.

What is the role of the Australian Government environment minister?

The Australian Government environment minister’s primary role under the EPBC Act is to
protect areas of national environmental significance in accordance with the guiding

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principles of the EPBC Act. This means that the minister will always consider these critical
environmental decisions in the broader context of Australia’s social and economic needs.

However, the minister cannot intervene in a proposal if it has no significant impact on one of
the eight matters of national environmental significance, even though there may be other
undesirable environmental impacts. This is not because these other environmental matters
are not important.

It is because, under the division of powers between the Australian Government and the
states under the Australian Constitution, it is the states that have the primary responsibility
for environmental protection. In contrast, the Australian Government environment minister
only has authority over the eight defined matters of national environmental significance.

Example: The minister does not have power under the EPBC Act to regulate a proposal that
will have impacts on matters such as air quality, noise, odour, general amenity or animals
that are not listed as threatened or endangered under the EPBC Act. These environmental
matters are the responsibility of the relevant state government to consider during any state
assessment and approval process.

The EPBC Act includes a mechanism to ensure that the two levels of government do not
duplicate their environmental protection functions or otherwise create inefficiencies by both
being closely involved in the assessment and approval process for a single project that
includes matters of both local and national environmental significance. Under this
mechanism, the Australian Government may enter into an agreement with a state or territory
government, under which the state or territory may assess actions that may have an impact
on matters of national environmental significance. These are matters that the Australian
Government minister would otherwise have responsibility for under the EPBC Act.

Can the Australian Government environment minister overturn a state decision?

Because the Australian Government environment minister only has the power to make
decisions in relation to matters of national environmental significance, the minister has no
power to intervene in decisions of state or local governments that do not have an impact on
these matters. Thus, the EPBC Act does not give the minister the power to act as a general
'court of appeal' from any state or local government decision affecting the environment.

Example: In 2007 the Australian Government approved the Gunns Pulp Mill in Tasmania,
imposing
48 conditions. The approval and the conditions related only to things within the Australian
Government’s jurisdiction—matters of national environmental significance—such as
nationallylisted threatened species and the marine environment outside the three nautical
mile limit of state waters. Although not as well publicised, the Tasmanian Government issued
under special legislation a permit running to hundreds of pages. This permit covered all
other aspects of the environment, such as air quality, noise and the protection of state
waters. It also covered nonenvironmental matters such as planning and safety.

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Community members or groups who want the Australian Government to intervene in state or
local government decisions on environmental issues that are not matters of national
environmental significance under the EPBC Act are asking the minister to act beyond legal
authority. This means that apart from projects having an impact on matters of national
environmental significance (and projects having significant impacts on Commonwealth land
or carried out by Commonwealth agencies), community concerns regarding government
decisions affecting the environment should be taken up with the relevant state or territory
government.

National environment law

The basics—environmental impact assessments and approvals of projects

What is national environment law?

Australia’s main national environment law is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act 1999 or EPBC Act.

This legislation is designed to protect and manage matters that are nationally significant.

These nationally protected matters are:

• world heritage properties

• national heritage places
• wetlands of international importance (Ramsar wetlands)
• nationally threatened species and ecological communities
• migratory species
• Commonwealth marine areas

• Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

• the environment where nuclear actions are involved (including uranium mines).

While all levels of government regulate activities to protect the environment, the federal
government’s role is specifically focused on protecting these matters.

The whole of the environment (not just the above matters) must be considered when
activities take place within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, on Commonwealth land or in
Commonwealth marine areas, are carried out by Commonwealth agencies, or are nuclear
actions.

Who does this legislation affect?

The legislation applies to anyone whose activity is likely to have a significant impact on the
nationally protected matters.

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For example, land owners, developers, farmers, mining companies, councils and state,
territory and Commonwealth agencies are all groups that may need to submit (‘refer’) their
project proposal to the federal environment minister to see whether their activity needs to
undergo a federal assessment process.

Examples of project proposals submitted for assessment include clearing or developing land
(residential and commercial), mining activities and port development activities.

There are policy statements on the department’s website to help guide people on whether
their activities’ impacts are likely to be significant under the legislation.

How does the assessment process work?

When an activity is referred to the federal environment department, the details of the
proposal are looked at to see whether or not it will have a significant impact on nationally
protected matters.

All referrals to the department are published on the website to give the public an
opportunity to provide comment.

The minister or a departmental delegate will then decide whether or not the activity will need
to be further assessed—this is the ‘referral decision’.

A referral decision will be one of the following:

Controlled action: this means that a significant impact on a nationally protected matter is
likely, and the activity needs to undergo federal assessment. A method of assessment will
then be chosen, which will vary depending on the scale and complexity of the activity.

Not controlled action, particular manner: this means the activity does not need to be further
assessed but must be carried out in the manner described in the decision.

Not controlled action: this means the activity does not need further assessment because it is
not likely to have a significant impact on nationally protected matters.

Action clearly unacceptable: this means the activity cannot proceed because it is clear it will
have an unacceptable impact on nationally protected matters. This is essentially a decision to
refuse approval for the project.

Activities may also need to be assessed under state and local government legislation. It is
always best for people to check with the relevant state and local agencies if they are unsure.

The role of the federal environment minister in environmental assessments

The minister’s key decision-making role with federal environmental assessments is to ensure
that matters covered by national environment law are protected. When making a decision,
the minister cannot consider matters that fall outside this federal legislation.
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State and local government approvals might cover different matters from those protected by
national environment law under their relevant legislation, so an activity may need approval
from all three levels of government.

The federal environment minister cannot intervene in matters that fall outside national
environment law.

The department works with its state and territory counterparts to ensure information is
shared and to align assessment processes where possible.

Environment Protection Act 1970 (Victoria)

The Environment Protection Act 1970 was at its inception only the second Act in the world to
deal with the whole of the environment in a systematic and integrated way. The Act is
outcome oriented, with a basic philosophy of preventing pollution and environmental
damage by setting environmental quality objectives and establishing programs to meet
them. Over the years the Act has evolved to keep pace with the world's best practice in
environment protection regulation and to meet the needs of the community.

Key aims of the Act include sustainable use and holistic management of the environment,
ensuring consultative processes are adopted so that community input is a key driver of
environment protection goals and programs and encouraging a co-operative approach to
environment protection.

To help achieve these aims, the following Principles of Environment Protection were added
to the Act in 2001:

• integration of economic, social and environmental considerations;

• precautionary principle;
• intergenerational equity;
• conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity;
• improved valuation, pricing and incentive mechanisms;

• shared responsibility;
• product stewardship;
• wastes hierarchy;
• integrated environmental management;
• enforcement; and
• accountability.

Such concepts parallel those included in the National Strategy on Ecologically Sustainable
Development and the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment (IGAE).

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Changes made to the Act by the Environment Protection (Resource Efficiency) Act 2002 were
designed to help all sectors of the Victorian community to continue to find innovative ways
of using resources more efficiently and to reduce the ecological impact.

The Act establishes the powers, duties and functions of EPA. These include the administration
of the Act and any regulations and orders made pursuant to it, recommending State
environment protection policies (SEPPs) and industrial waste management policies (IWMP) to
the Governor in Council, issuing works approvals, licences, permits, pollution abatement
notices and implementing National Environment Protection Measures (NEPMs).

EPA's statutory functions under the Environment Protection Act 1970 include:

• works approvals;
• licences;
• research development and demonstration approvals;
• pollution abatement notices;
• waste transport permits and certificates; and
• appeal rights that exist in certain statutory processes.

Environment Protection (Amendment) Act 2006

The Victorian Government’s Environment Protection (Amendment) Act 2006, passed by

Parliament in August 2006, brings in a range of changes to the Environment Protection Act
1970.

These changes strengthen EPA's role in helping Victorians to live sustainably, and help EPA
achieve its purpose of protecting, caring for and improving the environment.

In addition, the legislative changes make some key reforms to waste management to keep
Victoria at the forefront of resource efficiency.

The intent of the changes is outlined in the Second reading speech

(http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/downloadhansard/pdf/Assembly/Jul-
Oct%202006/Assembly%20Extract%2020%20July%202006%20from%20Book%209.pdf) (

Adobe PDF file from Victorian Parliament website - p. 2504), which was presented to
Parliament by the then Minister for Environment, Mr John Thwaites, on 20 July 2006.

A summary of the key legislative changes follows.

Environment and Resource Efficiency Plans (EREP)

From 1 January 2008 all commercial and industrial sites in Victoria that use more than 100 TJ
of energy and/or 120 ML of water in a financial year need to prepare a plan that identifies
actions to reduce energy and water use and waste generation. Each site that exceeds one or
26 | P a g e
more thresholds must register with EPA, prepare a plan, implement actions with a payback
period of three year or less, and report on their performance annually.

Visit the Sustainable Business and Industry section for more on

EREP, including answers to frequently asked questions.
(http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/bus/erep/default.asp)

Metropolitan waste management reforms

Victoria has achieved high levels of resource recovery that are keeping valuable and usable
materials out of landfill. Regional Waste Management Groups (RWMGs) have played an
important role in this success by forming effective partnerships between local governments
and state agencies.

Victoria’s Towards Zero Waste strategy builds on these achievements and sets the bar higher
– aiming to both reduce waste generation and increase the rate of resource recovery. The
metropolitan waste management reforms introduce some key changes that will strengthen
the partnership between state and local governments to meet the challenges of Towards
Zero Waste.

These reforms introduce a new metropolitan wide waste and resource recovery planning
framework and a new organisation to work in partnership with the 30 metropolitan councils
to plan, coordinate and deliver improved resource efficiency.

The four Regional Waste Management Groups (RWMGs) in metropolitan Melbourne are to
be replaced with a new statutory body – the Metropolitan Waste Management Group
(MWMG).

Merging the existing RWMGs and harnessing the collective buying power of councils will
give the MWMG better access to emerging waste management technologies. This enables
significant increases in the amount of waste that can be reused and recycled, rather than
going to landfill.

The MWMG will complement and support metropolitan councils in their role of providing
waste management services to their local communities and determining the approach that
best meets their needs and circumstances.

A new metropolitan-wide strategic waste and resource recovery plan is to be established.

This plan will have three key components:

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• The Metropolitan Plan – a strategic analysis of the patterns and trends in the generation
and composition of waste and recoverable resources setting the key directions for
resource efficiency for the next 20-30 years.
• The Municipal Solid Waste Infrastructure Schedule – an assessment of the needs,
priorities and general preferred location for municipal solid waste infrastructure facilities
(other than landfill) for the next 5-10 years.
• The Metropolitan Landfill Schedule – an assessment of the needs, priorities and
management requirements for waste disposal landfills for the next 5-10 years.

Plastic bags

The Environment Protection Act 1970 has been amended to give the Minister for Environment
the power to make future regulations banning the free provision of plastic bags.

Under any future regulations made with this power, if retailers wanted to continue providing
plastic bags to customers, they would be required to charge a minimum prescribed fee
(possibly 10c per bag) – and must make that price transparent to the customer.

Appropriate exemptions would apply, for example, where a bag is required for health and
safety reasons such as bait bags or bags for fresh foods, and in developing the regulations
consideration will be given to exemptions for small businesses, biodegradeable plastic bags
and other purposes.

Plastic bag waste can threaten wildlife, cause drains to block and overflow and create
amenity problems. For these reasons, plastic bag litter continues to be a prominent
community issue.

In October 2003, Environment Ministers around Australia agreed to phase-out lightweight

plastic shopping bags by the end of 2008.

Through voluntary schemes, large supermarket retailers have achieved a 41 per cent
reduction in plastic bag use based on 2002 consumption levels, but 1.1 billion bags are still
consumed annually in Victoria.

The amendment gives the Environment Minister the power to make future regulations
banning the free provision of plastic bags if further reductions are not achieved through
voluntary action.

Changes to the scheduled premises and licensing system

Works approvals and licensing of industrial and waste management facilities that have the
potential for significant environmental impact are key tools for environment protection
established by the Act. These tools operate well, but opportunities have been identified for
improving their operation in order to deliver better outcomes for the environment and to
lower administration and compliance costs.

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As part of the review of the Environment Protection (Scheduled Premises and Exemptions)
Regulations 1996, three key initiatives have been introduced by the Amendment Act to
improve the operation of works approvals and licences.

Firstly, at the request of a licensee, EPA will have the capacity to amalgamate two or more
licences for different premises held by the same licensee, into a single ‘corporate licence’.
Licence amalgamation is voluntary, not mandatory, and will help EPA and businesses
streamline licence development, monitoring and management processes.

This will benefit many businesses with more than one licence, by enabling the integration of
environmental issues into the broader corporate group, rather than on a site-by-site basis.
Companies will have the flexibility to invest in environmental improvements across their
whole business in a more cost-efficient and effective way.

Secondly, uniform reporting requirements for all licensees will be introduced when the new
regulations are made. Licensees will be able to report on compliance with a licence in a
single 'performance statement', submitted once a year. This will move away from the
different reporting requirements currently contained in individual licences. Where a licensee’s
performance does not meet licence conditions, a summary of failings and actions taken or
proposed to address that failure will accompany the statement.

The proposed amendment makes it an offence for a licensee to fail to submit a performance
statement by the required date, or to provide false or misleading information to EPA, or to
conceal information from EPA.

These changes, which have come about through consultation with current licensees, are
designed to create administrative savings and reduce compliance complexity.

However, standard reporting will not impact on a licensee’s obligation to comply with its
licence conditions, take and keep monitoring data and make that data available to EPA on
request.

Finally, in order to simplify the licensing structure, the existing six classifications of scheduled
premises have been replaced with a single definition of ‘scheduled premises’.

Pollution Abatement Notices (PANs)

The Environment Protection Act 1970 now enables a single Pollution Abatement Notice (PAN)
to be issued to set requirements or direct actions be taken at multiple premises.

Under the current system, if a business operates at multiple premises, each with the same
environmental problem, each site must be issued with a separate notice. Now, one PAN can
be issued to multiple premises of the same business.

This change will enable PANs to more efficiently address emerging product stewardship and
resource efficiency issues (for example, in support of the National Packaging Covenant),
29 | P a g e
which tend to be company wide, rather than single-site based. The change will also improve
EPA’s capacity to use PANs for direct pollution issues, for example by requiring stormwater
and erosion controls at building and construction sites.

Enforceable undertakings

A new enforcement tool, known as an 'enforceable undertaking', is now available for EPA to
use when a contravention of the Act occurs.

An enforceable undertaking is a voluntary, negotiated written promise or set of promises to

carry out various tasks as part of a settlement for contravening the Act. In all circumstances,
enforceable undertakings will be voluntary agreements, and can only be entered into with
the agreement of both EPA and the business and/or person who has breached the Act.

If an undertaking is withdrawn, EPA can use other enforcement options as appropriate. If an

undertaking is breached, EPA can apply to the Magistrates' Court for its enforcement.

Guidelines on the development, use and enforcement of undertakings will be prepared and
published by EPA.

The ability of EPA to agree on measures to make amends for a breach of the Act with the
offender enables issues to be resolved efficiently, without the need for costly and time-
consuming court proceedings.

Guidelines as to how enforceable undertakings will be developed and applied are currently
under development and will be released for public comment in the near future.

Enforceable undertakings have been adopted and used successfully by a number of other
agencies including Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Consumer Affairs Victoria and the NSW
Department of Environment and Conservation.

Clean up notices

Notices issued under section 62A of the Act (commonly known as ‘clean up notices’) are the
key mechanism used to direct the clean up or management of contaminated sites and
groundwater. Clean up notices can be issued to the occupier of the contaminated site or to
the polluter. Under the changes to the Act, EPA is now empowered to require a parent or
controlling company to accept responsibility for cleaning up pollution caused by a subsidiary
in appropriate cases.

The change enables EPA to issue a clean up notice to a parent company where its subsidiary,
associated entity or related entity caused pollution, and where:

• the parent company had requisite control over, and was aware of the polluting activities
of the subsidiary, and
30 | P a g e
• the parent company did not take all reasonable steps to prevent the polluting activity of
the subsidiary.

Requiring accountability by parent companies will ensure previous polluters pay for old
pollution (strengthening the application of the Principles of Environment Protection) and will
also help prevent new pollution by giving companies an incentive to manage environmental
risks before they become offences.

In addition, the amendment clarifies that a notice issued under section 62A of the Act can
require clean up and/or on-going management measures to be undertaken at a site.

Increased levies for prescribed industrial waste

Prescribed industrial waste (PIW) is produced from the manufacture of goods and services
we use every day. It is generated by activities such as petroleum refining, chemicals
manufacture, metals smelting and auto manufacturing.

The Amendment Act introduces increased levies for the disposal of PIW to landfill and
introduces differential levies reflecting the level of hazard posed by different classes of PIW.
This amendment is intended to accelerate the drive towards waste avoidance, reuse and
recycling and will increase the support programs available to help industry reduce waste
disposal. Levy revenue will be reinvested in programs to support industry to avoid the
generation of PIW or to find safe re-use alternatives to disposal.

Effective 1 July 2007, new landfill levies will be introduced for prescribed industrial waste as
follows:

Prescribed industrial waste disposed to landfill

Amount until 30 Amount as at 1

June 2007 July 2007
($/tonne) ($/tonne)

26 130

Category B – includes wastes from manufacturing

industries and contaminated soils

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 26 50

Category C – includes wastes which pose a low

hazard from manufacturing industries and level
contaminated soils

26 30
Packaged waste asbestos – levy remains
unchanged to encourage safe handling and
disposal of asbestos

In January 2007, the Government announced further increases to landfill levies to take effect
from 1 July 2008

State environment protection policies (SEPPs)

State environment protection policies (SEPPs) are subordinate legislation made under the
provisions of the Environment Protection Act 1970 to provide more detailed requirements
and guidance for the application of the Act to Victoria.

Subordinate legislation is law made by a body that has been delegated the power to create
law by an Act of Parliament. It is used to implement the policies outlined in the primary
legislation (or Act) and its powers cannot exceed those provided in the primary Act.

SEPPs aim to safeguard the environmental values and human activities (beneficial uses) that
need protection in the State of Victoria from the effect of pollution and waste, such as:

• human health and well-being

• ecosystem protection
• visibility
• useful life and aesthetic appearance of buildings, structures, property and materials
• aesthetic enjoyment and
• local amenity.

SEPPs express in law the community's expectations, needs and priorities for using and
protecting the environment. They establish the uses and values of the environment that the
community wants to protect, define the environmental quality objectives and describe the

32 | P a g e
attainment and management programs that will ensure the necessary environmental quality
is maintained and improved.

Under the Environment Protection Act 1970, the requirements in environmental regulations,
works approvals, licences and other regulatory tools, must be consistent with SEPPs.

Analyse procedures for assessing compliance with

environmental/sustainability regulations

Procedures and compliance

You can use an Environmental Management System (EMS) to help your organisation design
compliant procedures. An EMS outlines the environmental goals, policies and procedures
that your organisation will need to follow and apply to all aspects of its business.

The benefits of an effective EMS include:

• a commitment to demonstrable environmental management

• conserving the use of non-renewable resources and energy
• promoting environmental awareness among employees, suppliers and contractors.

Assessing EMS procedures will help you find out if you're compliant. You need to know what
procedures you have established as first step. Procedures usually describe how a particular
action is to be carried out.

Go to the WorkSafe Victoria website [http://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/], and search for the

WorkSafe asbestos safe disposal sites and how to comply sections for removal and waste
disposal for an example of how a procedure can describe how waste is to be disposed of.

Procedures can also contain additional information, such as references to environmental

legislation that will make sure the action that is carried out is compliant. For example, this
sample procedure describes how an organisation has declared how waste is to be disposed
of from its building and construction sites.

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While you're assessing your procedures, make sure they follow the relevant environmental
regulations. Procedures that do not follow the relevant environmental regulations could be
noncompliant. If you identify a non-compliant procedure you should inform your manager.

How to assess procedures

The problem: Protecting a coastal environment from stormwater run-off and sediment

Construction of a block of units is about to begin at a site in coastal Victoria.

The coastal region is subject to high rainfall and moderate flooding. The company building
the units is aware of its environmental and corporate responsibilities.

The company has procedures in place to protect the fragile coastal ecosystem from
stormwater run-off and sediment.

Identify potential risks

The first step is to identify potential risks to the coastal environment.

For this problem, the stormwater run-off and sediment caused by high rainfall and flooding
have potential to damage the coastal environment.

You now need to identify the procedures that have been put in place to reduce or prevent
risk to the coastal environment.

For this problem, Procedure 4.5A Controlling stormwater run-off on the work site contains a
process that will prevent damage to the coastal environment.

Assess the procedure

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You now need to assess the procedure to determine if the process describes how damage to
the coastal environment will be prevented and which environmental regulations need to be
followed to make sure the procedure is compliant.

We can now start our assessment of the procedure.

Objectives

The objectives section describes the aim or goal of the procedure. The objectives of
Procedure
4.5A Controlling stormwater run-off on the work site are to:

• divert uncontaminated water from the work site

• contain contaminated water and prevent it from leaving the work site
• minimise on-site erosion by reducing the amount of on-site disturbance, stabilising
disturbed surfaces and securing material stockpiles.

Implementation

The implementation section of the procedure describes the corrective action to be taken on
the work site. Materials, tools or equipment required to carry out the corrective action may
also be specified in the implementation section.

Procedure 4.5A Controlling stormwater run-off on the work site has specified diversion and
sediment control devices to be used to control stormwater run-off from the work site.

Reference to Acts, regulations or industry guidelines

To be considered compliant, a procedure should refer to at least one Act, building code,
environmental regulation or government or industry guideline.

Procedure 4.5A Controlling stormwater run-off on the work site is compliant as it refers to
guidelines set out by the local council, the Australian Government and industry
organisations.

Go to the EPA Victoria website [http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/], and search for Reusing and
recycling water for an example of environmental and health guidelines that apply to the
reuse and recycling of water.

Confirm that the procedure can resolve the problem

The process described in Procedure 4.5A Controlling stormwater run-off on the work site can
resolve the problem of controlling stormwater run-off and sediment at the coastal work site.

Employees on the site should follow this procedure.

Compliance
35 | P a g e
Remember that it's important to assess the procedures specified by your organisation to
make sure they comply with environmental regulations.

Procedures that comply with environmental regulations can reduce the risk of litigation and
fines, but they also make sure that your effect on the environment is reduced.

That completes our demonstration of how to assess your organisation's procedures to make
sure they comply with environmental regulations.

Business Example:

Sustainability in this area relates to managing compliance with the range of legislative
requirements, codes, standards, reporting schemes, incentive programs and subsidies that
are currently in place or proposed around sustainability issues.

The carbon tax and related initiatives are being implemented in Australia and existing
regulations also have a direct relationship to sustainability, notably environmental and social
sustainability. There are compliance requirements in other areas that connect with
sustainability issues, for example occupational health and safety.

Many regulations and voluntary codes are supported by explanations and manuals that can
be a useful guide even to businesses that are not required to participate. For example the
National Pollutant Inventory has a series of Emission Estimation Technique (EET) manuals
covering specific industries. These outline the industry processes and approaches for
estimating emissions.

Sustainable practice and compliance

Sustainability practice is directly affected by regulations, standards and reporting

requirements. Many of these target environmental issues such as environmental
conservation, biodiversity, hazardous substances, disposal of chemicals, emissions of
greenhouse gases and pollutants and reducing energy consumption.

Social sustainability – your relationship with people and community – links to regulations
that cover areas such as workplace relations, equal opportunity, human rights, indigenous
and cultural heritage, ASX requirements and ethical governance and trade practices.

