As one of the world's leading professional services organisation Pricewaterhouse Coopers have a longstanding commitment to reducing its environmental footprint by adopting an efficient waste policy.

When moving to their new office in Spencer Dock in Dublin in 2006, AWN was contacted to provide a waste management strategy to enable PWC achieve cost effective waste reduction and recycling while operating in best in class standards.

This waste strategy among many things would include most importantly a detailed description of the waste segregation system which would ensure cost effective and maximum segregation of waste.

One of the key elements of this would be binless offices which would reduce contamination of waste by employees. Another key approach to achieve segregation of waste is the presence of Area Waste Stations (AWS) located at strategic places, clearly labelled ensuring employees would be clear of the types of waste to be disposed of at each station. Moreover each AWS would contain several types of bins such as white paper bins and glossy paper, mixed non recyclable bins and can and bottle bins.

Other key strategies included the smart print initiative which aimed to reduce paper usage and paper waste production. Proper use of this waste management strategy proposed by AWN would enable PWC to achieve the 70% recovery rate deemed possible for a development such as this. Furthermore if PWC were to achieve environmental accreditation, recycling would be a key priority if waste generation would reach the 4578.74kg/week as predicted. Following on from these recommendations by AWN, PWC have continued to improve their recovery rate, almost reaching their target of 65%. Moreover the smart printing initiative has resulted in a 32% reduction in A4 paper since January 07 with quarterly savings of 4.5%. 

Since the implementation of the waste management strategy in 2006, PWC, working alongside AWN has introduced further initiatives such as new signage on all AWS and new collection bins for collection of used disposable batteries. This will further facilitate PWC's aim to improve their recycling rate and commit to their policy of a environmentally and economically sustainable business which will benefit them as a whole.