Economic sustainability links to regulations that cover Australian Taxation Office

requirements, superannuation, ASX and solvency requirements and financial and other
reporting requirements.

Some legislation and regulations only apply when a business reaches a defined threshold.
For example:

• The Energy Efficiency Opportunities Act 2006 requires corporations using more than
0.5 petajoules (PJ) of energy per year to apply the program’s framework to assess
their energy use and identify energy savings opportunities.
36 | P a g e
 • The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 requires organisations
with 100 or more employees to plan and report on their programs to ensure that
women are given equal opportunities in employment, professional development and
promotion.
• The National Pollutant Inventory reporting requirements (NPI) requires businesses to
report on their emissions and waste transfers if they trip any of the thresholds
including ninety three specified substances, rates of burning waste and/or fuel and
the rate and type of electricity usage.

There are voluntary initiatives such as codes, standards, covenants and incentive schemes
that can also support your sustainability effort. Examples include the Global Reporting
Initiative, the Australian Packaging Covenant, the ISO 26000 Social Responsibility Guidance
Standard and the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS).
The Australian Ecolabel Program

The Australian Ecolabel Program, managed by Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA), is
based on the international standard ISO 14024: "Environmental Labels and Declarations -
Guiding Principles" which requires environmental labeling specifications to include criteria that
are objective, reasonable and verifiable.

The program has developed a number of voluntary standards for ‘environmentally preferable
products’, based on a life cycle assessment approach to environmental performance measures.
Standards include:

• Architectural and protective coatings

• Carpets
• Detergents
• Furniture and fittings
• Recycled plastic and rubber products

GECA also provides a green procurement database and runs green procurement training.

Good Environmental Choice Services (GECS) trading as Environmental Assurance is the auditing
and certification body with responsibility for product assessment, certification and licensing of
products against the GECA standards.

See http://www.geca.org.au/

National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS)

From 1 July 2010 Australia has a National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS) to encourage
businesses to offset their greenhouse-gas emissions in a voluntary carbon market.

It provides a voluntary standard for businesses to use in becoming carbon neutral and in
developing carbon neutral products. It also includes guidance on calculating the carbon

37 | P a g e
footprint of an organisation or product and product life cycle analysis for the purpose of
achieving ‘carbon

38 | P a g e
neutrality’.

Only emissions sources that are not counted towards Australia’s Kyoto Protocol target are
eligible to generate offsets under the NCOS – so it does not include renewable energy, energy
efficiency and methane-flaring projects.

See http://www.climatechange.gov.au/climate-change/carbon-neutral/national-carbon-
offsetstandard-ncos

ISO 14000 Set:2005 Environmental Management Standards set

The ISO 14000 family of standards addresses various aspects of environmental management
which aims to control and improve the environmental performance of an organisation as
measured against objectives. The standards are voluntary.

The family of standards includes:

• ISO 1400 1 :2004 Environmental Management Systems (requirements)

• ISO 14004:2004 Environmental Management Systems (guidelines)
• ISO 14050:2009 Environmental management - Vocabulary
• ISO 14040:2006 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Principles and
framework
• ISO 14064 and ISO 14065 standards for greenhouse gas accounting

Other relevant issues such as labeling, performance evaluation, corporate social responsibility,
communication and auditing are covered by other ISO standards.

See
http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/management_and_leadership_standards/environmental_m
an agement.htm

ISO 26000 Social Responsibility Guidance Standard

ISO 26000 is an International Standard giving guidance on social responsibility - what it means,
what issues an organisation needs to address in order to operate in a socially responsible
manner, and what is best practice.

It contains voluntary guidance, not requirements, and therefore is not a certification standard
like ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004.

See http://www.iso.org/iso/social_responsibility

Managing your compliance performance There are many areas where you could focus your and
support your sustainability performance. Things to think about include:

39 | P a g e
 • Which areas in your business are covered by legislation, regulations and mandatory
standards at the national and state levels
• The potential consequences of non compliance in terms of fines, legal liability,
compensation and rehabilitation arising from employee injuries and environmental
damage
• Which voluntary codes, covenants and initiatives can provide guidance in measuring
and improving your performance
• Whether there are any funding programs to support you making changes in energy
consumption, technology improvements
• Embedding the compliance requirements into routine procedures that benefit your
business – by being cost effective and helping to deliver your business goals; focus
on any business benefits and make it work for you
• Keeping up to date with requirements, codes of practice by subscribing to email
news updates from government departments and regulators.

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act) is the
Australian Government’s central piece of environmental legislation. It provides a legal
framework to protect and manage nationally and internationally important flora, fauna,
ecological communities and heritage places — defined in the EPBC Act as matters of national
environmental significance.

State and Territory Legislation

Each State and Territory has different legislation and regulations and in some cases your
local council or shire will also have bylaws or guidelines that relate to land use, waste
management and other related resource management issues. They may also be the authority
where reports of hazardous material spills and environmental contamination must be made.
For example:

The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) NSW regulates compliance on behalf of the
NSW Government. It covers:

• hazardous materials and waste

• offensive noise
• pollution:
o air o
land o
water
• waste management.

The regulations cover a range of topics that will impact on animal care and management
workplaces.

40 | P a g e
Many animal care and management enterprises use chemicals on a regular basis in the
treatment of animals and for hygiene management and disease control. Some chemicals are
toxic. Care must be taken with storage, use and disposal of chemicals.

Here’s an example of a guideline published by the NSW EPA relating to mobile dog wash
operation:

DOG WASHERS
‘Mobile dog washing units are either trailers or vans fitted with a pet ‘hydro-bath’ to wash the
dog. On-site, the unit is connected to water mains using a hosepipe to fill the hydro-bath. Most
units discharge their wastewater onto the ground via a short length of pipe after each bath,
although some units have storage tanks to use in areas where discharge onto the ground is not
an option. Units should have a basket at the end of the pipe to collect pet hair and other debris.
Wastewater containing flea rinse should never be disposed of onto the ground.
Issues of particular concern are the use of flea rinses and the disposal of wastewater into the
storm water system.’
MAKE YOUR BUSINESS FISH FRIENDLY
‘Dog washing businesses who take up the environmental challenge can expect to avoid storm
water pollution, reduce waste and wastewater, recover resources through recycling, reusing and
composting and become more efficient.'
Our storm water system empties directly into our rivers without any treatment. Products used
in dog washing, such as flea rinses and shampoo can kill fish and aquatic life. Never allow
anything to flow into the gutter or storm water drain.’

WASH WATER DISPOSAL

• Always plan your wastewater disposal options before you start work.
• Never dispose of wash water in a gutter or stormwater drain.
• Never dispose of wash water to dry streambeds or where it can flow into wetlands and
waterways.
• All wash water must be passed through a basket before disposal to remove pet hair.
• Pet hair should then be collected and disposed of in a garbage bin.
• If you are working in an area where there is no suitable wastewater disposal option, the
water should be stored for later disposal.
• Always use the smallest amount of shampoo possible.

‘This table highlights the preferred options for disposing of wastewater to reduce the risk of
pollution and give your business a greener, cleaner image.’

If bath water contains Dispose to:

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 Ground where water
Sewer Septic tank
can soak
Shampoo only YES YES YES
Selected shampoo and flea YES NO NO
rinse
Medicated shampoo YES NO NO
Source: NSW Office of Environment & Heritage
www.environment.nsw.gov.au/sustainbus/dogwashers.htm

Regulatory authorities and local councils may be responsible for issuing licenses for:

• emissions to air, land or water

• hazardous material management, storage and disposal
• waste storage.

Case studies
Three case studies are provided that show the benefits of implementing sustainable business
practices. These are:
• Interface Carpets – a global leader in the design, production and sales of carpet and
fabrics
• mecu – an Australian financial co-operative and
• Insurance Australia Group (IAG), an international general insurance group.

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Interface Flor
Interface, founded in 1973, is a recognised leader in the commercial interiors market, offering
floor coverings and fabrics. The company is committed to the goal of sustainability and doing
business in ways that minimise the impact on the environment while enhancing shareholder
value. Interface has manufacturing locations on four continents and offices in more than 100
countries.

Interface promotes sustainable business practices within their global community and in the
products they make. Sustainability is built into their business model and is an underlying
corporate value, with business decisions weighed against their potential impact on the
economic, natural and social systems.
The VISION of Interface is “To be the first company that, by its deeds, shows the entire
industrial world what sustainability is in all its dimensions: people, process, product, place and
profits - by
2020 - and in doing so we will become restorative through the power of influence.”

Interface’s sustainability commitments are described as seven fronts, being:

• Eliminate waste: eliminating all forms of waste in every area of business
• Benign emissions: eliminating toxic substances from products, vehicles and facilities
• Renewable energy: operating facilities with renewable energy sources – solar, wind,
landfill gas, biomass and low impact hydroelectric
• Closing the loop: redesigning processes and products to close the technical loop
using recovered and bio-based materials
• Resource-efficient transportation: transporting people and products efficiently to
reduce waste and emissions
• Sensitizing stakeholders: creating a culture that integrates sustainability principles and
improves people’s lives and livelihoods

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• Redesign commerce: creating a new business model that demonstrates and supports the
value of sustainability-based commerce.

Interface's sustainability efforts include a measurement system that enables Interface to

understand their impact and change behaviour for the good of the environment. Global and
local metrics have been developed and the following indicators (2006 EcoMetricsTM Report)
provide a summary of results: Waste elimination: Waste is defined as anything that does not
provide value to the customer. The cumulative avoided costs from waste elimination
activities since 1995 total over $336 million. Total manufacturing waste sent to landfills has
decreased by 70% since 1996.

Energy: emphasis on initiatives that improve efficiency and conserve energy has reduced the
total energy used by 45% since 1996. Use of renewable energy increased to 16% in 2006.
Interface also uses biomass, landfill gas and photovoltaic arrays as alternative energy sources.

Recycled and bio-based content in products: The percentage of recycled or bio-based

content in products worldwide has increased from 0.5% in 1996 to 20% in 2006.

Greenhouse gas emissions: Interface reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 37%
through improved efficiencies and direct renewable energy purchases. Interface also
purchases renewable energy credits.
Water Intake: Water intake per square meter of carpet is down 80% in modular carpet
facilities and 62% in broadloom facilities from 1996 due to conservation efforts and process
changes such as eliminating the printing processes at some locations. (Source:
http://www.interfacesustainability.com/ )

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mecu mecu is a financial services organisation with over 200 staff in service centres across
Australia. Core
business is personal banking, insurance and financial planning. mecu is a member owned
financial cooperative with 50 years experience in providing financial services, and is committed
to enhancing financial well-being in a socially responsible way.

mecu believes a strong synergy exists between social and environmental responsibility
and cooperative banking and is committed to sustainable development as a way of
doing business.

Over 100,000 people and their families choose to conduct part or all of their banking with mecu.
mecu aims to become the pre-eminent socially responsible banking brand in Australia.

In August 2006 mecu signed a voluntary Sustainability Covenant with EPA Victoria. This covenant
provided sustainability goals and commitments that mecu is committed to achieving. These
included such goals and commitments as:
Employees:
• Goal – mecu’s workforce to be healthy, diverse, empowered and rewarded

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• Commitment – undertake staff sustainability training across the organisation Social
impact:
• Goal - mecu’s influence as a financial institution and its skills and products to help build
social capacity among its communities
• Commitments – maintain member/s net satisfaction at above 90%; target up to 4% of
mecu’s budgeted posttax profits to sponsoring community partnerships Environmental impact:
• Goal - Environmental impact to be minimised through the adoption of financially viable
initiatives to improve resource efficiency, reduce waste generation and reduce natural resource
consumption
• Commitment – review and promote action plans to reduce energy and water use and
waste produced
throughout mecu, purchase a percentage of energy from renewable sources
Leadership and partnerships:
• Goal - mecu to provide leadership to the financial service industry in the field of
sustainability by demonstrating that environmental and social improvements are part of a
successful business strategy
• Commitment – Maintain active membership of the United Nations Environment Program
Finance Initiative

mecu continues to monitor these goals and commitments and adjusts as necessary for
continuous improvement. An annual work program is developed to implement the goals and
commitments.
mecu has also introduced initiatives such as its ‘goGreen’ car and home loans which reward
customers for environmentally friendly choices and come with a commitment from mecu to
undertake tree plantings to offset greenhouse gas emissions for cars financed. To increase
inhouse sustainability, mecu has established waste management programs, and is developing a
more eco-friendly credit card. (Sources: http://www.mecu.com.au/
http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/environmental_management/sustainability/industry/epa_sustainable
_in dustries_a wards_2007/2006_finalists_and_winners/ )

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Insurance Australia Group (IAG)
Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has undertaken a range of sustainability commitments,
actions and reporting. These are summarised as follows. Detailed information, including
their annual sustainability report, is available on their website.

Sustainability commitment
Insurance Australia Group (IAG) recognises that its business has impacts on the community,
the environment and the wider economy. We believe that it is good business to operate in a
way that recognises these impacts and responds to them effectively. We acknowledge that
we must consider the risks and opportunities that they present for our company. We are
committed to understanding these impacts and to ensuring that our business minimises any
negatives arising from our operations.

Environmental commitment
Insurance Australia Group recognises that economic development needs to be aligned with
the health and well-being of people, their communities and the environment. We consider
that it is fundamentally sound business management for a company to address its social and
environmental performance as well as economic performance.

Charter for health, safety and security

The well-being of Insurance Australia Group's own people is vital to growing our business for
the benefit of our customers, shareholders and the wider community. This charter identifies
both our legal compliance and our beyond-compliance undertakings to promote health,
safety and security for our staff, contractors and other suppliers, and our support to help our
customers and members of the wider community to reduce risks in their lives.

Supplier selection guidelines

Guidelines reflect IAG's commitment to procuring products and services in ways that are
socially responsible, meet the community's expectations of us as a good corporate citizen
and reflect our values.

Programs
IAG is undertaking a range of programs to address aspects of sustainability, including:
• addressing skill shortages
• jumpstart auto-body traineeships and scholarships
• researching weather risk • reducing accident injuries and
• financial education.
(Sources: http://www.iag.com.au/sustainable/commitment/index.shtml
http://www.industry.gov.au/content/itrinternet/cmscontent.cfm?objectID=6FBA22A4-65BF-
4956- B86DB94F4E5D991F#IAG

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Collect information on environmental and resource efficiency systems
and procedures, and provide to the work group where appropriate
Information can be collected either by ‘desktop’ methods, where existing documents are
examined to determine information, or by ‘practical’ methods, where data is measured.

This section provides information on where to find information, what form it may take and
how to interpret units of measurement.

You may find it easier to develop a ‘checklist’ of audit items, linked to the scope and
objectives of the audit.

You may also find that some practices have already been measured for the purposes of
previous studies, or as part of an environmental management system, for example. You
should try and locate any relevant past studies first so that you can update these rather than
starting from scratch.

Auditing compliance
It is likely that your organisation is required to comply with various laws and regulations.
These laws and regulations need to be identified and examined to determine compliance.

Laws and regulations may be at the levels provided in Table 4. Determining laws and
regulations that apply to your organisation can be quite complex, and you may need to refer
to a lawyer or consultant for assistance. If you have had planning studies done for new
buildings or additions, the documentation may list your relevant laws and regulations.

You could also contact your local state or territory environment department, such as the
Environment Protection Authority (EPA) in Victoria or Queensland or Department of
Environment and Climate Change (DECC) in NSW to discuss what may be relevant.

Your local Council should be able to provide a list of required laws and regulations governing
your geographical area. Legislation is generally provided on various government and law
websites. A good starting point to locate a particular piece of legislation or check its content
is the Australasian Legal Information Institute website at http://www.austlii.edu.au/.

The websites of the various federal and state/territory government departments should also
provide useful overviews of laws relevant to various types of industry sectors.

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Identifying compliance is very important to an organisation to reduce the risk of litigation
and fines. Pollution fines in many states of Australia are quite large and can include jail time
clauses for offenders, including the individual offender and company management.

If you identify that your company is required to hold an environmental licence, you should
check the date of the licence, as many are required to be renewed each year. They may also
require an annual report to be provided, or they may require regular monitoring to be
undertaken.

While it is unlikely that a business services-based company would need an environmental

licence, if you were auditing your supply chain one of your suppliers, for example, a paper
manufacturer, would probably be required to hold a licence. An example of how a member
of your supply chain could affect your compliance is provided in the following discussion
box.

There are two clauses of Australian Federal law that require consideration of environmental
compliance and sustainability. These are:
• s299(1)(f) of the Corporations Act 2001 requires companies to include details of breaches of
environmental laws and licences in their annual reports and • s1013(A) to (F) of the
Corporations Act 2001, requires providers of financial products with an investment
component to disclose the extent to which labour standards or environmental, social or
ethical considerations are taken into account in investment decision-making.
(http://www.environment.gov.au/settlements/industry/corporate/reporting/index.html )

Hazardous Waste earns Wyee local a $147,000 bill

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(Media release - Wednesday, 2 May 2007)
“Wyee local Mr Bernard Hardt was yesterday fined $12,000 plus costs of $105,000 in the Land
and
Environment Court for filling a gully on his property using hazardous and industrial waste. Mr
Hardt was also ordered to remediate the affected land. Mr Hardt originally pleaded not guilty
to the offence of using his land unlawfully as a waste facility contrary to the Protection of the
Environment Operations Act 1997. Mr Hardt did not hold a licence permitting him to accept
the waste.

In May 2003, Environment Protection Authority (EPA) officers collected samples from the
waste mound and found that it contained asbestos, herbicides, high concentrations of
volatile solvents such as benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene, and concentrations of
arsenic and chromium….Director General of the Department of Environment and Climate
Change Lisa Corbyn said that by accepting the waste at his property without an EPA licence,
there were no controls in place to protect the environment or the health of Mr Hardt and his
neighbours.

There were no stormwater diversion systems in place to limit stormwater ingress which may
cause leachate to be generated from the landfill. The court heard that leachate had the
potential to pollute down-slope water channels.

On top of this, trees were damaged and pushed over in order to build up the waste pit. The
court heard it would take many decades for the area to return to its original condition. Mr
Hardt ignored a legally binding clean-up notice requiring him to remove the waste. He was
given the opportunity to avoid prosecution and ignored it. It was a costly mistake given he
now has to pay to remediate the area as well as the fine.”

The above example shows that breaches of compliance can have your business ending up in
Court. In NSW and many other states the pollution control legislation grants powers to
determine where the waste has come from, and to investigate whether there may be
negligence on behalf of the SUPPLIERS OF THE WASTE.

Where does the waste generated by your organisation go? Does it go to licenced waste
disposal premises?
Are their licences up-to-date? Are they complying with their licence requirements?

An issue that has recently affected many companies is the introduction of regulations
relating to the content of products for sale in certain regions of the world. For example, the
European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive, which took effect on
1 July 2006, lists levels of particular hazardous materials that are not acceptable in products
such as electronics and telecommunications.

The Energy-using Products (EuP) directive calls for the development of more energy-efficient
products sold into the European Union market. What is expected at some point is that

50 | P a g e
producers will have to provide consumers with an "ecological profile" of their products,
which could become a competitive factor.
The EU’s REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals
Regulation) was adopted in December 2006 and took effect on 1 June 2007. REACH requires
the chemical industry to put health-and-safety information on approximately 30,000
chemical substances used in the European Union market.

A RoHS directive is also being introduced into many countries and the fines for not
complying with the directive in some countries extend through the supply chain. A recent
article in Greener Computing News (Kubin R 2006 at www.greenercomputing.com ) notes the
major impact of these new regulations on the practice of out-sourcing many of the
components that make up modern goods:

“These regulations are having a big impact globally throughout the supply chains of the
electronics, telecom and automotive industries, among others. As a result, eco-compliance
regulations have become a major concern of companies trying to ensure both product
compliance and continued market access. The challenges are considerable. With the
globalization and outsourcing of manufacturing, the complexities of product eco-compliance
increase exponentially. For instance, a product may be designed in the United States and its
components sourced from hundreds of suppliers across many countries. It then may be
assembled by a contract manufacturer in China and eventually shipped to countries
throughout the world.

How can companies manage their global business operations to make sure their products
comply with the various environmental regulations?
Senior executives must understand current and upcoming ecocompliance regulations to effectively
prepare their supply chains to assume responsibility for the environmental impact of their
products.“
(Richard Kubin “Navigating the World of Green Tech Regulations”,
www.greenercomputing.com 24 May 2007 newsletter)

Activity 2

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Preparing an audit checklist
Prepare a simple checklist with columns identifying what you want to audit – determined
from your audit scope and objectives.
• What headings could you use for your columns?

• What categories could you use?

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Activity 2

Collect, analyse and organise information from a range of sources to

provide

information/advice and tools/resources for improvement opportunities

Gathering information on how you can determine solutions for your environmental or energy
efficiency issues is an important part of setting improvement targets. You can use a variety of
different methods to gather information.

For example, you could interview employees within your organisation, enrol in a training
program delivered by an industry association, or you could even contract an external
sustainability expert to audit your organisation.

While you're gathering information, make sure you choose from a wide range of sources.
Information from a wide range of sources will help you incorporate a more informed and
organisation-wide approach to the way you set your improvement targets.

When setting improvement targets, you will need to gather information from stakeholders
within your organisation or external information and data sources.

These people can include stakeholders or key personnel from your organisation, such as
management or employees working on site. You may also need to seek input and advice
from specialists such as external sustainability experts or training providers.

You can gather information from these people or organisations by:

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 • interviewing employees within your organisation
• contracting external sustainability experts to audit your organisation

• preparing and sharing a report of your findings • enrolling in training programs

• searching the internet.

I will now show you how you can gather information about setting improvement targets.

Interviewing employees within your organisation

You can gather information on environmentally sustainable and energy efficient processes by
interviewing your own employees. They are generally interested in helping out and you will
be surprised with the range of suggestions they have that will improve your organisation's
work practice.

If you work for a small organisation you might be able to visit different departments or go on
site to conduct informal interviews. If you work for a large organisation or find it difficult to
interview employees, you could consider sending your interview questions via email or
posting the questions to your intranet.

Regardless of your interview method, you should consider preparing a simple document to
help you conduct, record and share the outcomes from your interviews. You can always
customise your document to suit your needs, but it should at least contain a column for:

• the name of the area(s) to be improved

• possible solution or corrective action
• potential issues or benefits of implementing the solution.

Contracting external sustainability experts

Another way you can gather information is to contract external sustainability experts to
perform an environmental sustainability or resource efficiency audit of your organisation.
Contracting external sustainability experts is not compulsory, it's just another way you can
gather information and advice on environmentally sustainable work practices. You may find
that you have the expertise within your own organisation.

Once the sustainability experts have completed their audit, they will usually present a
detailed report or summary of outcomes and recommendations. You can then use this
information to help set your improvement targets.

You can search the internet to find a sustainability expert that is local to your area.

You should also consider contacting your suppliers. This is one of the biggest opportunities
for you to find out information and expertise on environmentally sustainable work practices.

Preparing a report of your findings

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Once you have completed gathering information from employees and external specialists
you can prepare a report of your findings.

Your report can contain a summary of the findings from your interviews or the outcomes and
recommendations based on the external audit.

For example, this report describes the area to be improved, suggestions from stakeholders
and recommendations from the external sustainability expert.

You may find that preparing a report will make it easier for you to share information with
your organisation and set improvement targets.

Training programs

Enrolling in a training program is a great way for you to find out about current trends or
approaches to setting improvement targets. You may find that some training programs are
delivered by industry associations and private training organisations or supported by
government.

For example, Sustainability Victoria runs a number of programs that help Victorian
businesses to reduce their impact on the environment.

Searching the internet

You can find out more information about how to set improvement targets by searching the
internet. The internet is a great place to find out information about the environmentally
sustainable and energy efficient practices of other organisations. You may find it helpful to
browse the improvement targets set by other organisations or research conducted by
government departments.

For example, the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and

Communities website contains information about their research into the use of sustainable
resources by industry.

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Measure and document current resource usage of members of the work
group

Measuring and recording your organisation's resource usage is an important part of the
investigation process. Measuring and recording resource usage will allow you to determine
what resources are being used by your organisation. This will help you identify where
efficiencies can be introduced.

Before you can measure and record resource usage in your organisation, you need to know
what a resource is. Generally, resources are defined as:

• energy – electricity, gas, fuel

• waste – office waste, industrial waste
• water – used on-site and in the office
• materials – timber, concrete, bricks, plumbing and office supplies.

You can collect resource usage data from the invoices for services such as water, gas,
electricity and waste collection. These invoices generally show the amount to be paid and
unit of measurement (for example, litres or kilowatts). Some invoices specify energy
efficiency information such as the volume of greenhouse gas emissions or the amount of
water that has been saved.

Identifying resource usage

Resources include:
• energy – including electricity, gas and fuels such as petrol or diesel
• waste – this needs to be categorised – e.g., office waste (recyclable and otherwise),
process waste (e.g., paper offcuts from a printing company), putrescible waste (e.g.,
lunch room waste), liquid waste
(e.g., toilets and hand basins)
• water – used in any industrial processes, taps and toilet flushing
• materials – which are the things you use - e.g., paper, cars, office equipment and furniture.

The aim of collecting resource information is to identify whether the use of these resources
can be more efficient. Large savings have been made by companies that have implemented
resource efficiency savings.

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In determining how you will collect resource usage data, determine whether you will seek
assistance from other staff or departments. You should make it very clear to them what sort
of information you require, for example, rather than sending an email to purchasing asking
for ‘electricity invoices’, ask for
‘the last 12 months of invoices for electricity usage in building C – if there are multiple
electricity meters or invoices for this building, could I please have all the data for this building
for the past 12 months”.

You can collect information about resources by obtaining the invoices for services such as
water, gas, electricity and waste collection. These invoices generally show amounts used in
both dollars and a unit of measurement, and, increasingly, will also provide a greenhouse gas
emission calculation. An explanation of how to read the units of measurement on these
invoices is provided in the following section.

Collecting information about general resources can be obtained from the purchasing
department or you can just count numbers and types of office equipment, furniture,
stationery, etc. To do this you could develop a table such as that shown in Table 5

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The energy usage of items is often written on the equipment or in the user guide. You could
make up a third column noting this information and the amount of time the equipment is
switched on/in use so that you can calculate energy usage later if required. Depending on
the detail of your audit (determined by your scope and objectives), you may even identify
the types of coffee/tea you supply, stationery supplies (pens, pencils, etc), copy paper, etc. A
Green Office program can assist you identify and categorise these items.

Energy usage
A typical energy split in a fully operated building is:

As the table shows, air conditioning is a large energy user and details should be taken of the
system so that any improvements can be investigated. You could also note whether vents
and filters are clean, what temperature the unit(s) is set at and when the system was last
serviced. Is the system switched off at night or over weekends or does it run all of the time?

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For lighting, office equipment and general power you could make a note of whether
equipment is left on all of the time or when it is switched off. For computers, check how
many have energysaving functions activated.

Another method of calculating energy usage is to use a ‘power mate’ that measures the
amount of electricity used by various appliances.

Details on how to use the power mate can be found at:

http://www.energy-
toolbox.vic.gov.au/summer_push/powermate_
information.html.

There are various types of fluorescent lamps used for overhead lighting in most offices. As
technology has advanced, the lamps have become smaller in diameter. The 38 mm lamp
(known as a T12 lamp) was superseded 20 years ago by the 26 mm lamp (known as a T8
lamp). The T8 lamp requires 10% less power to produce the same light output. Most recently,
new buildings are installing 16mm lamps (T5 lamps) which provide even greater efficiency.

Try and identify what type of lighting you have. Note that in reception areas there are often
halogen downlights, which use more power. The number of lights and their type should be
identified if this is part of your audit.

Activity 3

Examine a copy of an electricity invoice.

Can the group determine how much electricity has been used?

Does the invoice show the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the electricity used?
Discuss the difference between offpeak and peak energy demand and pricing.

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Waste
Invoices from your waste collection contractor will provide you with details of the amounts of
waste generated by your organisation. Determine whether there are separate waste
collections for general rubbish, other materials (for example, timber off-cuts or ink
cartridges), scrap paper, aluminium/ steel or recyclable plastics.

To verify what waste is being generated, you could undertake a waste audit. This can be as
simple as identifying the contents of one bin or several bins in order to categorise the waste
as percentages. (Don’t forget to wear gloves or wash your hands afterwards!)

For example, you may determine that an office waste bin may have 40% scrap paper, 10%
food scraps and 50% plastics.

More information on how to undertake a waste wise

program and waste audit can be found at
http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/www/ .

Water usage
Water supply invoices will provide information on water usage, which if you are in an office
situation will roughly equal your wastewater output as most water is used for toilet flushing
and hand washing.

You can also calculate your water usage by determining the number of toilets, the size of the
cistern (e.g., 9/6/4/3, etc. litre) and whether they are single or dual flush. Calculate how many
times a toilet would be flushed per day and you have your per day toilet usage amount. For
example: 2 toilets flushed approx. 5 times per day on ½ flush (6 litre) = 60 litres of water per
day.

Units of measurement
To identify where efficiencies can be made, and to monitor usage over time, you will need to
identify consistent units of measurement, or metrics. The following Table 6 provides a brief
60 | P a g e
description of the most common units of measurement and how to convert measurements if
required.

Green to Gold (Esty and Winston 2006) notes the importance of making the data interesting
and relevant so that it focuses the employee’s attention. For example, you could talk about
energy use per employee, which brings the challenge down to the individual level and grabs
everyone more than a grand total.

One common method is to convert energy usage to a greenhouse gas emission (being
carbon dioxide equivalent units). This can be done by following the method provided in the
Australian Greenhouse Office’s AGO Factors and Handbook (AGO, 2004). This provides
greenhouse emission factors for such energy items as electricity, natural gas, LPG, heating oil,
and automotive gasoline and diesel. Factors vary depending on the source of the energy, for
example, the type of coal used in the coal-fired power station that generated the electricity.

DuPont uses a metric called Shareholder Value Added (SVA) per pound of product. By using
this metric they are indicating that ‘the more stuff it produces, the greater the environmental
impact’. So DuPont just measures the total volume, and aims to reduce this.
(Esty and Winston, 2006)

The supply chain

You will most likely want to collect information from your suppliers as part of your audit
process. These include those businesses which may supply equipment, stationery, printing
services, computer hardware, etc. A good way to collect this information is to provide a
standard questionnaire to all your suppliers. In this way you can also use the questionnaire to
compare potential suppliers. The questionnaire could ask questions about the sustainability
of their products and services, or what actions they are undertaking.
Be careful not to ask questions that could be considered commercial-in-confidence. For
example, ask about electricity use in terms of units used rather than invoice amounts.

You could also design a supplier checklist, with sustainability items listed down a page with
room for the supplier or your audit team to complete details.

Verifying information
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It is important to verify the information that you have collected to ensure it is correct. You
can do this by the following:
• If you have obtained information from an existing report, check the facts –e.g. if the report
says there are 20 single-flush toilets, do a quick check to make sure this is still the case
• Discuss your findings with others (remember the saying “two heads are better than one”) –
you may find that you have made a simple calculation error
• Don’t just check one bill – ask for 12 months of data. This ensures that you are accounting
for seasonal variations, or changes to the workplace or workforce over a period of time
• Contact suppliers to verify details supplied (or not supplied) with equipment.

Documenting and reporting information

Once you have collected all your information you need to present it in a form that is able to
be easily interpreted by others. Think about using a table based on the checklist that you
may have previously prepared. Try and document as much information as you can and don’t
delete any until you have finished the report, as you may find you need a small piece of
information at a later date to confirm an efficiency detail, for example.

If you uncover some ‘amazing facts’ – for example, that the air conditioner has not been
serviced for 10 years, or that several taps are constantly leaking – note these down as they
can serve as your ‘attention grabbers’ later when you want action!

If you uncover an issue with compliance, for example, that a licence has not been renewed or
that there is a new piece of legislation that you think should be complied with, you should
bring it to the immediate attention of your management.

Ecological footprint
The ecological footprint is a measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems. It is a
standardised measure of demand for natural capital that may be contrasted with the planet's
ecological capacity to regenerate. It represents the amount of biologically productive land
and sea area necessary to supply the resources a human population consumes, and to
assimilate associated waste.

A nation's 'ecological footprint' is one description of its consumption in over 60 categories of

resources. It relates to the amount of biologically productive space required to provide the
resources used by that nation and to absorb its waste. The result is expressed in global
hectares.

Australia's ecological footprint in the Living Planet Report 2008 was 7.8 global hectares (gha)
per person. This is 2.8 times the average global Footprint (2.7 gha), and well beyond the level
of what the planet can regenerate on an annual basis - an equivalent of about 2.1 gha per
person per year.

The most significant factor contributing to the Australian ecological footprint is carbon
dioxide emissions from fossil fuels (constituting approximately half of the total Australian
footprint).
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 Source: Environment Protection Authority Victoria, www.epa.vic.gov.au/

’A report examining the pressures the world is placing on the planet's

biodiversity ranks Australia as having the seventh biggest ecological
footprint per person when compared to other nations.

Conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which compiled the Living Planet 2012
Report, says the spiralling global population and over-consumption are threatening the
future health of the planet.

The results of the survey were calculated by comparing renewable resources consumed
against the Earth's regenerative capacity.’ Radio Australia News, 2012,
www.radioaustralianews.net.au

We have been exceeding the Earth's ability to support our

lifestyle. Habitats are being destroyed; the soil and waterways
are being irreparably degraded. We must get back into
balance!

And we can. Each of us can make some simple changes that

will add up to a great deal of relief for our increasingly fragile
planet.

If all countries consumed the resources that we Australians do, it would take the biocapacity
of three Earths to support their lifestyle.

Source: World Wildlife Fund, 2008 www.wwf.org.au

Water footprint facts and figures

• There are 1,000 litres in a cubic metre of water.

• To produce one cup of black coffee (without sugar) takes 140 litres of water.
• During the drought in Brisbane the daily direct use in a household was 140 litres per
person.
• The average annual water footprint of a person in the US is 2,900 cubic metres.
• The average annual water footprint of a person in Australia is 1,400 cubic metres.

• An Olympic swimming pool holds 2,500 cubic metres of water.

Sustainable development and environmental protection

Similarities:

By protecting the environment we support sustainable development. A healthy environment

means clean air, unpolluted water and healthy soil; all necessary for the survival of future
generations.

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The preservation of natural resources supports sustainability. Many environmental concepts
like reuse and recycling allow us to save natural resources for future generations.

Environmental training and education support sustainable development. While working to

protect the environment we learn more about the world around us and improve our ability
to identify solutions for sustainable development.

Differences:

Environment is just one of the components embedded in the concept of sustainable

development. Society and economy are equally important. Although it is necessary to
protect the environment it is not always sufficient, since a healthy environment does not
necessary mean a prosperous society or a healthy economy.

Sustainable development is a goal of the entire society. A participatory approach is an

integral part of sustainability.

Sustainable development explores the relationships between environmental, social and

economic benefits. Environmental protection is often limited to the impact on nature.

Environmental protection implies reducing adverse effects, not necessarily allowing future
generations to inherit the same amount of natural, social and economic wealth as their
predecessors.

Whereas environmental protection is often regulated, sustainable development involves

going beyond compliance.

Compliance and setting targets for improvement

Product Stewardship
Australian businesses, across a wide range of sectors, have been working to reduce the
environmental impacts of their operations and products. In many sectors industries have, or
are developing, voluntary product stewardship schemes.

Product Stewardship is an approach that recognises that manufacturers, importers,

governments and consumers have a shared responsibility for the environmental impacts of a
product throughout its full life cycle. Product Stewardship schemes establish a means for
relevant parties in the product chain to share responsibility for the products they produce,
handle, purchase, use and discard. Governments are keen to support manufacturers and
importers of products in these efforts.

Industry policies
This is an extract from the sustainable practices suggested on the Green Vet Practice website
where a wide range of resource efficiency ideas are listed. Money can be a big motivator to
anyone, imagine making savings like this!
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‘Our hospital’s story (H2E)
Imagine eliminating 16.6% of a facility’s total waste.
Imagine saving over $124,000.00 in the process.
And then think about doing that by eliminating the use of just one product.
And, what if the expense on the single use item you were eliminating totalled over
$180,000.00 over a two year period?
Would it become important to you to do that?’

Roadblocks and incentives for change

The introduction of environmental regulations, both nationally and internationally,
encourages businesses to improve their environmental performance. But compliance often
creates unexpected costs that threaten profitability. The most significant financial liabilities
for companies are those associated with remediation, clean-ups and penalties for breaches
of legislation. Businesses can face difficulties if they fail to anticipate their environmental
liabilities.

Faced with the increasing burden of regulation, some businesses choose to go beyond
compliance towards comprehensive environmental programmes and sustainable
development.
For the business enterprise, sustainable development means adopting strategies and
activities that meet the needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders today while protecting,
sustaining and enhancing the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future.
A substantial number of companies recognise that the implementation of sustainable
business strategies can lead to new opportunities and improved results.

The cost of changes in behaviour

Following are several examples of changing behaviour that often cost less than current
practices.

Example 1:

Greening the OR (Operating Theatre) Initiative is looking at interventions in the OR that

reduce environmental impact, reduce cost, increase efficiency and improve worker or patient
safety – or some combination of these. There are a range of interventions that have been
looked at by the initiative and participating hospitals will continue to define additional
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 interventions as they are piloted and implemented at different institutions. Initial
interventions looked at include:

• regulated medical waste reduction and segregation

• fluid management systems
• single-use device reprocessing
• OR kit reformulation
• reusable surgical gowns and basins
• LED lighting and power booms
• displacement ventilation
• waste anaesthetic gas (WAG) capture and reclamation
• medical plastics recycling
• reusable hard cases for surgical instruments.

Example 2:

This table is based on the Green Building Council of Australia Business Clean Up Day
suggestions that will give you some ideas on how you can reduce resource use in your
workplace.
Today and every day Next week Next month/year

- turn off computers and - implement workplace - install water-saving

other office machines policy to minimise devices or flow
Equipment
when not in use activate unnecessary restrictors install
- energy saving equipment use - surge protectors

Today and every day Next week Next month/year

- functions where available - ensure organisation - for equipment

re-set photocopiers from purchasing policy consider updating
default to double sided sources energy computer monitors to
printing efficient equipment energy efficient flat
- provide chilled water screen models
to reduce purchase of
bottled drinking
water

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 - remove superfluous
light bulbs turn off
- lights when not in use
put up signs to remind
Lighting
- others to turn off lights
- where possible, open
windows instead of using
air conditioners program
- air conditioning to turn
off at the end of the day
and at the end of the
Your
working week position
comfort -
your computer monitor
so its perpendicular to
the window to reduce
glare
- use on-line versions of
documents or cut and
paste relevant sections
only for printing re-use
Materials - -
paper that is unprinted
on one side for in- house
drafts
- take your mug when
purchasing takeaway
coffee
- establish a green office
team or committee to
Other identify and implement
ongoing energy - - introduce a
- efficiencies walk, cycle or
use public transport
Source: Green Building Council of Australia http://www.gbca.org.au/news/business-clean-up-
goodfor-the-bottom-line/393.htm
Example 3:
- replace bulbs with - install intelligent
compact fluorescents lighting controls to
- install task lighting turn off lights when
e.g. a lamp so large area is unattended or
banks of overhead
natural light is ample
lights are -
design workplace
not used
layout to maximise
use of natural light
- position equipment - regularly service
away from climate control and
thermostats to avoid ventilation systems
false temperature to maintain
readings affecting - efficiency select
climate control window furnishings
-
systems use a stand for effective control
to elevate laptops to of light in north
avoid glare and eye- facing or east/west
-
strain reduce hot - facing windows
water temperatures block drafts and
in kitchens and other consider insulation
areas installation
- replace disposable - buy non-toxic
items such as cups, cleaning supplies in
cutlery with reusable bulk or condensed
items source - forms establish a
photocopy paper redistribution room
that has some for staff to deposit
recycled paper and re-use surplus
content equipment
- use indoor plants to - use teleconferencing
filter pollutants from rather than long
indoor air and distance travel where
increase relative possible
humidity in air - choose green power
from energy supplier
conditioned
workplaces provide
waste sorting bins for ridesharing scheme
different types of
items
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Changing the selection of materials and actual work routines can also help improve resource
efficiency. The next learning activity will introduce you to a whole of business approach to
the reduce, reuse, recycle and replace philosophy.

Waste is the end of the line – beyond this point you have little control. The way you manage
your waste is not a trivial matter. You can save quite a bit of money by making smart choices.
According to H2E, healthcare institutions that have engaged in fully-fledged waste reduction
efforts have reduced their disposal cost alone by 40-70%.

1. REDUCE and REUSE as much as you can and reduce your waste to a minimum.

Reducing waste is extremely challenging in a medical practice setting considering all the
packaging, individual use items, animal waste and biohazardous waste that is generated
every day.

2. RECYCLE what’s left over as much as you can.

Ideally you will find a recycler that will take everything: plastic, glass, metal and computers.

3. KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR WASTE!

You do have some choices beyond reducing waste as much as possible. Before you pay for a
waste handling service, be sure you are comfortable with how they manage it. Medical waste
is either dumped in a landfill or burned.

In the land fill, there are issues with:

• land use – taking good land and using it to dump trash in increasing amounts
• soil contamination from chemicals and heavy metals – making it unusable for
agriculture or future human habitation or use
• runoff and groundwater contamination from chemicals that threaten water supply
and environmental freshwater sources.

In the incinerator, there are issues with:

• burning of plastics that release dioxin and other harmful chemicals into the
environment – medical waste when incinerated is the third largest contributor of
dioxin
• release of heavy metals, including mercury, into the environment
• energy used to burn the trash – some operations have heat recovery processes.

Hazardous waste, including antibiotics and drugs:

• general considerations – biohazardous waste (don’t throw other things in there!),

solid waste – know where it goes, landfills vs. incinerators

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 • body disposal – options – implications for runoff and antibiotics and other things
(barbiturates) getting into environment.

Example 4:

The Green Vet Practice has a wide range of ideas on implementation strategies to reduce the
impact of work practices on resources.
You can measure and record your organisation's resource usage by:

• conducting desktop or practical audits

• surveying the supply chain.

These methods will help you to gather, measure and eventually record the amount of
resources that are used by your organisation.

Desktop audit

A desktop audit is an investigation of current resource usage based on invoices, finance

reports or procedures to identify how building materials are selected or purchased.

The audit is about taking measurements of resource use and identifying procedures that
create barriers or support best practice based on paper work and records over a specific time
frame.

Conducting a desktop audit will allow you to find out the administrative aspects of your
organisation's current work practice.

Practical audit

A practical audit is a review of actual practice on the job site to compare against collected
data

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from the desktop audit. The aim is to identify what work practices are actually carried out on
the job site. This way, waste material can be identified and effective recycling practices can be
determined or reviewed.

You can conduct a practical audit by reviewing the invoices for services such as water, gas,
electricity, fuel and waste collection.

For example, you could conduct a practical audit to determine the cost of fuel per kilometre
being used by your company vehicles.

Invoices for services such as water, gas and electricity usually show the amount used in
dollars, billing period and the unit of measurement. Some invoices show the amount of
greenhouse gases that have been generated and saved.

If you work for a large company you might need to contact your purchasing department to
obtain invoices.

Remember to check your sources and make sure that your information is correct before you
record and publish your resource usage information.

Surveying the supply chain

Surveying your suppliers is another way you can gather information about your resource
usage.

Your suppliers are the companies that provide building and construction materials, office
equipment and materials to your organisation.

In your survey, you could ask your suppliers about the amount of resources used and the
environmentally sustainable aspects of their products and services.

You can then use the outcomes from the survey to compare suppliers and identify a supplier
that prioritises environmentally sustainable work practices.

Record resource usage information

You can record your resource usage information in a simple table. The table can include
columns for the name of the resource, financial cost of resource usage, the amount used and
the amount of emissions generated or saved.

Recording resource usage information in a document will make it easier for you to keep track
of your information and share your findings with others.

Once you have gathered and recorded information on your current resource usage, you can
start to identify opportunities for resource efficient practices in your organisation. You can
find out more about identifying resource efficiency within an organisation in the Areas for
improvement sub-topic.

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That completes our demonstration of how to measure and record resource usage.

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Analyse and document current purchasing strategies

Analysing and recording purchasing strategies within your organisation is an important part
of the investigation process. Understanding the type of purchasing strategies currently in
place will allow you to identify areas where environmentally sustainable practices can be
introduced.

While you are assessing your current purchasing strategies, consider how they could be
improved by including environmentally sustainable practices. For example, think about how
you could influence your suppliers to provide sustainable building and construction materials
such as sustainable timber and energy efficient fittings and appliances.

Analysing and recording purchasing strategies will require you to:

• identify current purchasing strategies

• analyse current purchasing strategies and determine if the strategy could be
improved by the inclusion of environmentally sustainable purchasing practices
• record outcomes to help identify areas for improvement.

Identify current purchasing strategies

The first step in analysing and recording the purchasing strategies of your organisation is to
identify how your organisation is purchasing products and materials. You can do this by
referring to your organisation's procedures. The procedures will usually describe how
products and services must be purchased for your organisation.

For example, this organisation's current purchasing strategy has specified that Ordinary
Portland Cement must be purchased for use in building and construction projects.

Analyse current purchasing strategy

The next step is to analyse the current purchasing strategy and determine if it could be
improved by the inclusion of environmentally sustainable purchasing practices.

You can do this by identifying any information that describes an alternative to the materials
or products specified in your existing purchasing strategy.

The purchasing strategy should contain information that:

• outlines efficient use of existing materials

• suggests how renewable materials can replace the use of non-renewable materials
• encourages the development and use of energy efficient materials and processes.

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For example, this organisation's purchasing strategy has specified that alternative and more
environmentally friendly building materials must be purchased for use in building and
construction projects.

Sustainable purchasing strategies

The strategy should also describe how environmentally sustainable purchasing methods can
be implemented by your organisation and external suppliers.

Think about how your purchasing strategies could influence your suppliers to provide
sustainable building and construction materials such as sustainable timber and energy
efficient fittings and appliances.

You will also need to assess the environmental impacts of the materials that you're going to
purchase.

If you're not sure how a current purchasing strategy could be improved, you can search the
internet or contact relevant industry organisations for more information.

Record outcomes

Recording the outcomes from your analysis plays an important role in the investigation
process.

You can record your outcomes in a document or prepare a presentation for distribution
within your organisation or to external stakeholders.

Recording your outcomes will allow you to:

• identify your current purchasing strategies

• identify ways you can reduce the environmental effect of the materials you purchase
• share purchasing information with your organisation and external suppliers.

That completes our demonstration of how to analyse and record purchasing strategies within
your organisation.

Activity 4

Your company is planning a product launch and is inviting 200 clients and staff. Discuss how
you could make the launch more environmentally sustainable.

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Activity 4

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Analyse current work processes to access information and data to assist
in identifying areas for improvement

Identifying areas for improvement within your organisation is the final step in the
investigation process. By analysing the data that you gathered throughout your investigation
process you will be able to identify areas for improvement.

Work practices or procedures that fail to meet minimum industry environmental guidelines
and benchmarks, or perform poorly in environmental and resource efficiency surveys are
usually the areas that you can identify for improvement. For example, your current
procedures may specify an 'acceptable' level of emissions generated from the construction of
homes over a 12 month period. You conduct an investigation and find that emissions are
greater than the level specified. This procedure will require improvement to make sure that
emissions are reduced in the future.

How to identify areas of improvement

You can identify areas for improvement within your organisation by conducting an
environmental sustainability audit.

The environmental sustainability audit will allow you to examine and verify environmentally
sustainable aspects of your current work practices.

Define audit scope

Before conducting your audit, you will need to define its scope and objective. The scope is
the size or boundary of your audit. For example, you might decide to audit a small area of
the organisation first, such as the office or the work site. During the next improvement
review, you can audit suppliers or the entire organisation.

Define audit objective

The objective is the purpose or aim of your audit. For example, the objective might be to find
out how much fuel is being used per month and greenhouse gases emitted by the vehicles in
your organisation.

Defining a clear scope and objective will help you determine the type of information you
need to examine and the questions you need to ask.

Using tools

One tool you can use during your audit is a checklist. Your checklist should contain a series
of questions related to the scope and objective of your audit. The questions need to
determine if a particular condition of a company policy, procedure or work practice is being
met.
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For example, this checklist question is trying to determine if an organisation's current
environmental procedures reduce the amount of non-renewable resources that are used by
company vehicles.

Complete checklist
After reviewing the relevant environmental procedure, you should be able to answer Yes or
No to the audit question. If your answer is No, record the name of the non-compliant
procedure on your checklist. You can then continue to answer the remaining questions in
your checklist.

Record areas for improvement

Once you have completed the checklist, you would have compiled a list of company policies,
procedures or work practices that do not meet the audit objective.

You can record the items that require improvement in a table or list. This list will help you to
identify areas that require improvement and set efficiency targets.

Seek input from stakeholders, key personnel and specialists

Relating sustainability to business
Business sustainability involves the following three aspects in relation to the ‘triple bottom
line’:
• Economic well-being: job security, decent wages, safe and healthy work environment
• Environmental health: clean air, clean water, diverse ecosystems, safe and reliable food
sources • Social equity: equal access to opportunities, freedom from discrimination, poverty
and homelessness, protection from terrorism and wars, assistance after natural disasters.

The sustainability concept in terms of environmental sustainability and resource usage can
be related to business as shown below:

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The role of corporations in sustainability

The following text from Sustainability: The Corporate Challenge of the 21st Century
(Diesendorf in Dunphy, Benveniste, Griffiths, Sutton 2000) provides a clear explanation of the
role of a corporation in sustainable development.

‘Corporations impact on the natural environment, their own workforces and society at large
and so affect the sustainability of the planet and society. They make these impacts through
their choices of raw materials and suppliers, land use, geographical locations, manufacturing
processes including creation of wastes and pollution, organisational structures, financial
arrangements, management systems, employment and work practices, customer services,
community services uses of information and lobbying.

Their social impacts are both direct (for example, those following from the locations of their
offices and factories) and indirect (for example, by creating models of consumption which are
copied in the community at large).

It is sometimes argued that corporations operate on behalf of consumers and so it is

consumers alone who are responsible for the impacts of corporations. This view treats
corporations as the passive instruments of consumer demand. In reality, corporations shape
consumer demand by advertising and marketing. They acquire and store knowledge that is
not always publicly available and then release it selectively. In this way, they also define
‘goods’ and ‘services’ and create new products. This can influence sustainability, for better or
worse…

…Corporations also lobby governments to create laws and other conditions that are
favourable for their operations and products. For instance, they may have limited liability, tax
deductions for investments, infrastructure provided by government, subsidised energy and
patent protection.

Clearly, corporations are important players in the sustainability scene. Therefore, creating a
sustainable society must involve changes to corporations as well as other social institutions.

In pursuing the goal of sustainable development, the most obvious contribution that
corporations can make is to improve the quality and efficiency of the products they sell….A
more challenging aspect of sustainable development is a corporation’s decision to stop
producing certain types of products and services, because of their negative environmental
and social impacts.’

(Diesendorf in Dunphy, Benveniste, Griffiths, Sutton 2000)

Corporate social responsibility

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‘Corporate social responsibility’, or ‘CSR’, is a term used by the business community to
broadly describe their sustainability principles. The Social Venture Network defines nine
principles of CSR, being:

The role of the individual

“Corporation n. 1. an association of individuals, created by law or under authority of law,

having a continuous existence irrespective of that of its members, and powers and liabilities
distinct from those if its
members.” Macquarie Dictionary (2002)

You will notice that the CSR principles listed in Section 3 refer to such actions as
‘empowerment’ and ‘proactive relationship’. Key to the success of a company’s adoption of
sustainability principles is the contribution of individuals within the corporation to the
development, implementation, monitoring and improvement of sustainability actions.

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Individuals within a company can all identify the possibilities for improving environmental
and resource efficiency in their jobs. They are often the best person to know the details of
their work, including what environmental hazards exist in their personal work areas and how
systems and procedures operate on a day-to-day basis. They will have the best knowledge of
the materials, products and processes used in their work and will often have excellent
practical solutions for resource efficiency.

Individuals from various sections of the company, brought together to develop a

sustainability plan, will ensure that all aspects of the company are addressed within the plan.

Activity 5

Think about the structure of your organisation or company (or one that you are familiar with).

List some of the departments, offices or individuals within your company and what
ideas they could contribute to a sustainability plan.

For example:
• HR could contribute to staff satisfaction policies
• Cleaning staff/contractors could identify more efficient use of chemicals and cleaning
hazards
• Administrative staff could identify ways to reduce office materials
• Purchasing officers could look at fleet costs and efficiencies or supplier arrangements.

Activity 5

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Access external sources of information and data as required1
There are a number of programs you can join to assist with your implementation. Several
States run waste-wise and energy efficiency programs for businesses, which your company
can join. Once you have joined these programs you will have access to a large number or
resources, assistance and you could be monitored with implementation, which assists with
keeping to deadlines!

There are also software programs that can assist you – for example ‘Energy Tracker’ is a
software program that monitors energy consumption, greenhouse gases and assist you to
minimise your energy costs. Similarly, ‘smart meters’ can be installed to monitor your energy
consumption on a real-time basis.

There are programs to collect your scrap paper and other waste products for recycling.

You can engage external consultants to assist with the development and implementation of
your environmentally sustainable work practices. Remember though that a program is often
more successful if as many people in a workplace as possible have been involved in its
development.

There are standard methodologies you can use to prepare your ‘Action Plan’ or similar
document. If your workplace already has

ISO14001 Environmental Management System procedures in place, you can use this system
as the basis for investigating your environmentally sustainable work practices. There are also
programs such as Life Cycle Analysis, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Greenhouse
Challenge programs, sustainability covenants and partnerships and LEAN Manufacturing
programs that can assist you or can form the basis for your investigations. Refer to the
Resources for more detail on these programs.

Resources and tools

The Smarter Resources Smarter Business - Energy and Materials Program has a number of
resources and tools that businesses can use to maximise the benefits of becoming more
energy and materials efficient. The resources include guides and case studies on energy and
materials efficiency, guides on how to carry out waste assessments, and tools to assess a
business' current level of resource efficiency and map the life cycle of a product or service or
map out business' operations.

1
Source: Sustainability Victoria, as at http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/services-andadvice/business/energy-
and-materials-efficiency-for-business/resources-and-tools, as on 8th February, 2016.

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We also provide information on other relevant Victorian and Federal Government programs,
and programs offered by non-government organisations such as industry associations,
including programs suitable for small businesses (less than 20 full time employees).

Case studies

Learn how other businesses have improved their resource efficiency, resulting in reduced
operating costs and environmental impacts.

• Case studies - http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/services-and-

advice/business/energyand-materials-efficiency-for-business/case-studies

Energy efficiency

Improving energy efficiency is one of the most cost-effective ways a business can use to
manage rising energy costs reduce your environmental impacts.

• Energy efficiency - http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/services-

andadvice/business/energy-and-materials-efficiency-for-business/resources-
andtools/energy-efficiency

Materials efficiency

Material input and waste management costs for businesses can be as high as 50% of a
business' revenue. This means that there a big savings available to businesses through
materials efficiency.

• Materials efficiency - http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/services-

andadvice/business/energy-and-materials-efficiency-for-business/resources-
andtools/materials-efficiency

Life cycle management

Learn how life cycle management (LCM) can benefit your business financially by helping to
reduce resource (electricity, gas, water, materials) and waste costs, while reducing your
exposure to environmental risks.

• Life cycle management - http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/services-

andadvice/business/energy-and-materials-efficiency-for-business/resources-and-
tools/lifecycle-management

Other resources

Here you'll find general resources to help your business become more holistically
sustainable, a link to download a listing of other resource efficiency funding programs
available for Victorian businesses, including those for small businesses, and third party
resources.
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 • Other resources - http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/services-
andadvice/business/energy-and-materials-efficiency-for-business/resources-and-
tools/otherresources

Evaluate alternative solutions to workplace environmental issues

Once you have you gathered enough information on possible solutions to your
environmental or energy efficiency issues, you will need to evaluate and then select the best
solution.

You can evaluate the solutions by comparing how each solution can improve the
environmental or energy efficiency issue. For example, you might evaluate how a short-term
increase in the cost of purchasing renewable building materials will improve the long-term
environmental sustainability or energy efficiency of your organisation.

You can then select a solution that is aligned with budgetary constraints or efficiency targets
specified by your organisation, government guidelines or industry best practice.

You can evaluate alternative solutions for environmental sustainability and energy efficiency
issues by:

• identifying the area to be improved

• analysing possible solutions
• selecting a solution aligned with organisational policy or best practice.

Identifying the area to be improved

The first step in evaluating alternative solutions to your environmental sustainability and
energy efficiency issues is to identify the area to be improved.

You can identify areas to be improved by investigating your current work practices. Once you
have completed your investigation, you will have prepared a document or list of the areas to
be improved. If you are not sure how to investigate the current work practices of your
organisation, work your way through the Investigate topic.

You will then be able to use this list to help you analyse possible solutions. For example,
procedure 3.2 Environmental and sustainability benchmarks has been identified as an area to
be improved.

Analysing possible solutions

Each area to be improved within your organisation is different and you may find that you
need to analyse several possible solutions before you select the solution that is right for you.

We will now look at examples of possible solutions.

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Example – Green purchasing strategies

Consider introducing green purchasing strategies into your current purchasing procedures.

If you are not sure how green purchasing strategies can be introduced into your
organisation, work your way through the Investigate topic.

Green purchasing strategies can be used to influence your supply chain and external
providers.

For example, you could introduce purchasing strategies that specify the supply of
environmentally sustainable or resource efficient materials on your supplier tender
documentation.

Example – Water efficiency

Consider introducing water efficiency processes into your current organisational procedures.
Water efficiency processes can help you reduce your use of water in the office and on the
work site.

For example, you could introduce water efficiency processes that specify greywater be used
to wash tools and equipment on the work site or water the garden at the head office.

Remember, your water efficiency processes will need to meet the minimum requirements
specified by relevant environmental legislation.

Example – Waste management

Consider introducing waste management processes into your current organisational

procedures.
The goal of waste management processes is to minimise and if possible, avoid generating
waste.

The waste hierarchy is one approach to waste management that promotes waste avoidance
and minimisation.

The waste hierarchy describes methods of waste management, from the most preferable to
the least.

You could apply principles from the waste hierarchy in your own organisation by avoiding
the purchase of building materials with excessive packaging that would be simply discarded.
An alternative would be to minimise your waste by reusing or recycling office paper,
computers and building materials.

How do you know what ‘best practice’ sustainability is as it applies to your workplace? You
can find out by:

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• having some background knowledge of sustainability principles (e.g., you know that
using less fuel in a car is better for the environment as there are less greenhouse gas
emissions) • undertaking research via the Internet, journals or books • asking organisations or
government departments for information (for example, the Australian Greenhouse Office
(http://www.greenhouse.gov.au ) or
• Reviewing case studies of other organisations to see what they have done. The
Resources Section provides links to websites, toolkits and organisations that may be able to
assist.

Always remember when you are undertaking research that what might be considered a
sustainable option elsewhere may not be so in Australia. For example, if a product is only
available in Europe, the environmental impact of the product being shipped to Australia for
use would need to be considered.

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Best practice can often be defined by looking at your own policies and procedures. If your
company has an environmental policy or accredited environmental management system,
these documents will provide information on your company’s ‘best practice’ in its aims and
objectives.

The following provides some basic background information on best practice sustainability
practices related to the type of work undertaken by the business services industry.

Green office
’Green Office‘ is a management system that promotes environmental efficiency in an
administrative-type office. It includes such aspects as:
• office equipment selection and use;
• paper selection and use;
• energy usage; and • general purchasing.

Green office practices could include:

• Considering energy efficiency, consumables and packaging when you purchase new
office equipment. For example, a photocopier purchased for $4,000, that is left on
continuously for seven years over its two-million copies life, may consume $1,500 of
electricity, $24,000 of paper and $15,000 of toner (NCS Swinburne, 2005)
• Reducing paper usage by using electronic document storage, printing only when
necessary and purchasing recycled paper
• Considering packaging and recycled products for every purchase – for example, you
can purchase mouse mats made from recycled car tyres, pens made from car parts and
pencils that do not have a plastic coating and you can use paper clips instead of staples so
that they can be reused and paper more easily recycled.

Australia uses 1.5 million toner cartridges per year releasing 1500 tonnes of non-
biodegradable waste (enough to cover the MCG to a depth of 1 metre.

The average organisation which does not have efficient paper recycling techniques
uses the equivalent of 20 large rainforest trees per day.

A desktop computer, used eight hours per day, generates over 600 kilograms of greenhouse
gases each year.

Activity 6

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Activity 6

Discuss and/or list some ‘green office’ practices that you already do in your
workplace. Can you think of any others? List them.

Set efficiency targets

Determining the improvement targets for each area to be improved is the final step in the
improvement target setting process. By analysing the information you have gathered on
solutions to your environmental and energy efficiency issues, you will be able to set
improvement targets for your organisation.
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The analysis will also help you to determine a type of corrective action you can apply to your
current work practice. Modifying an existing procedure is one way you can apply a corrective
action.

You can use a preliminary action plan to help you set improvement targets. The preliminary
action plan will usually describe:

• areas within your organisation to be improved

• corrective actions to be applied to the areas
• risks or opportunities of the improved work practice
• targets or goals of the corrective actions
• stakeholders required to help implement the action plan.

Once you have completed your preliminary action plan, you can use it to trial corrective
actions or present your findings to other employees. You may also choose to modify your
preliminary action plan, before you implement all of the corrective actions throughout your
organisation.

You can set improvement targets by completing a preliminary action plan. A preliminary
action plan describes the actions you will implement to improve the environmentally
sustainable and energy efficient performance of your organisation.

Area to be improved
The Area to be improved section of the preliminary action plan is where you list the area
within your organisation that has been identified to be improved. You can identify areas to
be improved by investigating your current work practices.

Action to be taken

The Action to be taken section of the preliminary action plan is where you describe the
action to be taken to improve the area. If you are not sure how to determine the action to be
taken, continue to work your way through the Set topic. For this example, a modification to a
purchasing procedure is the best corrective action.

You only need to record the best possible corrective action for each area to be improved.

Potential risks or opportunities

The Potential risks or opportunities section of the preliminary action plan describes the
potential advantages or disadvantages of the corrective action. Considering both sides of the
corrective action will help you determine if the action can be implemented in your
organisation.

For example, procedure 3.2 Environmental and sustainability benchmarks requires a

corrective action that modifies a current procedure. The potential risk of modifying the
procedure is an increase in the cost of purchasing goods from the supplier. Modifying the

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current procedure can also create opportunities for the organisation to adopt
environmentally sustainable and energy efficient work practices.

Remember, when you are considering the potential risks and opportunities of a corrective
action, you will need to think about how either relate to your organisational policy.

How to set improvement targets

The target section of the preliminary action plan is where you outline a target for your
corrective action.

When specifying targets you should make sure that the targets are measurable and
achievable. You can do this by specifying an amount and a date of completion. Specifying
targets in this way will make it easier for you to effectively monitor targets over time.

For this example, the timeline for this target is a 70% reduction of the purchase of building
materials manufactured from non-renewable resources over the next 12 months.

Stakeholders

The Stakeholders section of the preliminary action plan describes the people within your
organisation who are responsible for making sure the corrective actions are carried out.

For this example, Kris Lee from purchasing is the stakeholder for this corrective action. Kris
will make sure that the green purchasing guidelines are specified correctly in the procedure
3.2 Environmental and sustainability benchmarks.

Generally speaking, the manager of your organisation will be responsible for allocating
stakeholders. You can always advise management about the person you think would best
perform the role.

Activity 7

When you are setting targets, you will need to consider a number of factors, such as cost,
return on investment, availability of technology, amount of staff time to implement the
practice, etc. Can you think of other influencing factors? List them.

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Activity 7

Source and use appropriate techniques and tools to assist in achieving

efficiency targets

The first step in implementing performance improvement strategies in your organisation is to

source tools and techniques. Tools and techniques include a number of different methods,
plans, processes and practices and apply to a range of different stakeholders. These
stakeholders include management, employees, subcontractors, suppliers and clients.

You can use tools and techniques to implement performance improvement strategies in your
organisation. These can be sourced internally within your organisation or externally.

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For example, a construction company has been contracted to complete a government
project. The company decided to look externally for tools and techniques and found they
could participate in an environmental certification process, which encourages staff to choose
environmentally sustainable products. This process will help the company improve their
current performance and reputation as a company with environmentally sustainable work
practices.

In your organisation you may wish to implement a waste reduction plan on your work site.
You would need to determine the correct tool or technique for informing everyone on site of
the waste management policy and the waste reduction targets that have been set.

To meet the targets set in your preliminary action plan you will need to implement
performance improvements. To do this you will need to source tools and techniques. You will
need to document these tools and techniques in an implementation plan to help you
monitor performance outcomes.

Tools and techniques

The various tools and techniques that can help in achieving targets are divided into two
categories: internal and external.

Internal tools include:

• delivery of environmental education programs, workshops and inductions

• development of improvement procedures, checklists, processes and measurement
tools.

External tools include:

• implementation of a certification process (processes that assist staff in choosing

greener products)
• ongoing training by industry specialists. Internal and external techniques

Internal techniques include:

• review and analysis of current environmental site management plans, measurements

and targets
• meetings, discussions and forums with team members and stakeholders to develop
best practice
• review of documents, reports and data on current resource usage.
• identifying 'green purchasing' opportunities
• recommendations of sustainable products and practices.
• building a Green Team
• examining quotes and tenders for environmental and sustainability specifications.

External techniques include:

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 • management forums and meetings with key industry associations
• engaging external environmental consultants to assist with achieving targets.

When sourcing tools and techniques it is important to determine which practices, processes
or methods are relevant to your work area or work site.

Choosing the right tools and techniques

Not all tools and techniques will be relevant to every target in your preliminary action plan.
You will need to determine the most appropriate tools and techniques for each target.

For example, your preliminary action plan states you have set an improvement target of
purchasing 10% green energy from suppliers.

The tools and techniques relevant for this improvement target are:

• review of documents, reports and data on current resource usage.

• meetings, discussions and forums with team members and stakeholders to develop
best practice.
• recommendations of sustainable products and practices.
• development or improvement of procedures, checklists, processes and measurement
tools.

Document tools and techniques – Technique 1

Next you will need to document your tools and techniques in an implementation plan.

For each tool or technique you will need to provide a communication method that is best
suited to that tool or technique.

Let's look at a technique we selected earlier.

Technique 1: Review of documents, reports and data on current resource usage.

Communication method: Review electricity bills.

For this target, reviewing electricity bills will show the amount of energy currently being
purchased.

Document tools and techniques – Technique 2

Let's look at the second technique we selected earlier.

Technique 2: Meetings, discussions and forums with team members and stakeholders to
develop best practice.

Communication method: Arrange an internal department meeting.

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Organise a meeting with the accounts department to discuss the target.

For this target you should consult the accounts department. The accounts people had
determined that the cost of green power was adding an additional amount to the electricity bill
and had decided to only purchase 5%.
Document tools and techniques – Technique 3

Let's look at the third technique we selected earlier.

Technique 3: Recommendations of sustainable products and practices.

You can encourage the accounts department to buy into the strategy of purchasing more green
energy by giving them examples of other companies and their sustainable practices.

Communication method: Implement professional development on sustainable products and

practices.

Some companies like the ANZ Bank publish their targets on their website. This is part of their
corporate social responsibility strategy.

If Letang Constructions is seen to be actively reducing its footprint more customers may choose
to use the company, especially those customers looking for a greener product.

This increase in customer numbers may offset Letang Constructions' increased electricity bill.

Document tools and techniques – Technique 4

Let's look at the fourth technique we selected earlier.

Technique 4: Development or improvement of procedures, checklists, processes and

measurement tools.

For this target, you could provide the accounts department with an improved 'Green Energy'
purchase procedure, stating that a minimum of 10% of 'Green Energy' was to be purchased.

Communication method: Developing and implementing improved procedures, practices or

processes or implementing a certification process.

This plan will show the relevant people that by using these tools and techniques the targets are
achievable and that they can give the organisation an improved reputation. This can be
promoted in the organisation's sustainability report.

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Apply continuous improvement strategies to own work area of
responsibility, including ideas and possible solutions to communicate to
the work group and management

Continuous improvement strategies are ongoing efforts to achieve best practice. In the
construction industry, best practice is driven by legislation, compliance, improved reputation,
cost savings and the needs of your client.

There are a number of key continuous improvement strategies that form best practice. These
include:

• demonstrating leadership with a focus on your client

• building relationships and working in teams
• striving for effective organisational systems and standards
• creating employee and workplace management policies and practices • identifying
and implementing innovative and new technologies
• setting superior time, cost, quality and service outcomes.

In all cases these strategies require strong communication within all areas of the organisation
and with external stakeholders.

How to apply continuous improvement strategies to your work site

To apply continuous improvement strategies to your work site, you will need to make certain
efforts to achieve best practice in your organisation.

Putting in place clear and defined strategies for particular tasks will assist in improving
performance and achieving targets.

Occupational health and safety

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The Australian construction industry has applied continuous improvement strategies to a
number of fundamental issues within the industry. One example is occupational health and
safety, which is now seen as an excellent example of best practice. The positive results were
achieved by measuring current practices, working with employees to develop an
improvement plan, gaining feedback, implementing clear communication channels and
providing programs such as the 'site induction process' to educate employees about their
occupational health and safety responsibilities on site.

Applying continuous improvement strategies to environmental work practices will assist an

organisation to:

• meet their obligations with compliance with their own standards and industries
• meet clients' needs • improve their reputation
• reduce costs.

Having an overarching continuous improvement strategy will help you to improve the quality
of the product you produce or the service you provide. A strategy is generally made up of
goals and targets.

Any processes and procedures you put in place to help you meet and exceed these targets
will also require fine tuning over time and will need to be reviewed in order to find out if the
goals and targets can be improved.

In order to improve upon your set targets or goals you will have to develop your own
continuous improvement model.

There are many continuous improvement models to choose from so it is up to you and your
organisation to find one that suits.

Here is a simple model with four steps:

1. Identify client needs.

2. Develop or modify product.
3. Establish and monitor the quality processes.
4. Evaluate product's effectiveness.

Identify client needs

To meet the client's needs you may need to modify a current practice or process.

For example, a client may want excess building materials recycled or reused. Other times it
may not be so clear what your clients want, so you may have to carry out some market
research. For example, if you want to adopt sustainable workplace practices you may need to
ask your clients what they're looking for in a sustainable or green builder.

Develop or modify the product

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What type of product do you want to provide? Is it a greener product? Do you want to
provide a more sustainable product? This may mean you will have to develop an entirely new
product or perhaps modify an existing workplace practice.

For example, your client may have given feedback on the amount of waste generated on site.
This means you will need to look at waste holistically to see if you can reduce, reuse or
recycle your waste, and then develop an improvement strategy to deal with waste.

To develop an improvement strategy or procedure you will need to consult your employees.
Employees deal with waste everyday and are crucial to a waste management strategy's
success.

An example of an improvement strategy to reduce, recycle, and reuse waste could be to have
separating bins on all work sites where building materials can be placed.

The metals and timber would be sold to a recycling centre. The concrete would be crushed
and reused on the work site, the PVC pipes, cardboard and plastics would be sent for
recycling.

Establish and monitor quality processes – Establish

In order to continuously improve your product, you will need to establish and monitor these
quality processes. For example, to create a process for managing waste you would need to:

• look at the way waste is sorted on the work site

• improve the process
• set targets for waste reduction, reuse and recycling
• review the process over time.

Establish and monitor quality processes – Monitor

Monitoring processes helps keep quality high. To implement new processes and procedures
effectively and for their integration into the workplace you will need to:

• review existing processes

• allow staff to help with the development of these processes • communicate any
new processes to staff
• provide any training required.

Review the process

You will also need to review the new or existing procedure or process. This can be weekly,
monthly and even yearly. Allowing staff to participate in how the processes and procedures
are developed and monitored will help you with establishing a review timeframe.

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After reviewing a process or procedure, such as waste management, you may find there
could still be room for improvement. You may choose to implement a new method (eg a
checklist) to monitor waste. You could also have these processes or procedures audited both
internally and externally to make sure your organisation is compliant with any set targets or
regulations.

When looking at a process or procedure, such as waste management, you may have to
review your processes in line with the environmental regulations you have set and those set
by industry. You may also have to review your purchasing strategy to see if you can reduce,
reuse or recycle the waste produced from packaging and other elements of waste.

Communicate the strategy

Part of establishing and monitoring processes is to communicate the strategy or process to

all key personnel, subcontractors and site workers.

Once you have developed a checklist or procedure you will also need to give it a name so
that it is easily recognised by your employees.

These processes and procedures to help implement the strategy should be communicated in
the induction process with subcontractors and employees. You will also have to ensure there
is a procedure put in place to trigger the usage of the process or procedure. This could be
employee feedback, client feedback, industry advice or data that shows a sharp increase in
waste disposal bills. You might also want to place the process on the back of the checklist.

Improvement checklists will also help staff to manage their work and should be provided to
staff during the induction process, much like you would provide access to the risk register
and other important forms.

Training
You may need to provide ongoing training and education programs on the process or
procedure you introduce. This training should be provided to the project manager, site
manager, site supervisor, subcontractors or employees. The training should include details of
the procedure and why the procedure is put in place – for example to reduce costs and to
meet compliance.

Evaluate product's effectiveness

Finally there needs to be an evaluation of the process. This could be done with a client or an
employee survey on the effectiveness of the product. This will help to inform future
performance by providing feedback on ways to improve your processes. Having your staff
evaluate the process will also help your improvement. If the evaluation is not positive you
will need to go back to the client and re-evaluate their needs.

In the case of waste management you may incorporate this into a survey to clients and ask
them about how they felt about the way waste was treated on site.

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Was the waste recycled, reused or reduced effectively? If the feedback is negative, then you
may want to ask clients how they would like the waste to be treated. If the feedback is
positive, then you might want to set higher targets for the following year.

Implement and integrate environmental and resource efficiency

improvement plans for own work group with other operational activities

An environmental and resource efficiency improvement plan (EREP) is a key part of the
performance improvement process. It is a document that assesses resource usage and waste
generation for an organisation. It does this by clearly defining measurements, objectives and
targets.

An EREP supports the organisation's efforts to improve the way resources are used. The
organisation can achieve direct cost savings in a short timeframe by implementing actions
that achieve environmental benefits. The improvements can often be made without major
capital expenditure.

Environmental and resource efficiency improvement plans complement your continuous

improvement strategy. They help you set, implement and monitor your resource usage over
a period of time.

An environmental and resource efficiency improvement plan

Before we find out how to integrate environmental and resource efficiency improvement
plans, we are going to look more closely at the environmental and resource efficiency plan
(EREP). The EREP contains two parts:

• A management approach to resource efficiency

• A resource efficiency site assessment plan
(RESP).

A management approach to resource efficiency

The management approach to resource efficiency section of the EREP states the intentions of
the plan.

• Why is the improvement plan being implemented?

• Who are the key personnel involved are and where will the plan apply?
• What are the current benchmarks and new targets?
• What is the timeframe for the implementation of the actions?
• What are the monitoring goals?

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A resource efficiency site assessment plan

The resource efficiency site assessment plan section of the EREP assesses the organisation's
resource usage and provides an action list for implementation and integration into the
organisation's current operational activities. A resource efficiency site assessment plan
(RESP):

• shows the overall site resource usage and waste generation

• identifies the areas that use the majority of resources and generate the most amount
of waste
• identifies opportunities for resource efficiency improvement
• analyses the impact of the opportunities for resource efficiency improvement •
provides potential cost savings from implementing the improvements
• provides a list of actions for implementation.

Internal people

Resource usage and waste generation information can be collected by doing a site
assessment and also by talking to the people using the resources and generating the waste.
These people could be internal to the organisation or external.

To get the best possible information, you will need to talk to relevant people at each step of
the site assessment. These people could include other employees, site managers,
environment manager, purchasing manager and so on.

For example you could talk to the employees on site working with plasterboards. If the
correct sizes are not ordered there could be large amounts of offcuts and wastage. An
employee perspective will reveal the amount of wastage and whether or not the purchasing
officer needs to be consulted.

External people

Depending on the nature of the organisation, external people could also be contributing to
resource usage and/or waste generation. These people could include tenants, contractors,
subcontractors, energy and water retailers and service and equipment suppliers. These
people could be part of the assessment and could also help in providing suggestions and
action items for your implementation.

The actions list from the site assessment plan should be integrated with other operational
activities, as this will assist in improving environmental performance.

Integrating environmental and resource efficiency improvement plans

Step 1: Site assessment

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Let's assume you have completed a resource efficiency site assessment plan at your
workplace. This plan identified that 100% of all computers, printers, scanners and lights were
being left on at the completion of the business day.

The plan highlighted the costs and environmental effects of leaving these on and
recommended that all computers, printers, scanners and lights should be turned off at the
completion of the business day.

This assessment allows for a new target to be developed. Target: 80% of electronic devices
are to be shut down when not in use.

Step 2: Action list

You can make a list of actions for resource efficiency from the results of the assessment.

Based on the assessment you decided that the best action is to develop and implement an
office training program that looks at energy usage and the impact of leaving the lights and
equipment on.

Step 3: Integrate the action

The next step is to find ways to integrate the action into the organisation's everyday
operational activities.

In this case we need to find the best way to integrate the office training program.

Integration methods could include the following:

• Delivery of environmental education programs, workshops and inductions: A training

program could be offered as part of continuous improvement. This would make all
staff aware of what is currently happening within the organisation and what could be
done.

• Building a Green Team: Creating a team of people who take ownership of the training
program and educate others within the organisation. The team could provide regular
feedback and updates on the program's efficiency.

Step 4: Monitor the improvement

It is important to continually monitor your plan throughout the improvement process. For
example, you could review the plan three months after it has been implemented or the office
manager could monitor staff to make sure they follow the training that was provided.

If a Green Team was established it would be the Green Team job to monitor staff and report
back to the manager.

The report could include:

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 • a questionnaire sent out to all training session attendees effectiveness
• a monthly review of the office's energy use to evaluate the impact of the training.

This data could be compiled in a final report and compared annually against the previous 12
months' data, with further improvements made as required.

Environment and Resource Efficiency Plans (EREPs)2

The increasing use of our natural resources is putting pressure on the earth’s systems.
Developed countries typically use more than their fair share of resources; if everyone on
earth used resources at the rate that we do in Australia, we would need four planets to
sustain us .

Moving towards the sustainable use of these resources will reduce this pressure and enable
the earth’s systems to better cope with the development of all nations. Addressing this
challenge is a shared responsibility of governments, business and the wider community. If a
truly sustainable solution is to be achieved, all members of the community must play their
part.

The Victorian Government is committed to a better quality of life for current and future
generations, and will pursue this commitment by ensuring that Victoria’s economy, society
and environment are developed in a balanced way. The government’s sustainability vision, as
outlined in Our Environment Our Future – Sustainability Action Statement 2006, includes
objectives such as: • improving our energy efficiency
• less waste and increased resource efficiency • increased water, energy and
materials efficiency.

This builds on the vision expressed in previous statements such as Growing Victoria Together
and The Sustainable State that Victoria will be a state where:
• protecting the environment for future generations is built into everything we do
• innovation leads to thriving industries generating high-quality jobs.

As part of the earlier policy statements, the Victorian Greenhouse Strategy ensures that
Victoria plays its part in national and international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. Under the strategy, the EPA Industry Greenhouse Program has required Victorian
industries to take costeffective action to improve their energy efficiency and reduce
greenhouse gas emissions. This program, involving EPA Licence holders and works approval
applicants, provided significant financial benefits to industry while achieving greenhouse gas
reductions of over 1.2 million tonnes of CO2-e per year.

At the same time, a range of voluntary programs run by various government agencies have
been providing significant financial returns to companies engaged in activities to improve
their materials, energy and water use efficiencies.

2
Source: EPA Victoria, as at http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/business-and-industry/lower-your-impact/ereps, as on
22nd February, 2015.

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EPA Victoria has now developed the Environment and Resource Efficiency Plans (EREP)
program to enable the state’s largest energy and water users to achieve the available
financial benefits that will be found through assessing their resource use efficiency (energy,
water and materials use and waste generation).

EPA Victoria has developed the Environment and Resource Efficiency Technical Toolkit, in
partnership with Sustainability Victoria (SV), to help businesses comply with the EREP
program. The Toolkit will also help other businesses that are concerned about resource
efficiency to embrace and integrate environmentally sustainable practices into their
operations.

Benefits for your business

Efforts to improve resource efficiency and reduce waste will deliver more than just
environmental benefits. Such efforts can also enhance business competitiveness by reducing
costs, improving risk management, increasing the confidence of investors, insurers and
financial institutions, and by improving relationships with local communities.

The pursuit of resource efficiency and triple bottom line (economic, environmental and
social) outcomes is an increasingly important management strategy for many businesses.
Pursuing resource efficiency objectives helps to ensure business sustainability and provides
business opportunities as well as benefits to the environment. The case study examples
below illustrate the benefits that progressive businesses have already obtained.

The adoption of resource efficiency best practice will be an important factor in maintaining
the future competitiveness of Victorian enterprises and securing the long-term sustainability
of Victoria’s economy and the environment. Measures to improve resource efficiency –
especially those promoting the development and use of energy, water and waste-efficient
technologies, practices and processes – will help Victorian commerce and industry compete
in the national and international marketplace.

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Introduction to the EREP program
The EREP program was established by the Environment Protection (Amendment) Act 2006 and
the details are set out in the Environment Protection (Environment and Resource Efficiency
Plans) Regulations 2007 (‘the Regulations’). A brief summary of the program follows.

The EREP program focuses attention on opportunities to economise on energy, water and
waste in production and commercial activities. It is designed to deliver bottom-line economic
benefit to business while also achieving positive environmental and social outcomes, by
applying some fundamental principles.

1. Financial viability of actions

While the implementation of projects demonstrated to have a payback of three years or less
is a mandatory feature of the program, participants are encouraged to identify and develop a
range of financially viable efficiency projects in their plans. An integrated approach to
identifying and assessing opportunities, as outlined below and further detailed in other
modules of this Toolkit, will increase the likely benefits that can be obtained from such a
process.

2. Resource efficiency
Sites that trigger the threshold for energy or water must participate in the program and
address energy and water consumption and waste generation at their site. Addressing all

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three resource streams is a key feature of the program and plans should consider the
impacts and opportunities that projects have on a business-wide basis.

The EREP Guidelines and this Toolkit promote an integrated approach to resource efficiency,
recognising that an examination of business systems across a range of resource categories
can yield greater overall results. This approach also makes any potential conflicts between
the resource impacts of actions transparent to decision makers, which does not always occur
in singleresource programs.

The Toolkit includes an assessment procedure that EREP participants are encouraged to use
when examining their resource consumption. It adopts an integrated approach to the
relationship between energy, water and waste and guides users towards whole-of-business
environmental resource efficiency management.

3. Plan, do, review

The EREP program requires businesses to register, develop a plan, implement that plan over
a number of years and report progress annually. EPA recognises that flexibility is required in
the development and implementation of plans, enabling projects to be scheduled within
established investment time frames and allowing proper consideration of projects that
require proving up over several years. A flexible approach will also provide the capacity to
revisit payback calculations as conditions and technologies change.

A more cyclical ‘plan, do, review’ approach is outlined in the Toolkit to encourage more
regular monitoring and updating of plans as opportunities and circumstances change. This
approach also allows an action plan to be aligned with a continuous improvement approach
to environmental resource management.

The development of a successful plan will be assisted by:

• strong leadership and management commitment
• supportive policy and business systems
• quality data management processes
• broad involvement of a range of people from across the business
• clear communication of outcomes and ongoing priorities,

The Toolkit details how these can be developed. EPA will assist EREP program participants to
strive for best practice resource management by providing tools and information that
support a wholeof-business approach to environmental resource efficiency. This Toolkit is
one of the key support tools.

While the EREP program is a requirement for all large energy and water users, EPA
recognises that other businesses can also benefit from the financial and environmental
savings, and ultimately the competitive advantage, of efficiently managing resource use. We
encourage businesses generally to consider voluntary participation in the EREP program. This
can be done by using the support resources available on our website or by contacting the
EREP project team to access the online reporting system and tools.
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Basic EREP program requirements
The EREP program requirements are set out in the Regulations, and detailed information
about how to comply with these requirements is provided in the EREP Guidelines. The
following is a brief summary of the key requirements.

The EREP program applies to any business that uses at least 100 terajoules (TJ) of energy or
120 megalitres (ML) of water at its premises in any financial year from 2006–07 onwards.
Such businesses are required to:
• enrol for the program by registering with EPA Victoria
• undertake an integrated resource efficiency site assessment to identify, assess and
prioritise improvement opportunities
• submit an Environment and Resource Efficiency Plan (EREP) (comprising all
opportunities with a
• simple payback period of three years or less) to EPA for approval
• implement the actions in the approved EREP according to the implementation
schedule
• monitor implementation progress and report annually to EPA.

Resource efficiency site assessment

What is a resource efficiency site assessment?
A resource efficiency site assessment (RESA) aims to:
1. quantify overall site resource consumption and waste generation
2. identify the activities that use the majority of resources and generate the majority of waste
3. quantify resource consumption and waste generation for each significant activity
4. identify opportunities for resource efficiency improvement
5. assess the business-wide resource efficiency impacts, the implementation cost, and the
annual cost savings that would be achieved from implementing each opportunity
6. prioritise the list of actions to be implemented so that an action plan can be developed.

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The RESA procedure outlined in this module can be applied by any business to assess its
resource use and identify opportunities to improve the efficiency of that use. The
opportunities can then be assessed to determine their financial viability, and prioritised for
the purpose of implementation.

Unlike single-dimensioned assessments (e.g., energy or water assessment), a RESA evaluates

all inputs and all outputs of an activity together. This will provide a better understanding of
the relationships between various inputs and outputs, and will better inform decisions on
how to optimise operations and minimise overall environmental impact.

Note for EREP participants

We recognise that some sites may have already undertaken a range of single resource
efficiency assessments relating to one or more of the water, waste and energy streams. These
assessments are valuable inputs into the development of your EREP. However, it is possible
that some of the assessments or actions identified require closer analysis in order to
understand the impact on broader resource efficiency, as well as to identify a wider range of
opportunities. In these instances, the RESA procedure is a suitable tool that can be adapted
and applied.
Table 2.1 includes some of the common types of materials, energy, water and waste that an
organisation might encounter in its operations.

Table 2.1: Scope for assessment of resource us e and waste generation

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Why undertake a RESA?
An organisation may undertake a RESA for a number of reasons, including to:
• more accurately assign the cost of resources and wastes to products/services
• identify opportunities for savings in resource consumption and waste generation
• optimise a process/operation
• better inform its business decisions.

A RESA may be undertaken for the whole premises or for a specific process, operation or
activity.

What are the steps involved in a RESA?

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A RESA has two main stages: the planning stage and the assessment stage. There are a
number of steps involved in each stage, which can be further broken down into tasks. The
key stages and steps are outlined in Figure 2.1.

How long will it take to complete a RESA?

The time to complete a RESA will depend on a number of factors including:
• whether any work regarding resource efficiency has previously been undertaken at the
premises or within the organisation (e.g., at other similar operations)
• the availability of information
• the availability of staff and funding
• the complexity of operations
• the experience and knowledge of staff at the premises or within the organisation (e.g., at
other similar operations)
• the desired level of accuracy.

If an organisation is starting from scratch it may take up to six months to complete a RESA.
However, if an organisation has been working to improve resource efficiency over several
years, the RESA may only require that the existing assessments and action plans are updated
and integrated into one, which may only take a few weeks or a month.

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What are the outcomes of a RESA?
A RESA will help an organisation to develop an action plan that will deliver savings in
resource consumption, waste generation and the associated costs. In addition, those
involved in the RESA process will gain a greater understanding of how the organisation’s
operations, resource use and waste generation are related, which can provide significant
benefit to the organisation. The RESA can also enable better communication with employees
and other stakeholders on resource efficiency.

Undertaking a RESA is just one step that an organisation can take to improve its
management of resources and wastes. The benefits that can be achieved will be maximised
when this assessment is undertaken as part of a resource management program

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What level of detail is required for a RESA?
A RESA requires you to ‘map’ and calculate the resource use and waste generation for your
premises, or for a specific area or operation within your premises. Various steps in the
assessment procedure outlined in Figure 2.1 require quantities to be determined. In many
cases you will need to use estimation techniques, which will have an error associated with
them. However the more detail that can be applied to an assessment the lower the overall
error will become. In general, the level of detail required for a RESA is directly related to the
level of accuracy necessary for each step or task.

As you progress through the assessment the level of accuracy required will vary. For example,
the output of Step 4 will form the basis for the entire assessment so it is desirable to have a
high degree of accuracy and, therefore, a detailed assessment (e.g., meter readings) is
preferred.

In Steps 5 and 6 you may find that an iterative approach is most effective. You may start by
making rough estimates to determine where or for what activities the most significant
resource use occurs, or which potential actions are likely to generate the greatest savings. As
you progress through the procedure you may need to revise these estimates, using more
detailed analysis and information. This will increase the accuracy of estimates to a point
where it is sufficient to support a business case for an action. This will be particularly
important if significant capital investment is required.

How often do I need to undertake a RESA?

We recommend that once you complete your assessment you regularly maintain and
update the data and information used as its basis. It is particularly important to update data
when:
• establishing improved monitoring systems
• resource and/or waste disposal costs
change
• a major change in operations occurs.

We also recommend that a complete review of the RESA is undertaken and reported to
management every year. This should involve working through each task in the RESA – not
just those where estimates have been made – otherwise you may not fully take into account
changes in your operations or changes in technology.

For example, you should:

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• review operations to determine whether
any changes have occurred within the key
resource consuming and/or waste-
generating activities
• update data with new information: Š main
meter and sub-meter data
Š technical data
Š changes in activity frequency, hours of operation, work practices etc.
Š additional manual monitoring data (e.g., log sheets, maintenance records,
stocktake data)
• revise opportunity assessments with
updated data
• evaluate new technologies/opportunities •
prioritise actions and revise the action
plan.

Planning the assessment

Before starting the RESA it is important to undertake some preparatory work to ensure that
the assessment is completed within management’s required quality, budget and time
constraints. The three steps involved in the planning stage are outlined in Figure 3.1.

Step 1: Determine who will be responsible for the RESA

You will need to assign responsibility for completing the RESA. This person(s) may not
necessarily undertake the assessment personally but is responsible for managing the RESA
process. Similarly, this person(s) will not necessarily be responsible for implementing the
RESA actions but will be responsible for monitoring progress against the action plan.

When determining who should be responsible, you should consider who has the skills and
the authority to manage the process. This person will ideally have some understanding of
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resource use and waste generation at the premises as well as the ability to engage team
members and relevant managers in the process. If the RESA needs to be completed within a
set timeframe, the person should also have the ability to manage their own time as well as
influence the time of the other team members completing the assessment.

Step 2: Determine who will be involved in the RESA

First consider what information is needed to complete a RESA and the skills that will
therefore be required. A RESA requires a thorough assessment of resource use and waste
reduction opportunities and should be prepared by a team with the necessary qualifications
and expertise.

Employees
In order to obtain maximum value from your RESA, a range of people from across your
organisation should be involved in each step of the assessment. These people may include
sitebased managers and staff, as well as staff with organisation-wide responsibilities (such as
the national environment manager and purchasing officer – raw materials).

Relevant third parties

Depending on your operation, you may have third parties who use resources or generate
waste at your premises (for example tenants, contractors and joint venture employees). If this
is the case, you will need to consider how you will involve these third parties in your
assessment.

Raw material suppliers, energy and water retailers, waste contractors, service providers and
equipment suppliers can provide useful information throughout the assessment, including
identifying opportunities to reduce resource consumption and waste generation.

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External consultants
You may find that people within your organisation do not have all of the necessary skills to
undertake an assessment or those who have the skills are not available. In this case, the
outcome of your assessment is likely to be enhanced by the appointment of an appropriately
qualified consultant to work with you to complete some or all of the assessment steps.

However, to gain the most benefit from your RESA, it is important to remember that you (not
the consultant) are ultimately responsible for undertaking the RESA and implementing any
actions. You must retain ‘ownership’ of the RESA process.

Determine roles
Having identified who will be involved in the RESA you need to clearly define each person’s
role in completing the required tasks, so that everyone involved in the assessment
understands what is required of them and how much time they will need to make available.

This task is especially important if you engage a consultant. The consultant will help YOU
complete the RESA. They will need you to provide access to the relevant people to obtain the
information they require. You will still need to involve a cross-section of employees in the
assessment process in order to maximise the benefit to the organisation.

Benefits
Collecting general information regarding your organisation, your premises and its
operations will provide a context for your RESA and may highlight factors unique to your
operations that can impact on your resource efficiency.
Collecting information before you start the assessment could prove to be beneficial in:
• defining what resource efficiency means with respect to your operations
• understanding how resource efficiency and your site operations are inter-related
• understanding the similarities between your site and other sites within your organisation

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• developing an understanding of resource efficiency amongst staff members, tenants,
contractors etc.
• gaining input and ‘buy-in’ from key personnel at the premises (for example, staff, tenants or
contractors)
• identifying gaps in the premises’ data and knowledge relating to resource efficiency
• reducing the amount of time it takes to complete the RESA.

Existing information
You may have existing environmental management plans that include some of the
information required for the assessment.

You should also identify whether any previous work has been undertaken at your premises
(or similar sites within the organisation) in the area of resource efficiency and/or organisation
sustainability as this may:

• provide data that can be used in the identification of the key activities that use resources
and/or generate waste
• identify actions that have not been implemented and can be considered for inclusion in
your assessment
• stimulate ideas for reducing resource consumption and waste generation that can be
developed into actions.

In addition, you may find that your organisation and/or premises is participating in other
voluntary and/or mandatory resource efficiency programs, which may provide valuable
information for your assessment.

Undertaking the assessment

Steps 1 to 3 of the resource efficiency site assessment (RESA) were discussed in Section 3
under the
general heading of planning. The subsequent steps 4 to 8 cover the assessment stage of the
RESA.

The individual tasks required to complete these four steps are shown in Figure 4.1
below. The following sections provide some details of what may be involved in each
task.

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Step 4: Establish your resource use, waste generation and efficiency profile
The purpose of this step is to collect, analyse and establish baseline data for the
consumption of resources and generation of waste at your premises. This baseline data will
be used to identify an appropriate resource efficiency indicator, and together these will track
the efficiency gains that are achieved when you implement your action plan.

Task A: Collect data

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In order to undertake a resource efficiency site assessment we recommend that you collect
the following data:
• the quantity of resources consumed, by type, including:
raw materials, chemicals and packaging
energy (include load profile data if available)
water (include load profile data if available)
• the quantity of production or activity at the site, by type
• the quantity of waste generated, by type
• the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions associated with each input and output • where
possible, separately identify or estimate water usage for fire service testing.

Where available, the data should be collected for a minimum of a continuous 24-month
period and recorded on a monthly basis. Data over a 24-month time period will serve to
highlight any seasonal trends in your resource use and waste generation.

Task B: Analyse data

Most organisations should, as a minimum, monitor resource use and waste generation on a
monthly basis, with some streams monitored continuously (such as energy, water and some
materials).

Consider how resource consumption and waste generation vary with time and with the level
of activity at the premises. By having data for a two year period or longer you will be able to
identify patterns in the data. Look for the impact of seasonal factors and consider whether
any major changes in operations have affected the resource consumption and waste
generation profile for the premises. If the load data for energy and/or water is available you
should look for trends within a day, within a week and within a year, to identify both
similarities and changes in the load profiles. Figure 4.2 provides examples of profiles for
common resources.

You should compare your resource consumption and waste generation with a number of
different business activity indicators. This will help identify the best resource efficiency
indicator for your business.

Many industry sectors have indicators that are commonly used. Such indicators allow you to
compare your efficiency with other businesses.

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Task C: Establish the baseline period
The baseline data is what you will evaluate the resource efficiency gains against as you
implement your action plan. It is therefore preferable that the baseline period be set so that
it represents a typical year of operation at the premises and can be used for future
comparisons of your resource consumption and waste generation profile.

We recommend that you use a minimum of a continuous 12 month period as your baseline
period that does not start any earlier than 2 years before undertaking the assessment. You
may wish to use the financial year period that your organisation uses for other reporting
purposes, although you should always consider whether this will represent your future
operations. You may also choose a period greater than 12 months if this better represents
your typical resource use and waste generation.

You should provide an indication in your assessment as to whether the baseline data is
representative of typical operations at the site. If the baseline data is not representative, you
should indicate why and what you would expect the baseline data to be in a typical year of
operation (e.g., 10 per cent higher, 5 per cent lower) and the basis for this estimate.

Step 5: Identify and assess resource using and waste generating activities
The purpose of this step is to understand the key areas of resource use and waste generation
at your premises. Undertaking a RESA will highlight the activities and processes that
consume the most resources and/or generate most of the waste. This data analysis phase will
provide guidance on where to focus your efforts when identifying resource saving initiatives.

Task D: Identify resource using and waste generating activities

In order to identify the activities that are the major resource users and/or waste generators at
your premises, start by identifying all of the activities that use resources and generate waste.
You can do this through: • observation
• review of drawings
• collection of raw data
• talking to the relevant staff • review of relevant case studies.

Following this you should be able to make an educated guess as to which of these activities
are likely to have the greatest impact on resource use and waste generation.

The output of this step should be a map or diagram that shows the main areas at your site
and the resource inputs and product and waste outputs for each area. You may also list the
resourceusing and waste generating activities that occur in these areas on the diagram.

Task E: Estimate resource use and waste generation for the key activities
The individual resources used and wastes generated are often highly inter-dependent. For
example:
• some of the water used will be discharged as trade waste
• some of the raw materials/water used will be discharged as waste heat (evaporation, flare
gas)
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• some of the raw materials will have water as a component
• some of the chemicals used will have solids as a component (some suspended, some
dissolved) • some of the wastes generated will include water, chemicals, product, raw
materials and packaging materials as components.

We therefore recommend that you undertake an integrated mass and energy balance for the
entire premises. This should consider all inputs (such as water, raw materials, chemicals,
electricity and combustible fuels) and all outputs (such as product, trade waste,
commercial/industrial waste, prescribed waste, evaporation, waste heat and air emissions)
rather than trying to balance resources, water, energy and waste separately.

Mass and energy balances

The two key principles for estimating resource use and waste generation for a
premises are: sum (Individual activity resources /wastes) = Total resources/wastes and
sum(inputs) = sum(outputs)

That is, the sum of the resources used by the individual activities must equal the total of the
resources used by the premises. Similarly, for waste generation – the sum of wastes
generated by the individual activities must equal the total waste generated by the premises.
In addition, the sum of all of the energy or material inputs must equal the sum of all of the
energy or material outputs.

These principles hold for all applications (e.g., premises, a process or an activity) and are
often referred to as a balance or mass and energy balance. The approach follows the
principles of mass and energy conservation, which state that neither energy nor mass can be
created or destroyed, only transformed.

You will need to estimate the quantity of the inputs (resources) and the outputs (products
and wastes) for each major resource consuming and waste generating activity identified as
part of Task D. For some activities you may have sub-meter data that will provide you with
accurate information for some of the resources and/or wastes. However, for many activities
you will need to make an estimate based on engineering calculations. Where this is the case,
you should consider what factors can influence the resource usage/waste generation profile
of an activity and how this profile may vary throughout a day, over a week, and/or over a
year. Some outputs (such as evaporation and waste heat) will not be measured and it may be
difficult to calculate these quantities. These streams may be used to ‘balance’ the mass and
energy balance, although you should always consider whether the estimates are logical and
appropriate.

As you make each estimate you will account for more and more of the total resource use and
waste for the premises. Once your mass and energy balances account for 80 per cent of each
type of resource use and waste generation you will be able to identify the key activities at the
premises. This level of accuracy will be sufficient to begin the next phase of the assessment,
Step 6 (Identify, assess and prioritise resource efficiency actions).

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Where possible, existing data should be used, although you may find that installing sub-
meters or using additional manual data collection measures is required to accurately
complete your RESA. However, this does take time. These measures should be established
early in the RESA process, to ensure that your RESA can be completed within the required
timeframe.

Step 5 can be an iterative process. You may have to revisit Task D in order to account for 80
per cent of your resource use and/or waste generation in Task E.

Step 6: Identify, assess and prioritise resource efficiency actions

The purpose of this stage is to identify, assess and prioritise all actions that would improve
resource use efficiency and reduce waste generation at your premises. Having established
your resource use and waste generation baseline and assessed the key activities that
consume resources and generate waste, you will have developed an understanding of your
resource efficiency performance. This will provide a framework for identifying resource
efficiency opportunities and actions. Once you have completed this step you will be able to
document your action plan.

Task F: Identify actions that could reduce the quantity of resources consumed or waste
generated by an activity
Once you have identified the activities that account for the majority of your resource use
and/or waste generation you need to make an assessment as to whether these activities are
efficient in their resource use/waste generation.

In other words, ‘Why do we do it this way?’ and ‘Can we do it better?’

Preferred opportunities approach
As you assess each activity you should apply principles similar to those of the waste
hierarchy. Ask the question:
‘How can we avoid reduce reuse recycle recover switch
treat contain offset dispose of this resource or waste?’

The RESA should focus on the first five elements, as these will have more impact on your
resource efficiency. The lower elements only reduce the impact on the environment.

Methods for identifying opportunities

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There are a number of approaches you can use to identify resource efficiency opportunities.
It is recommended that you start with a combination of basic techniques such as:
• site walkthroughs • brainstorming
• five whys?
• root cause analysis (see the fishbone diagram technique shown in Figure GN2.3 of
Guidance Note
2)
• review of organisational policies and procedures
• case study reviews
• talking to relevant experts.

You can then further investigate your initial list of opportunities using more detailed
methods including:
• data analysis (such as trending, correlations and statistical process modelling)
• benchmarking/best practice assessment:
ŠŠ assess individual activities – not just the premises
• internet searches/literature review/research and development.

Developing actions from opportunities

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Once you have a list of opportunities you will then need to develop a series of specific
actions that can be implemented. These actions need to outline what it is you plan to do and
for what area you plan to do this. Table 4.1 includes some examples of actions that could be
implemented from an opportunity to ‘replace inefficient fixtures’.

Task G: Estimate the impact on resource consumption, waste generation and other
organisation parameters for each action
Once you have identified your resource efficiency actions you will need to determine the
potential savings in resources and waste and any other benefits/risks that may be associated
with implementing each action.

You will need to consider:

• ‘What will change if this action is implemented?’
• ‘How will this change impact on EACH TYPE of resource used and waste generated by this
activity?’
• ‘What will be the new resource use and waste generation profile for this activity?’

Impact on greenhouse gas emissions

Once you have estimated the impact the action will have on resource use and waste
generation it is recommended that you estimate the overall impact on the greenhouse gas
emissions or carbon footprint of your premises. Estimating GHG emissions for each action
will have several benefits:
• It will identify actions that do not result in a net carbon footprint reduction.
• It will allow you to estimate the financial savings that would be achieved if a carbon trading
scheme were introduced in Australia.
• It will provide input for prioritising actions (refer to Section 4.3.4 of this module).

Impact on wider operations

You should also estimate the impact the action may have on your wider operations (for
example down time, quality and maintenance frequency). This may highlight additional
savings that the action may achieve or identify some disadvantages that the action may
introduce, which may need to be addressed before the action can be implemented.
• ‘What other benefits/disadvantages might this action have?’

Task H: Estimate the ‘total’ cost savings and the implementation cost for each action In this
task you will estimate the ‘total’ cost savings that can be achieved if an action is
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implemented and the cost to implement the action. This is an extremely valuable exercise as
it will provide you with improved estimates for how much it actually costs to produce an
item/service.

The ‘total’ cost savings will not only include the purchase cost of the resources and the cost
to dispose of any waste but will also include savings in the ‘hidden’ costs such as treatment
costs, labour, maintenance, etc. For example, if you identified in Task G that an action would
increase productivity by two per cent or increase the frequency of maintenance inspections
per year by three fold, these additional savings/costs should also be included in your overall
savings estimate.

Similarly, when estimating the cost to implement an action you should consider not only the
purchasing and installation costs (including labour), but also other costs associated with
implementing the action, which may include:
• commissioning costs (including product write-off estimates)
• training costs
• any other fees that may be incurred (such as licensing costs).

When determining the overall cost to implement an action you should also investigate the
various funding options that may be available from external parties, including the Australian
and Victorian Governments, that can aid your resource efficiency projects.

Once the costs and savings information has been determined, you can calculate the simple
payback period for each action. Simple payback period is defined as:

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Over time, things will change within your operations and you may need to revisit this step to
update your estimates and assumptions.

Task I: Prioritise the list of actions

Your organisation may have an existing system for prioritising business initiatives, which
could be used to prioritise your actions. However, you are encouraged to use an approach
that looks at costs and benefits more broadly than just the payback period.

Not only will actions provide cost savings (economic benefits), they will most likely provide
other benefits such as increased employee wellbeing, satisfaction and productivity, company
reputation and corporate image. Your assessment of actions (task G) should have identified
some of these additional benefits/risks. You may even consider implementing actions that
will ‘cost’ the organisation money if they can be shown to have other significant
organisational benefits.

Multi-criteria analysis
We recommend that you use a multi-criteria based assessment tool to determine the priority
of your actions. A multi-criteria tool enables you to set the criteria that each action will be
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assessed against (for example, resource savings, waste reduction, GHG emissions and
payback periods). You may also choose to include other criteria, such as employee
satisfaction, employee wellbeing or corporate image depending on your organisation’s
values and objectives.

Whilst each criterion can be weighted equally, it is more common to assign weightings that
reflect your organisation’s objectives and values, or important local or regional issues (such
as water shortages).

Weightings usually add up to a total of 100.

To assess each action using a multi-criteria analysis tool you assign a ranking for each
criterion, based on either a calculated value (for example, resource savings, waste reduction,
GHG emissions, implementation costs and payback periods) or a qualitative value (corporate
image, other organisational benefits and risks rankings).

Once an action has a ranking for each criterion these values are summed together to
calculate the overall ‘priority’ score. The higher the value, the more likely that the action will
deliver significant reductions in resource use, waste generation, cost savings, or other
desirable benefits to the organisation.

When prioritising your list of opportunities you may also wish to consider whether the
organisation and/or premises have any short- or long-term plans which may affect your
ability to implement these actions, by including these as additional criteria. For example, a
scheduled plant or process shutdown may only occur every four years.

Another approach for prioritising actions may be to conduct a life-cycle analysis of an

activity, which will help optimise the environmental and economic benefits to be realised
from an action.

Step 7: Document your action plan

It is recommended that you list all identified actions according to their priority score, which
will form the basis of your action plan. Then you need to assign responsibility and a
timeframe for completion for each action. You should document the information used to
develop the plan for future reference.

Task J: Assign timeframes and responsibilities

Each action needs a timeframe for implementation (when it is going to be completed) and a
person who is responsible for implementation (who is going to ensure that the action is
completed). This should be undertaken with those who have responsibilities for the
implementation of actions. An example of a basic action plan is provided in Table 4.2.

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Where possible you should aim to complete those actions with the greatest priority (highest
overall score) first. You might consider using Table 4.3 as a guide for establishing timelines.

You must consider whether you have sufficient resources to be able to complete the actions
in the timeframe stated in your action plan. You should also consider how your action plan
will impact on, and integrate with, other organisation plans.

Task K: Document supporting information

Documenting the sources of information and data used as the basis of your assessment is an
extremely important task as this data will be required for inclusion in business cases and
potentially for the revision of product/service costs. Record this information within your
management systems to ensure full business knowledge of planned and completed resource
efficiency improvements.

As you progress through each step of the RESA make sure you take the time to record your:
• data sources
• assumptions and the basis for these assumptions
• methods
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• formulae etc.

Step 8: Monitor your action plan

Task L: Monitor action plan progress
The success of the assessment and action planning process will be determined by your ability
to monitor and track your progress in implementing the adopted actions. You should
regularly update your action plan to reflect any progress, delays or significant changes in the
implementation process, including identifying which actions are most successful, which
actions need to be reviewed, and if there are any new actions that should be included.

Monitoring should be done continuously, as it enables fine-tuning of the overall program

targets and enables you to intervene if necessary. Monthly monitoring can provide regular
and up-todate information on resource consumption and savings achieved and allows you to
quickly identify any issues.

You may wish to develop additional objectives for the plan’s success. This can be achieved by
identifying the areas of your organisation where resource efficiency should be prioritised,
and setting measures and targets for each of these. Assessments will establish performance
indicators and ongoing monitoring will show the effect of any actions that are implemented.
These measures can also be used to monitor the progress of your action plan.

Supervise and support team members to identify possible areas for

improved practices and resource efficiency in work area
Communication plan
Communication is an important key to successful implementation if your environmentally
sustainable work practices. Consider using a range of communication strategies to ‘get your
message out there’ to reach as many staff as possible. You should prepare a
‘Communication Plan’ for your implementation that identifies your communication
strategies. This could include such items as staff meetings, training sessions, leaflets,
posters, signage next to equipment as reminders, ‘switch off’ reminder labels on light
switches and regular email reminders to staff or departments. You could also ‘launch’ the
program with a special event, or link the program to an existing program or idea (for
example, casual Friday could be linked to a sustainable action that takes place every Friday).

A Communication Plan can assist your consideration of all the relevant communication
avenues. This Plan can be prepared to identify the people you need to inform and engage
with in your plans to make the workplace more sustainable. This includes all of the
stakeholders described in the previous sections, and documents how the communications
will take place, who will be responsible for actions, feedback and follow-up communications.
A sample Communication Plan is provided in Table 9.

Training plan

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New or altered workplace practices need to be introduced to employees and management in
a manner that maximises uptake. Your Communication Plan will help you determine the best
methods to communicate changes. If new skills or altered practices are required, you may
need to develop a training module, new or revised operating procedure or information
sheet. A Training Plan can assist you with planning the best training methods and could be
developed in a form similar to the Communication Plan provided as Table 9.

Communication strategies for successful implementation

Communication is the key to successful implementation of environmentally sustainable work
practices. This section provides tips on communicating with management, team members
and external stakeholders, including suppliers and customers or clients. Dr Bob Willard,
author of The Next Sustainability Wave: Building Boardroom Buy-in, sums up the issues with
communicating a sustainability message:
”Suppose you care about the state of the world, but you are not sure if your executive
colleagues share your values. You are uneasy about being dismissed as a tree-hugging
environmentalist if you suggest the company should pay more attention to its ecological and
social responsibilities. Your colleagues and manager might pat you condescendingly on the
head, applaud your worthy convictions, and suggest you work with like-minded NGOs in your
spare time. Just broaching the subject risks your credibility as a corporate leader who has the
best interests of the bottom line at heart. It could be a career limiting conversation. Not good.
Then an opportune moment arises. It may be a chance meeting in an elevator, at a reception,
at a conference, or during a break at an annual general meeting. Sustainability evangelist
meets corporate non-believer. How does a sustainability champion start the conversation in
such a way that it continues excitedly instead of being quickly terminated and awkward…How
can sustainability champions appeal to corporate leaders’ critical priorities, handle likely
objections and use serendipitous opportunities to engage their interest?“
(Willard, 2005)

Dr Willard’s book provides a chapter titled ”Objection-handling Clinic in Inhibiters to the Next
Wave” which provides excellent ideas if you think you may have trouble convincing others.
One of the main points he emphasises is to remember that people are not the same and that
their ‘hot buttons’, or reasons that they would want to engage in the process, will vary, and
that you need to identify and appeal to these reasons.

For example, the marketing manager would be focused on sales, product differentiation and
customer loyalty, whereas the head of human resources would be focused on workforce
development, recruitment and retention. As Dr Willard notes:
“Language Matters. Talk Theirs.”

Communication with management - “The elevator speech”

Management are busy people. They make quick decisions and you need to be ready when
the opportunity arises. If you need to engage management support for your program, you
may need to provide them with the information and secure their ongoing enthusiasm in, say,
two to three sentences.

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Be prepared – summarise and learn the main elements of your program, prepare a good
‘attention-getting’ fact – for example, from your investigations into how much an
unsustainable work practice is costing the company (and make sure it is accurate – don’t
exaggerate!) and perhaps have a one page handout ready to hand over. You are now
ready to promote the program to management whenever the moment arises, and to staff
and others as well.

Involving team members

Involving team/other staff members will provide a wider range of practical ideas for
environmentally sustainable work practices. It will also create ‘ownership’ of the program and
greatly assist implementation. Seek suggestions and ideas through communication sessions,
team meetings or other methods, and involve staff in the development of ideas. For example,
ask relevant departments for data or to assist with monitoring. Ask management to provide
an incentive program for staff who come up with ideas that are implemented, or who
contribute to the implementation or monitoring of practices.

Communicating with external stakeholders

A move to more environmentally sustainable work practices could involveasking questions of
suppliers and ultimately requesting them to supply alternative products or services. You
should ensure that the questions you ask your suppliers are clear and that they understand
the reasons for the questions. For example, a supplier may reassure you that their paper
products are recycled, but this may mean that only some of their papers contain recycled
content, and this content may be very low compared to others. Suppliers may become
defensive when they feel the quality of their products is being questioned, so be very careful
to ensure they understand your program and the reasons for its implementation.

Customers and clients may also be affected by changes to your products or services when
you implement environmentally sustainable work practices. You should brief your marketing
staff on what these changes may be and discuss ways of promoting the changes in a positive
manner. You could provide mechanisms for customers or clients to provide feedback on any
changes, so that you can monitor implementation and alter procedures if required.

Communication barriers
What could be some of the barriers to communication – reasons why staff or management may
resist implementing environmentally sustainable work practices?

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Seek suggestions and ideas about environmental and resource efficiency
management from stakeholders and act upon where appropriate

You can seek suggestions and ideas about environmental and resource efficiency
management from stakeholders such as management, employees, subcontractors, suppliers
and clients. This information is essential for achieving performance improvement.

Good suggestions and ideas can be shared and implemented within the organisation. This
can be via newsletters, developing and highlighting a successful project, implementing
suggestions into staff development or training, developing new processes or procedures or
producing a sustainability report.

Seeking suggestions and ideas about environmental and resource efficiency management
will help improve environmental performance in your workplace.

You can do this by using communication and engagement processes. These processes can
be applied to management, employees, subcontractors, suppliers and clients.

Types of suggestions and ideas

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Within your organisation, on your work sites or outside of your organisation, you will have
access to key people who can help you to improve your environmental performance.

You can ask people directly for suggestions or ideas they might have about environmental
management, or provide them with a formal process such as:

• Meeting agendas – for discussing issues raised around the work site with
management and stakeholders.
• Surveys – these can be to gain employees' opinions on aspects of the works site or
current work being carried out.
• Questionnaires – these can be for new suggestions or improvements on the work
site.
• Feedback or evaluation forms – to gain employee perspectives on aspects of the
work site that need changing or have changed.

Establishing a target for seeking suggestions and ideas.

You will need to have a target that you would like to gather suggestions and ideas for, that
will help you in its implementation.

On your work site you notice that the painters use a considerable amount of water and they
are unsure of what to do with the dirty water after they have cleaned their equipment.

Target for suggestions and ideas: implement a water reuse strategy and action plan.

Seeking suggestions and ideas from internal sources

Process: Face-to-Face

You decide to ask the painters directly if they have any suggestions or ideas for saving water
and avoiding the release of paint into stormwater drains, which could cause the organisation
to be fined under the Water Act 1989.

The painters mention that they know of a green painters' association that offers clear
guidelines and tools to help painters save water and reduce release of harmful paint residue
into stormwater.

It might be an idea to establish a relationship with a green painters' association. This could
be as simple as joining their emailing list so that you get regular updates on new
technologies, methods and tools.

Sharing suggestions and ideas

Process: Face-to-Face

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Once you've found suggestions and ideas you'd like to implement, you will need to share
these with the appropriate people in your organisation.

From your previous process you signed up with the green painters' association and started
receiving regular emails. These emails discussed tools and techniques for painters to save
water and reduce the release of paint residue into stormwater.

One of the tools mentioned by the green painters' association was:

• Painters can use a special bag to cover their brushes and rollers to preserve them and
minimise water use when cleaning.

This information can be shared with management or staff who deal with onsite procedures.
You could then develop a procedure stating that all painters should, where possible, utilise
the bags. These bags would be supplied to all painters before they start work.

Seeking suggestions and ideas from external sources

Process: Contacting industry associations

You decide to go externally to construction industry groups or trade industry groups to find
out what suggestions are available for the painters to save water and avoid the release of
paint into stormwater drains.

Your research takes you to Master Plumbers' and Mechanical Services Association of
Australia (MPMSAA). This industry group can assist with developing a water reuse strategy,
which might involve setting up water tanks on-site or pits for water run-off and reuse.

Sharing suggestions and ideas

Process: Contacting industry associations

Once you have found suggestions and ideas you wish to implement, you will need to share
these with the appropriate people in your organisation.

From your previous process you decided to contact Master Plumbers' and Mechanical
Services Association of Australia (MPMSAA) for ideas on what is available for the painters to
save water and avoid the release of paint into stormwater drains.

This information can be shared with management or stakeholders who make decisions on all
new onsite work processes and equipment.

This could result in a partnership with MPMSAA to introduce a new water run-off strategy for
your organisation.

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Implement costing strategies to fully utilise environmental assets

When setting targets along with tools, techniques and communication methods you will
need to consider a number of factors such as cost, return on investment, availability of
technology and other resources, including staff, and the time needed to implement the
target.

A costing strategy should help you achieve a particular goal. In your organisation you may
identify areas of improvement for resource efficiency and targets that need to be set.

The strategy will then highlight associated costs and reduce costs that are required for
achieving your environmental efficiency targets.

When implementing a costing strategy you will need to look at all aspects of your
environmental impacts such as target, tools, techniques and communication methods. These
will inform the type of factors to consider when developing and implementing your costing
strategy.

As part of any costing strategy it is important to identify the organisation's most significant
environmental impacts. The organisation will usually benefit the most from addressing these
first.

Environmental impacts can include:

• greenhouse gas emissions

• energy consumption
• water consumption
• waste output
• resource use and raw materials
• transport
• water pollutants • hazardous waste.

Cost of environmental impact

Costs of the impact can include:

• natural resource depletion from the use of raw materials in the construction industry
• land degradation from construction waste going to landfill
• water degradation from toxins and chemicals released from the construction site •
pollution from emissions produced from the use of equipment on the
construction site.

Resource efficiency plan

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Let's look at the target we set in our previous resource efficiency improvement plan.

Target: 80% of all electronic devices are to be shut down when not in use.

We also established the tool and communication methods we wanted to use for the
implementation of this target.

Tool:

Delivery of environmental education programs, workshops and inductions.

Communication methods:

Training program: Office training program that looks at energy usage and the impact of
leaving the lights and equipment on.

Building a Green Team: Creating a team of people that take ownership of the training
program, educating others within the team.

Related costs

The next step is to consider the costs related to the communication methods.

Let's look at the first communication method.

Costing strategy – Step 1

Training program: Office training program that looks at energy usage and the impact of
leaving the lights and equipment on.

When you are developing your costing strategy you will need to estimate cost savings and
implementation costs.

This table shows how this information can be recorded.

Costing strategy – Step 2

When you are developing your costing strategy you will need to estimate impact of resource
efficiency actions.

This table shows how this information can be recorded.

Costing strategy – Step 3

When you are developing your costing strategy you will need to determine timeframes and
responsibilities for each communication method.

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This table shows how this information can be recorded.

Second communication method

Let's look at the second communication method.

Building a Green team: Creating a team of people that take ownership of the training
program, and educating others within the team.

Costing strategy – Step 1

When you are developing your costing strategy you will need to estimate cost savings and
implementation costs.

This table shows how this information can be recorded.

Costing strategy – Step 2

When you are developing your costing strategy you will need to estimate the impact of
resource efficiency actions.

The following table shows how this information can be recorded.

Costing strategy – Step 3

When you are developing your costing strategy you will need to determine timeframes and
responsibilities for each communication method.

The following table shows how this information can be recorded.

The answers to all these questions are part of your costing strategy so your target can be
achieved. The strategies may be costly for implementing the target but it may outline the
longterm benefits for the organisation as a green supplier in the industry.

Sharing your costing strategies

It is important that you share your costing strategies with the managers and other
stakeholders within your organisation. You will need their support to make sure your
strategies are implemented. Sharing your strategies could be as simple as organising a
meeting or discussion to highlight the benefits (eg cost saving, reputation, client satisfaction
or energy and resource efficiency) of implementing environmentally sustainable work
practices.

You may find that you need to contract external sustainability specialists to help you
implement costing strategies, if you don't have these skills within your organisation.

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Use and/or develop evaluation and monitoring, tools and technology

Monitoring is the process of evaluating the effectiveness of the environmentally sustainable

work practices you've implemented in your organisation, and then identifying opportunities
for new improvement targets. When monitoring environmentally sustainable work practices
you will need to:

• evaluate outcomes from improvement strategies

• identify new tools and improvement targets

• set new improvement targets.

Elements of a successful monitoring program

What gets measured gets managed………………
You have implemented your environmentally sustainable work practices, you or your
‘implementation team’ feel that practices are working well and you have developed
measurable targets so that you can determine whether this is in fact the case.

Monitoring the program will require development of a system that makes monitoring an
easier task to complete. You could consider preparing checklists that can be used to do a
visual count of lights switched off, equipment in use, amount of single sided waste paper or
other work practices.

There are various monitoring or tracking templates that you could develop to assist you with
this task. For example, you could develop a simple monitoring table such as that provided in
Table 10.

A very detailed ‘re-assessment’ spreadsheet template can be

found on the Queensland EPA’s Eco-Biz website at
http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/register/p01295ap.xls

There are various methods of monitoring that may be suitable for your workplace. These
include: • questionnaires or surveys of relevant staff
• visual counting or calculating (e.g.: amounts of waste in particular bins)
• checking supply records/invoices (to determine how much of an item has been purchased)
or
• audits by an audit team (which should be representative of the participants).
Monitoring information, once collected according to a schedule, needs to be analysed and
reported. This analysis is important so that you can identify where adjustments and/or
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improvements can be made, so that the work practices can be continually improved. Part of
the monitoring program should also involve researching new technologies and systems so
that these can be assessed and introduced if found to be more effective than existing ones. If
your monitoring and reporting finds that practices are being implemented 100% and that
they can be improved, consider adjusting targets to aim for a higher level of sustainability.
For example, if you set a target of 50% compliance with switching lights off at night and this
was being met, consider increasing the target to 100%.

A monitoring program will be more successfully implemented if the monitoring is made part
of everyday tasks, and the process is made as easy as possible – for example, through the
use of automatic email reminders to check something, or a ‘tick the box’ checklist. It is also
important to properly cost your achievements. For example, if a practice was implemented
that aimed to save the company $1,000,and it saved $5,000, this should be noted and used
as a key message to promote the program. If you find that an item is costing more than
expected, this needs to be assessed and perhaps an alternative method considered.

Outcomes and strategies

The first stage in the monitoring process is reporting on outcomes and evaluating the
improvement strategies that you've implemented in your organisation. Knowing which
improvement strategies were effective in implementing environmentally sustainable work
practices will help you develop your monitoring plan. To report on outcomes and evaluate
strategies you will need to:

• determine outcomes from new work practices

• record outcomes from new work practices
• compare outcomes from new work practices against improvement targets that have
been set.

When developing a monitoring plan you will need to report on outcomes from the
implementation of your improvement strategies. Reporting will allow you to evaluate the
effectiveness of your strategies, and also inform internal and external stakeholders of your
environmentally sustainable work practices.

Determine outcomes from improvement strategies

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The first step is to determine the outcomes from the introduction of your improvement
strategies. You can do this by:

• reviewing resource usage data (for example, invoices from suppliers or service
providers)
• interviewing or surveying employees (for example, purchasing department or facilities
management)
• analysing the results of sustainability audits (for example, reports from external
consultants)
• conducting a visual assessment of the work environment since the introduction of
improvement strategies (for example, recycling bins can be seen in the office or water
saving devices have been installed on the work site).

Once you have determined the outcomes of your improvement strategies you can prepare a
report.

Report outcomes from improvement strategies

You can report on the results of your improvement strategies by preparing documentation
that clearly describes the outcomes of the new strategies.

For example, you can prepare a chart or graph that shows the amount of materials or
services that were used before and after the implementation of your environmentally
sustainable work practices.

This graph shows the reduction in the purchase of non-renewable building materials over a
12month period.

You can use this data to help you evaluate the effectiveness of your improvement strategies.

Evaluate effectiveness of improvement strategies

You can evaluate the effectiveness of your improvement strategies by comparing the
outcomes from your environmentally sustainable work practices against the improvement
targets that you set in your preliminary action plan.

If you're not sure how to set improvement targets, work through the How to set
improvement targets tutorial in the Set topic.

You can use a simple checklist to help you determine if the improvement strategy has been
effective. Your checklist should list all of your improvement targets, each with a question that
asks if the target has been met. After reviewing the relevant documentation, you should be
able to answer Yes or No.

Evaluation outcomes

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If the outcomes from your environmentally sustainable work practices meet or exceed the
targets set in your preliminary improvement plan, it's likely that your improvement strategies
have been effective. If you find that outcomes have not met specified improvement targets,
you will need to modify existing strategies or identify new strategies to help you meet the
improvement targets.

Document and communicate outcomes to report on efficiency targets to

key personnel and stakeholders
Communicating program outcomes is very important. It assists monitoring and promotion of
the program and continuous improvement. You should communicate outcomes internally,
and many companies now report publicly on their sustainability initiatives.

Reporting can be in the form of informal, regular communications (posters, memos) or more
formal reports to management and stakeholders. Any communication should link new
initiatives to the original aims and objectives, as well as the company’s existing policies and
procedures.

It is important to present sustainability outcomes clearly and succinctly. Instead of presenting

tables full of numbers, consider using coloured graphs, interspersed with facts about usage
and reduction. Your ‘sustainability report’ often forms part of your company’s ‘corporate
image’ and you could consider posting your results on your website or including them in
your annual report.

There is a large amount of information available on the various methods of reporting, which
may include following the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines, OECD Corporate
Governance Principles or the mandatory sustainability reporting requirements provided by
some countries (Certified Accountants Educational Trust 2001).

An environmentally sustainable work practice is to reduce the amount of paper use, and
reporting on the program should follow this principle. Consider reporting using the Internet,
which has the following benefits:
• you save on paper usage and staff time in printing, binding and distribution
• you can include hyperlinks to detailed data and resources and even suppliers websites
• you could provide information in several languages if you were part of a multi-national
company
• you could provide a linked forum or bulletin board for updates and feedback
• the report can be quickly forwarded to a large number of stakeholders – managers, clients
and suppliers and
• you could include a video podcast of management promoting the program, or a
description of how a task has been implemented.

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The Certified Accountants Educational Trust (CAET, 2001) notes some issues with web-based
reporting, which could be applied to any electronic document, even if only circulated
internally within the company. These include ‘death by download’, when you provide the
report as a PDF which is too large, discouraging feedback and dialogue and leaving users in
the dark as to how current the report is.

Acknowledging achievements, leadership opportunities and networking success

It is also important to acknowledge achievements made by the implemented work practices.
Consider how those who have successfully implemented practices can be awarded, and how
the company as a whole can celebrate its achievements. (But remember to refer to the
environmental sustainability of your party!)

Implementing environmentally sustainable work practices may identify leadership

opportunities and you may be able to share your success with other companies looking to
undertake a similar program. Look to the skills of your ‘sustainability champions’ to assist in
promoting your company to others, and maximise your success through promotion and
networking.

Evaluate strategies and improvement plans

Sample monitoring plan

Use this template to develop a monitoring plan for your organisation. Sample data has been
included in this template as an example. You will need access to your organisation’s
workplace procedures and resource usage or purchasing data to complete the plan. You can
customise this template to suit your organisation.

Monitoring plan

Target Tool or Communication Costing Target Outcome

technique method strategy achieved

Yes No

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20% Build a Deliver ongoing Cost of X Introduce new
reduction in ‘green training installing improvement
the volume of team’ recycling targets that
office bins aim to reduce
consumables the volume of
disposed to office
landfill consumable
disposed to
waste by 50%

Suppliers to Improve Induction Cost of X Evaluate

carry out internal program for running original target
work procedures sub-contractors induction
programs
according to
for
procedures
suppliers
specified by
your
organisation

Set new efficiency targets, and investigate and apply new tools and
strategies

Once you have evaluated the outcomes of your environmentally sustainable work practices
you will be able to determine if new improvement targets need to be set. You don't just have
to set new improvement targets for strategies that did not meet their targets; you can also
set new improvement targets for strategies that were successful. Your goal should be to
constantly improve your work practices as part of your organisation's continuous
improvement philosophy.

Consider how you can promote the success of your environmentally sustainable work
practices. For example, you could include certification such as the Green Building Council's
Green Star Rating on the documentation or promotional information you send to suppliers
or clients.

You should also recognise the contributions of employees or members of your Green Team
that made the new work practices a success. For example, consider promoting the
achievements of your Green Team to other organisations that are looking to adopt
environmentally sustainable work practices. Recognising and rewarding employees can
140 | P a g e
contribute to the ongoing success and continuous improvement of environmentally
sustainable work practices in your organisation.

You can develop a monitoring plan to help you keep track of the performance of the
improvement strategies you've implemented. Generally, your monitoring plan should outline
the:

• corrective actions that have been implemented

• improvement target to be achieved
• tools or techniques required to implement the improvement target
• methods required to integrate the tool or technique into your organisation.

The monitoring plan can also be used to confirm if the improvement targets were met and if
any further corrective actions are required.

When you are developing your monitoring plan you will need to investigate and apply new
improvement targets, tools and strategies to make sure your improvement targets have been
achieved. During this process you can also determine if further improvement can be made to
the work practices you have implemented.

Determine effectiveness of improvement strategies

Once you've determined the effectiveness of your improvement strategies you will be able to
determine if new targets need to be set or if work practices can be improved.

Set new improvement targets for ineffective strategies

If you find that your improvement targets have not been achieved, you will need to identify
new strategies to help you achieve your targets.

When setting new improvement targets you should investigate alternative tools, targets and
strategies. For example, if your target to reduce the amount of carbon emissions generated
by your company vehicles was not achieved you could consider trialling the use of alternative
fuels.

If your improvement targets have been achieved, you should consider adjusting your
improvement targets to aim for a higher level of sustainability.

For example, if your organisation met it's target of a 50% reduction in the purchase of
building materials with unnecessary packaging, you could consider setting a new
improvement target of an 80% reduction.

You can also identify opportunities for introducing green purchasing strategies to help you
achieve your new improvement targets.

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Activity 8

1. Why would an organization undertake a resource usage assessment?

2. List the steps (in the order they would be undertaken) to undertake a resource assessment?

3. What are the benefits of environmental purchasing?

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Activity 8

4. How can organizations ensure that work processes meet environmental requirements and
to identify areas in which changes need to be made?

5. What are the benefits of joining an industry association?

143 | P a g e
Activity 8

6. What are the advantages of joining an environmental program like ‘Greenhouse Challenge Plus’?

7. Go to
http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/enterprisemelbourne/environment/Checklist/Pages/Introducti
on .aspx and download one of the Sustainability checklist and fact sheets. Summarise the purpose
of the checklist.

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8. Identify 5 things a business could do to reduce its energy consumption.

Activity 8

Promote successful strategies and reward participants where possible3

Dead-Set Winners (low cost/effort - every company should do these)

Measure

• Ensure you are familiar with the forthcoming Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.
• Identify the environmental risks associated with your operations
• Audit how much paper is used every month
• Monitor your energy and water consumption and bills
• If there's a sharp increase on your water meter, check to see if there is a leak
• Set targets for reducing paper/energy/water consumption and the amount of rubbish
you throw out

3
Source: Smart Company, as at http://www.smartcompany.com.au/leadership/37088-how-to-rewardexecutives-
for-sustainable-practice-.html, as on 8th February, 2016.

145 | P a g e
 • Appoint one or more staff to take responsibility for encouraging others to support
environmentally-friendly behaviour
• Bring in an expert to explain to staff the company's impact on the environment, and
the difference they could make by changing their behaviour
• Consider the whole lifecycle of a product when it is being developed
• Keep track of relevant environmental regulation
• Get your staff to report how many kilometres they drive to and from work each day,
and report the overall figure back to them, and what it equates to in carbon emissions

Reduce

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•
Ask staff to help achieve your targets
• Use your resources efficiently - minimise waste
• When you receive unwanted mail, ask to have yourself or your company taken
off the mailing list
• Keep your own mailing lists up to date to ensure you're not sending out paper
that's headed straight for the bin
• Do what you can to mitigate environmental risks associated with your operations
• Ensure customers are aware of the most environmentally-friendly ways to use
and dispose of your products
• Switch off lights, airconditioning, computers and other appliances when not in
use - don't just leave them on stand-by
• Don't use a screen saver - they are unnecessary, and use energy
• When possible, switch appliances off at the power point
• Turn hot water thermostats down to about 60 degrees (but seek advice on this)
• Turn heater thermostats down to 24-25 degrees in summer, and 18-24 degrees
in winter
• Switch your hot water and heating systems off at night and on weekends
• Encourage staff to dress appropriately so they are comfortable with the set
temperature
• Switch to energy-efficient light globes
• Only print emails and documents when absolutely necessary
• Add a footnote to emails encouraging others to print them only when absolutely
necessary
• If you must procure virgin materials, try to procure them from sustainable
sources
• Provide staff with easy-to-access recycle bins and recycle all discarded paper,
bottles, etc
• Email your annual report instead of printing it
• Cover any gaps that let draughts in
• Don't offer large cars as part of salary packages - promote hybrid cars or find
other more environmentally-friendly incentives
• Encourage staff to walk or cycle to work if they can
• Coordinate car pooling (and the sharing of costs) for staff to get to and from
work, and reward staff who participate
• Site your office close to public transport
• Make information about public transport such as timetables and maps available
• Offer staff public transport tickets instead of taxi vouchers
• When you host events, encourage participants to walk, cycle or use public
transport
• Only fly somewhere when absolutely necessary - teleconference or video
conference if you can
• Buy office plants that consume minimum amounts of water

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 •
• Where possible, have deliveries made outside peak hours, to minimise the time
couriers' engines are running in traffic
• When time allows, use cycling couriers rather than those on motorcycles or in
cars
• Encourage telephone and video-conferencing to minimise travel
• Purchase in bulk whenever possible, to minimise packaging
• Encourage staff to quickly report leaking taps, and have them fixed promptly too
• Have machinery serviced regularly to save on the energy costs associated with
running an inefficient motor

Re-use

Collect paper that has been used on one side for writing notes on the other
• Provide reusable mugs and glasses, rather than plastic or paper cups
• Use recycled materials in production
• Re-use materials internally within your organisation
• Procure recycled goods

Recycle

• Recycle paper; toner cartridges from printers, photocopiers and fax machines;
batteries; plastics; and anything else you can. Business Recycling is a free website
which provides information on local and national options for recycling materials
including electronics, construction waste, paper and cardboard, food scraps,
plastics, and packaging.
• For more information on recycling electronic waste, go to Product Stewardship
Australia
• Ask suppliers whether they will take their goods back and recycle them when
you've finished with them
• Avoid having excess or returned goods end up as landfill

Involve

• Make employees aware of your environmental efforts; this will encourage them
to support and participate in your initiatives
• Have a suggestion box where employees can deposit ideas about how the
company can increase its environmental sustainability
• Use your public profile to encourage sustainability in the community
• Adhere to guidelines for disposing of hazardous waste
• Reward employees for participating in or supporting your initiatives
• Share your knowledge about environmental sustainability with your suppliers

Good Practice (require moderate investment and will provide moderate return)

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 •
Measure

• Have an independent auditor measure your organisation's carbon footprint;

identify opportunities for reduction, and set targets. Try the Carbon Reduction
Institute or Emission Statement.
• Audit energy use (particularly lighting and airconditioning) and set targets for
reduction
• Audit how much rubbish (by weight) you throw out and set targets for reduction
• Identify any opportunities for sustainable developments as alternatives to
developments that will deplete the environment
• Take into consideration the environmental impact of your business partners and
suppliers

Reduce

• Purchase equipment with low energy ratings

• Purchase supplies with low environmental impact
• Use car sharing to replace some/all of your car fleet
• Replace your car fleet with hybrid cars

Calculate your carbon emissions; reduce as much as you can; and then offset some or
all of the remainder
• Install tanks to collect rainwater, and pipes to redirect it (to a garden, for
example)
• Install flow-restrictors on all taps
• Provide bike racks and showers to encourage staff to cycle to work
• Fit timers to any showers, to encourage staff to take shorter showers
• Ensure there is nothing blocking windows, to let the maximum amount of light in
• Install light sensors or timers, where appropriate, to reduce energy consumption
• Buy a printer that will print on both sides of the paper, and set that function to
default
• Review the use of chemicals and water in office cleaning, and reduce where
possible
• Consider the entire lifecycle of products when they are being designed and try
to ensure they will not end up as landfill
• Minimise packaging when designing products
• Insulate your hot water tank and pipes
• Install double glazing to insulate windows
• Plant any garden areas with low water use plants
• Provide access to your products and services online to reduce customer travel
• Install control switches so you can turn motors off when they're not in use

Reuse

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 •
• Install water re-use systems
• Use recycled toilet paper and tissues
• Use recycled paper for all of your printing (or some of it at the very least)

Involve

• If you don't know where to start on your sustainability journey, or if you've

started but you need some direction, consider using the Grow Me the Money
12-step program.
• Reward employees for environmental innovations

Cutting Edge (high cost/effort with high returns)

Measure

• Have a life cycle assessment done for one (or more) of your products or services,
and work to reduce the emissions and offset the remainder. You can then have
the product or service certified Greenhouse Friendly by the Federal Government.
• Assess what impact your operations will have on the biodiversity (animal and
plant life) of an area, and any related impacts on the local community

Reduce

• Make your office as "paper-less" as possible, by digitising your processes

• Take steps to reduce any potential negative impacts on biodiversity • Set
emissions-reduction targets

Use GreenPower - have your company's energy provider purchase the equivalent
of some/all of your company's energy use in renewable energy (such as hydro,
solar and wind). See www.greenpower.gov.au
• Locate your business in a "green" building
• Do away with your car fleet altogether
• If you use machinery, attach variable speed drives to motors and/or install
energy-efficient motors
• Use only materials derived from (independently verified) sustainable sources
• Install waterless-urinals and dual-flush toilets
• Produce your own green energy by installing solar panels or a wind turbine

Are sustainability-dependent executive bonuses the answer to saving the planet?

Research recently conducted by the Centre for Corporate Governance at the University
of Technology, Sydney, examined whether a sample of Australia’s leading corporations

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 •
are rewarding their executives for achieving sustainability targets as well as financial
targets.

The study was based on annual report disclosures and assessed twelve leading Australian
companies in terms of their structures and processes for communication, commitment,
leadership and implementation of sustainability. The companies (Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton,
Bluescope, Orica, ANZ, NAB, Qantas, Telstra, Woolworths, Wesfarmers, Coca Cola and
Foster’s) were benchmarked against each other using a scorecard system.

The question of how sustainability might be linked to executive remuneration was part of a
broader study of how companies are integrating sustainability objectives into their core
business strategies.

Most large companies in Australia have developed sustainability strategies over recent
years, but in a rather piecemeal fashion in response to specific external demands – reducing
greenhouse gases, implementing family-friendly policies and so forth. They are now looking
to find ways of measuring, monitoring and integrating these programs into their overall
business planning.

The research report, entitled Steering Sustainability, was commissioned by think tank
Catalyst Australia as part of its Full Disclosure campaign. The campaign’s objective was to
explore the growing influence of corporations in society and assist communities in
articulating what standards and behaviour they expect of companies.

Given that most academics and practitioners struggle to define sustainability and/or
corporate responsibility in a meaningful fashion, it is not surprising that the concept is
poorly understood by non-specialists.

The terms “corporate sustainability” and “corporate responsibility” can be used

interchangeably and, at their simplest, mean that a company is committed to acting in an
economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner. To achieve this, a company
has to balance the needs of all of its stakeholders (those with an interest in its operations:
shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, regulators, local communities and the
environment).

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This is not an easy balancing act as there will inevitably be circumstances when the interests
of the different groups will come into conflict. In the past, many company directors believed
that they were under a duty to give priority to shareholders’ interests: profit maximisation.

However, two inquiries conducted in 2005-2006 confirmed that this was not the case – that
Australian directors have the discretion to take other interests into account in order to
promote the best interests of the company in the long term.

The argument is that a company is likely to do well financially in the long run if it acts in a
responsible manner. This could include maintaining a good reputation with customers;
training and developing its workforce appropriately; not squandering natural resources; and
engaging with local communities affected by its operations.

The UTS/Catalyst study explored the mechanisms that boards of directors are using to assist
in this balancing act. It looked at how corporate governance systems are being adapted to
integrate sustainability initiatives into core business strategy.

The study focused on the structural frameworks supporting sustainable practice because the
actual meaning of sustainability will vary significantly depending on a company’s operations.
A mining company, for example, will need to reduce damage to the natural environment and
ensure its miners work in safe conditions; a bank may focus on treating its customers fairly
and retaining its skilled employees.

The study did not try to compare apples and pears, but looked for evidence of
structures and processes for governing and communicating sustainability.

The twelve companies were assessed in four areas and given a rating of below average,
average or above average: (1) communication processes and methods; (2) voluntary
commitment to measuring and reporting; (3) evidence of leadership structures; and (4)
evidence of processes for implementation of sustainability, including incorporation into
remuneration systems.

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Catalyst/UTS Centre for Corporate Governance

Communication: The study found a variety of communication methods. In particular, there

was a move away from standalone sustainability reports towards integrated reporting. In
2011, four of the twelve companies produced only one annual report including both
financial and sustainability information and, for three of these companies, this was the first
year of doing so. All companies referred to engagement with their stakeholders but only a
handful went into detail on exactly how they communicate with each different group and
the results of such communication. Companies received “below average” ratings if it was
difficult to find sustainability information online or if it was poorly organised.

Commitment: There was a strong commitment to sustainability reporting in terms of

voluntary use of standards and guides such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the
Carbon Disclosure Project. Ten of the 12 companies reported formally against the GRI, with
seven of these 10 obtaining independent verification of their use of the GRI. A very positive
finding was that all of the companies were members of the Carbon Disclosure Project,
meaning that they measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions in a way that enables
international benchmarking.

Leadership: In terms of leadership of sustainability, 11 of the 12 companies had either a

board subcommittee or senior management committee responsible for sustainability issues.
This is key to ensuring that sustainability issues are discussed, – and strategies developed –
at the highest level of the company, in conjunction with wider business strategy. Wesfarmers
did not refer to a committee and hence received a “below average” rating, whereas
companies that explained how their committees functioned, or gave examples of topics
addressed, received an “above average” rating (NAB, Foster’s, BHP, Orica, ANZ and
Woolworths).

Implementation: Information on processes and structures for implementing sustainability

strategy at the lower levels of the company was hard to find, with only two companies

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explaining, for example, that they had site-level committees (Orica) or business unit leaders
(Foster’s) responsible for sustainability.

Remuneration: A key question for the research was whether (and to what extent) companies
are incorporating sustainability performance into their remuneration schemes. If employees
are only rewarded based on measures of short-term financial performance, it sends the
message that sustainability comes second.

The researchers were pleasantly surprised to find that nearly all of the companies did
mention some aspect of sustainability performance when describing their remuneration
policy. Most commonly this was an element of the short term incentive (STI) plan – a small
(although possibly very small) proportion of executives’ bonuses were linked to non-
financial indicators such as safety performance or customer satisfaction.

Detail on exactly what proportion of overall pay was dependent on non-financial indicators
and how these were measured was very unclear. Industry-specific differences were apparent,
with service and retail companies including measures of customer satisfaction in their STI
schemes, and the resources and manufacturing companies including occupational health
and safety.
Interestingly, only two companies (Bluescope and Rio) described the actual measure
used (for example, lost time injury rate) and no company explained any incorporation of
environmental performance.

As the study was being conducted, several of the companies in the sample received
negative publicity in the area of corporate responsibility.

Orica was slow to alert the authorities regarding a toxic chemical spill, Qantas hit a low point
in industrial relations, and the mining companies were dealing with striking workers in South
America. This reminds us that systems, structures and reports can never fully reveal whether
a company is fostering a positive culture and value system for its employees. On the other
hand, we know from corporate governance case studies that, without formal systems for
communication and accountability, companies will flounder when faced with challenging
circumstances.

Because the meaning of corporate responsibility/sustainability depends on the nature of a

company’s operations, general guidance on implementation is hard to find. However, the
structures and processes necessary for developing and managing sustainability strategies
are universal. Companies need to engage with stakeholders in a consistent manner and
ensure that the information gathered is fed into high-level decision making, ideally through
a board or senior management committee.

Once strategies are decided upon, lines of responsibility and accountability must be clearly
defined such that progress is monitored, measured and fed back into strategy development
and reward schemes. Rewarding executives for sustainability performance could be the
answer to ensuring companies do what they promise. As the old saying goes, companies
need to “put their money where their mouth is” – in more ways than one.

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Rewarding Sustainable Practices4

A reward is defined as something which is given following the occurrence of certain

behaviour, with the intention of acknowledging the positive nature of that behaviour, and
often with the additional intent of encouraging it to happen again.

Rewards can be intrinsic or extrinsic in nature. Intrinsic rewards are internal to the individual,
such as contributing to a common good, mentorship or ‘giving back’. Extrinsic rewards are
rewards external to the individual, such as payments and promotions (tangible) or praise and
public recognition (intangible).

EPA aims to find a balance between providing adequate extrinsic rewards and valuing the
intrinsic needs of employees.

This R+R Framework provides a range of strategies to cater for different preferences,
levels of achievement and values.

Principles
All rewards should:
1. Motivate and reward a high performance culture
2. Promote a close link between performance, reward and recognition
3. Reward significant and outstanding performance that advances EPA’s goals and
values
4. Provide timely recognition for individual and team achievement
5. Provide rewards that are valued and meaningful to staff
6. Be fair, applied consistently and transparent
7. Be simple to understand and apply
8. Be clearly communicated to staff

Awards
When developing awards, the following issues have been considered:
1. Definition of the performance criteria and the nature of the contribution (individual or
team) 2. Ensuring the Framework reinforces EPA’s strategic business objectives and
priorities for employees
3. Frequency of rewards must reinforce EPA’s values, objectives, culture statement and
guiding behaviours.

Implementation
Recognition in the form of positive feedback and celebration of achievement should be a
matter of regular management and good business practice. Importantly, all managers are
responsible for contributing to a culture that rewards and recognises staff achievements.

4
Source: EPA, Victoria, as at http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/about-
us/~/media/Files/careers/Docs/RewardRecognition.pdf, as on 8th February, 2016.

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Managers will: • Implement reward initiatives which are consistent with the principles of the
R+R Framework
• Consult with People and Culture on the development and implementation of new
reward initiatives
• Strive to develop a culture of regular and sincere reward and recognition of staff
achievements

People and Culture will:

• Provide guidelines regarding rewarding and recognising staff
• Work in partnership with units in developing consistency
• Oversee the use of reward programs and initiatives
• Review and update reward programs in line with best practice and fit with
organisational objectives
• Process all rewards

Activity 9

A large call centre is thinking about installing low flush toilets in all of its bathrooms and air
hand driers to replace paper towel dispensers. Purchasing new toilets for the entire centre
will cost $22,000. They will need to employ plumbers to fit the toilets at a cost of $9,500. It is
estimated that this will save $16,000 in water consumption fees. The hand dryers will cost
$13,500. The cost of employing Electricians to install the hand dryers will come to $4,400. As
the Call Centre will no longer have to purchase paper towels, they will save $7,300 per year.
They also estimate that they will save $1,000 per year in cleaning costs, as the bathrooms will
take less time to clean and bins will need to be emptied less frequently. The Call Centre will
incur additional electricity cost of $1,700 per year, however. Calculate the combined payback
period for the installation of low flush toilets and air hand dryers.

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ASSESSMENT
BSBSUS401 Implement and monitor environmentally
sustainable work practices

Student Name
Student ID
Unit commenced (Date)
Unit Completed (Date)
I hereby certify that I have undertaken these
assessment tasks utilising my own work without
assistance from any other parties. I have not
knowingly plagiarised any work in completing
these assessment activities.

Student Signature

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Knowledge Assessment (Written Tasks)

1. For the following procedure:

Amendment history and approvals
Issued Amendment Author Department manager Quality assurance
(authorisation) (approval)
10.03.2011 None Mr A Mr M Cooke Mr K Letang
required Park
Purpose

These rules apply to the environmental regulations that are to be followed to ensure compliance with
Letang Constructions' procedures.

1.1 Work carried out by employees

Work is to be carried out on the work site and office environment according to relevant environmental
occupational health and safety legislation, Australian Standards and building codes.

Building codes that are relevant to Letang Constructions are the current Building Code of

Australia. For example, BCA 2010: Class 2–9 (Volume One) or BCA 2010: Class 1 and 10 (Volume

Two) 1.2 Work carried out by suppliers

Suppliers are to carry out work according to their own internal procedures.

1.3 Use of reclaimed water

The use of reclaimed water on the work site is to be carried out in accordance with EPA Publication
464.2 – Guidelines for Environmental Management – Use of Reclaimed Water.

Are the environmental regulations that must be followed by employees outlined in the
procedures?

(a) Yes

(b) No

2. Do you think that aspects of the environmentally sustainable work practice need to be
improved in Procedure 1.1 (refer question 1 above)?

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(a) Improvement required
(b) Improvement not
required Why?

3. Do you think that aspects of environmentally sustainable work practice need to be

improved in Procedure 1.2?

(a) Improvement required

(b) Improvement not
required Why?

4. Given the procedure:

Resource usage

Amendment history and

approvals Department manager Quality assurance

Issued Amendment Author (authorisation) (approval)
10.03.2011 None Mr A Mr M Cooke Mr K Letang
required Park
Purpose

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These rules apply to resource usage by employees to ensure compliance with Letang
Constructions' procedures.

2.1 Installation of water harvesting systems

Systems that enable the harvesting, storage of rainwater and use of greywater are to be
installed and maintained in the Letang Constructions' office building.

2.2 Use of building materials manufactured from renewable and sustainable sources

Building materials manufactured from renewable and sustainable sources are to be used
(subject to the relevant Australian Standards and Government legislation).

2.3 Use of building materials manufactured from alternate materials

Building materials manufactured from alternate material are to be used (subject to the
relevant Australian Standards and Government legislation).

2.4 Use of materials manufactured from non-renewable materials

Building materials manufactured from non-renewable resources are to be used (subject

to the relevant Australian Standards and Government legislation).

2.5 Use of paper

Paper for use in the office environment is to be sourced from renewable plantations.

2.6 Recycling of office paper

Employees must follow (to the best of their ability) the 'Printer Paper Path' recycling
scheme that has been initiated by Letang Constructions.

2.7 Limit on greenhouse gas emissions

The total amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated by the use of electricity over a
12month period must not exceed 15 tonnes.

Did the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated by the use of electricity
over a 12 month period exceed the amount specified in Letang Constructions'
procedures? (a) Yes

(b) No

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5. Do you think there is a need for the introduction of environmentally sustainable work
practices in Procedure 2.7 to improve the use of resources and reduce greenhouse gas
emissions?

(a) Improvement required

(b) Improvement not
required Why?

6. Go online and search the web for examples of how other organisations audit their
work practice. Find out what tools they use to determine their current work practice.
While you are reviewing the results of your web search, think about how:

• the size, type and legislation can determine the objectives and scope of an
organisation's audit checklist
• the size, type and legislation can determine an organisation's current work
practice.

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7. Which target can most effectively be measured and monitored?

(a) Modify procedure in 12 months.

(b) Modify procedure immediately.

(c) Modify procedure immediately and review over the next 12 months.

Why?

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8. Go online and search the web for examples of how other organisations implement
performance improvement strategies. Find out what tools they use to implement
performance improvement strategies. While you are reviewing the results of your
web search, think about how the size and type of organisation can determine:

• the number of performance improvement strategies to be implemented

• the tools or techniques used to implement the performance improvement
strategy
• the types of communication methods used by different organisations
• the types of costing strategies that are developed by different organisations.

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Assessment Outcome
Question Correct ( )
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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Assessed by _________________________ Assessor Signature_______________ Date _________

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Skills Assessment (Practical Tasks)

ASSESSOR NOTE
These instructions must be followed when assessing the student in this unit. The checklist
on the following page is to be completed for each student. Please refer to separate
mapping
document for specific details relating to alignment of this task to the unit requirements.

This competency is to be assessed using standard and authorised work practices, safety
requirements and environmental constraints.
Assessment of essential underpinning knowledge will usually be conducted in an off-site
context. Assessment is to comply with relevant regulatory or Australian standards'
requirements.
Resource implications for assessment include:
• an induction procedure and requirement
• realistic tasks or simulated tasks covering the mandatory task requirements
• relevant specifications and work instructions
• tools and equipment appropriate to applying safe work practices
• support materials appropriate to activity
• workplace instructions relating to safe work practices and addressing hazards and
emergencies
• material safety data sheets
• research resources, including industry related systems information.

Reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities must be made to assessment processes
where required. This could include access to modified equipment and other physical
resources, and the provision of appropriate assessment support.

What happens if your result is ‘Not Yet Competent’ for one or more assessment tasks?

The assessment process is designed to answer the question “has the participant satisfactorily
demonstrated competence yet?” If the answer is “Not yet”, then we work with you to see how
we can get there.

In the case that one or more of your assessments has been marked ‘NYC’, your Trainer will
provide you with the necessary feedback and guidance, in order for you to resubmit/redo your
assessment task(s).

What if you disagree on the assessment outcome?

You can appeal against a decision made in regards to an assessment of your competency. An
appeal should only be made if you have been assessed as ‘Not Yet Competent’ against specific

170 | P a g e
competency standards and you feel you have sufficient grounds to believe that you are entitled
to be assessed as competent.

You must be able to adequately demonstrate that you have the skills and experience to be
able to meet the requirements of the unit you are appealing against the assessment of.

You can request a form to make an appeal and submit it to your Trainer, the Course
Coordinator, or an Administration Officer. The RTO will examine the appeal and you will be
advised of the outcome within 14 days. Any additional information you wish to provide may
be attached to the form.

What if I believe I am already competent before training?

If you believe you already have the knowledge and skills to be able to demonstrate
competence in this unit, speak with your Trainer, as you may be able to apply for Recognition
of Prior Learning (RPL).

Credit Transfer
Credit transfer is recognition for study you have already completed. To receive Credit Transfer,
you must be enrolled in the relevant program. Credit Transfer can be granted if you provide
the RTO with certified copies of your qualifications, a Statement of Attainment or a Statement
of Results along with Credit Transfer Application Form. (For further information please visit
Credit Transfer Policy)

171 | P a g e
 –

Task 1 Environmental Legislation

In this activity you will be investigating the range of legislation/regulations that
influence environmental sustainability and the effects on the operation of your
workplace (or simulated workplace)

In preparation for this activity ask your supervisor to show you the types of records that
demonstrate the business complies with environmental legislation/regulations.

Activity

Find the legislation and regulations that affect your workplace and list these next to the
types of records you found in your workplace.

Remember, there may be state or local government variations that affect your particular
workplace.

Types of legislation you should be looking for include legislation and/or regulations
that:

• restricts the type of activities that can occur in your local area (business type or
land use for instance)
• controls water, power, gas and other utility use
• controls waste management and pollution
• controls animal health care, handling and housing
• controls water run-off, erosion, weed management
• protects flora and fauna biodiversity
• protects water catchments, waterways and fisheries.

Legislation Records

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Observation Checklist
Observation Criteria S NS
Collected organisational records relevant to monitoring
environmental factors and business compliance
Obtained relevant environmental legislation
Cross referenced legislation to compliance records

Outcome
 Satisfactory  Unsatisfactory

Comments:

Date ______________________

Signed _____________________________ (Assessor)

Signed ______________________________(Student)

Task 2 Resource Management Strategies

This project will help you to develop your own sustainable resource management strategies
that will apply to your own, or simulated, workplace.

To help keep you on track the project is broken into 3 stages:

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 –

STAGE 1: Identify resources used in the workplace

Complete an inventory of workplace assets and equipment that impact on

environmental sustainability.

Include in your inventory:

• workplace equipment that impacts on environmental sustainability

• utilities that are used in your workplace that impact on environmental resource
use (include power, water, gas sources here)
• raw materials and other supplies that are used in your workplace, where they
come from and how they are delivered.

You will need to include:

• the estimated age and life expectancy of the equipment

• the estimated cost (if known)
• the type of power needed to operate the equipment
• any sustainable features of the item (such as energy or water star ratings).

If your enterprise uses a wide variety of equipment and supplies you can select 20 items for
this exercise.

If your enterprise uses only a few items of equipment and/or supplies you will need to
include them all (for mobile workers this might include your home office and
surroundings).

STAGE 2: Identify work practice

Identify the types of work activity that are undertaken and align them to resource use.

List the work activities that occur and document the materials, supplies and equipment
that is needed to complete the task.

STAGE 3: Set reasonable targets for implementation

Plan realistic implementation timeframes and methods to monitor the compliance of staff to
the new strategies.

Observation Checklist
Observation Criteria S NS

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Collected, analysed and organised information from a range of
sources to provide information/advice and tools/resources for
improvement opportunities.
Inventory was compiled and completed
Inventory included the estimated age and life expectancy of the
equipment
Inventory included the estimated cost
Inventory included the type of power needed to operate the
equipment
Inventory included any sustainable features of the item
Identified work practice activities and resources required
Planned realistic implementation timeframes and methods to
monitor the compliance of staff to the new strategies
Set efficiency targets
Analysed current work processes to access information and data to
assist in identifying areas for improvement.

Outcome
 Satisfactory  Unsatisfactory

Comments:

Date ______________________

Signed _____________________________ (Assessor)

Signed ______________________________(Student)

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 –

Task 3 Improvement Strategies

For your, or simulated, workplace, develop an Environmental Management Plan. The plan
should address the following:

• addressing environmental and resource sustainability initiatives such as:

environmental management systems, action plans, green office programs,
surveys and audits
• applying the waste management hierarchy in the workplace
• determining organisation's most appropriate waste treatment including
waste to landfill, recycling, re use, recoverable resources and wastewater
treatment
• initiating and/or maintaining appropriate organisational procedures for
operational energy consumption, including stationary energy and non
stationary (transport)
• preventing and minimising risks, and maximising opportunities such as:
• improving resource/energy efficiency
• reducing emissions of greenhouse gases
• reducing use of non renewable resources
• referencing standards, guidelines and approaches such as:

• ecological foot printing

• Energy Efficiency Opportunities Bill 2005
• Global Reporting Initiative
• green office program - a cultural change program
• green purchasing
• Greenhouse Challenge Plus (Australian government initiative)
• ISO 14001:1996 Environmental management systems life cycle analyses
• product stewardship
• supply chain management
• sustainability covenants/compacts
• triple bottom line reporting.

Once you have completed the Plan, there are two options for completing this assessment
activity:

1. Implement your performance improvement strategies

OR

2. Present a pitch to your supervisor justifying why your performance

improvement recommendations should be implemented.

In this activity you will present your work project results to your supervisor or trainer in
a simulation exercise. You will need to be able to:

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• Provide evidence to back up your claims relating to:
- current resource use
- estimated reduction in resource use
- estimated cost savings (in time, labour, purchase expenses)
- estimated costs in initial implementation of your suggested
improvements

- identifying the limitations of current practices.

• Identify triple bottom line advantages and any disadvantages in the
implementation of your suggested improvements:
- economic
- social
- environmental (include impact on animals within the workplace).

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Observation Checklist
Observation Criteria S NS
Environmental Management Plan (EMP) Completed
EMP addressed environmental and resource sustainability initiatives
such as: environmental management systems, action plans, green
office programs, surveys and audits
EMP applied the waste management hierarchy in the workplace
EMP determined organisation's most appropriate waste treatment
including waste to landfill, recycling, re use, recoverable resources
and wastewater treatment
EMP outlined process for initiating and/or maintaining appropriate
organisational procedures for operational energy consumption,
including stationary energy and non stationary (transport)
EMP outlined strategies for preventing and minimising risks, and
maximising opportunities
Identified environmental regulations applying to the enterprise.
Analysed procedures for assessing compliance with environmental/
sustainability regulations.
Collected information on environmental and resource efficiency
systems and procedures, and provide to the work group where
appropriate.
Collected, analysed and organised information from a range of
sources to provide information/advice and tools/resources for
improvement opportunities.
Measured and documented current resource usage of members of
the work group.
Analysed and documented current purchasing strategies.
Analysed current work processes to access information and data to
assist in identifying areas for improvement.
Sought input from stakeholders, key personnel and specialists.
Accessed external sources of information and data as required.
Evaluated alternative solutions to workplace environmental issues.
Set efficiency targets.
Sourced and used appropriate techniques and tools to assist in
achieving efficiency targets.
Applied continuous improvement strategies to own work area of
responsibility, including ideas and possible solutions to communicate
to the work group and management.

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Implemented and integrated environmental and resource efficiency
improvement plans for own work group with other operational
activities.
Supervised and supported team members to identify possible areas
for improved practices and resource efficiency in work area.
Sought suggestions and ideas about environmental and resource
efficiency management from stakeholders and act upon where
appropriate.
Implemented costing strategies to fully value environmental assets.
Observation Criteria S NS
Used and/or developed evaluation and monitoring, tools and
technology.
Documented and communicated outcomes to report on efficiency
targets to key personnel and stakeholders.
Evaluated strategies and improvement plans.
Set new efficiency targets, and investigated and applied new tools
and strategies.
Promoted successful strategies and reward participants where
possible.
Effectively implemented/presented EMP

Outcome
 Satisfactory  Unsatisfactory

Comments:

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Date ______________________

Signed _____________________________ (Assessor)

Signed ______________________________(Student)

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BSBSUS401 Implement and monitor environmentally sustainable
work practices

Assessment Outcome Record

In order to be deemed competent in this unit, the candidate must answer all written
questions correctly and satisfactorily complete all practical tasks. In order to complete all
practical tasks, all Observation Criteria need to be satisfied, i.e. demonstrated and marked
as an 'S'. The task summary outcome must be noted as satisfactory to note the
demonstration of a satisfactory outcome for each practical task requirement.

Student Name

 Not Yet  Competent

t
Competent

Comments

Assessor (Name)

Assessor Signature

Date

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 Student Feedback Form
Unit BSBSUS401 Implement and monitor environmentally sustainable work
practices
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Assessor Name:
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This information is confidential and is not released to any external parties without your
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1 2 3 4 5
assessment

I received feedback about assessments I completed 1 2 3 4 5

Too Great Too

The pace of this unit was:
Slow Pace Fast
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competency.

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