Datamail is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the New Zealand Post Group.
THE SITUATION
Recognising the importance of sustainability – for its business and its clients – the Datamail Group knew it needed to lift its game. Its Petone site already had a number of recycling facilities for cardboard, plastic wrap and toner cartridges, but there were obvious areas for improvement. For example, there were no facilities for office paper or plastics recycling.
So in July 2007, Datamail seized the opportunity to pilot at its Petone site, a recycling and waste-minimisation programme, based on the ‘Govt3’ methodology. The programme offered a great way to reduce the amount of Datamail waste going to landfills – plus, it was the perfect vehicle to encourage a ‘sustainability’- focused culture, demonstrate the company’s commitment to sustainability, gain potential cost savings and enhance the Datamail brand.
THE CHALLENGE
Transforming the idea into action required buy-in from the Datamail leadership team, as well as enthusiasm and commitment from people willing to get it off the ground.
Datamail also had to:
• establish where its waste was coming from and where it was going
• make sure the programme was easy for staff to understand and follow
• communicate the changes to everyone in the Datamail team – and inspire them to take part
• achieve results, both for sustainability and for the bottom line.
THE CHANGES
Management gave their enthusiastic support to the programme, and in a resounding show of support 15 people volunteered to support and champion it. The newly named‘Greenkeepers’ were on their way!
In June 2007 the GreenKeepers ‘audited’Datamail’s waste by sorting, weighing and recording three days of rubbish. They established that 45% of the waste was recyclable and 37% compostable; meaning just 18% should have been going to landfill. Using the results of the audit, the GreenKeepers set the Datamail goal: to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill from the Petone site by a dramatic 30% within six months – from 49.38 kilograms a person per year to 30 kilograms.
After a comprehensive discussion of the logistics, the programme’s likely impact on staff and how best to communicate it, ‘GoGreen’ was born, along with a comprehensive communications plan and a presentation for Datamail staff.
Working to a specified ‘go live’ date, the GreenKeepers spent three weeks taking the presentation to their teams, together with posters, an email message from the Chief Executive and information at the monthly site meeting, where a recycling station demonstrated the new programme.
The night before go live, the GreenKeepers removed all staff rubbish bins and replaced them with small desk bins and paper recycling trays. Leaving a note on each desk that the big day had arrived, they made sure that everyone knew about it!
THE RESULTS
So far, the programme has proved a brilliant success: a second waste audit just eight months after the first showed targets had already been exceeded!
For example:
• waste going to landfill had reduced by 62% - from 49.38 kilograms per full-time employee to just 18.87 kilograms
• of the 239,750 kilograms of waste created at Petone, more than 88% (212,350 kilograms) had been diverted away from the landfill
• the paper recycling programme had been the biggest success, with the amount going to landfill plummeting from 26% of the waste to only 2.3%
• the frequency with which the company’s large skip (which holds all waste going to landfill) was being emptied has decreased from five times per week to two.
These ‘wins’ demonstrate Datamail’s success in reducing its impact on the environment – and the significant cost savings have meant great results for the bottom line!
AND THE WORK HAS NOT STOPPED
• All Datamail staff have been given drink bottles to remove the use of polystyrene cups at water coolers.
• All Datamail emails now include a sustainability message.
• Datamail Petone has recently added a composting initiative to divert more waste from landfill.
• Waste audits have taken place at the remaining Datamail Group sites, with the programme going group-wide in 2008.
What’s more, the success has been applauded by the wider New Zealand Post Group, with GoGreen replicated (with sitespecific modifications) at the Te Puni Mail Centre and looking to be extended further throughout the wider New Zealand Post Group.
In addition:
• In November 2007, Datamail Petone won the Professional Services category of the Hutt Valley Business Excellence Awards. Judges noted Datamail’s commitment to the local environment through its recycling and waste-minimisation programme
• A number of customers and visitors (especially those from the government sector) have congratulated Datamail on the GoGreen initiative.
Datamail Group - the leading provider in end-to-end business process solutions
New Zealand Post Head Office staff at a recent waste audit
New Zealand Post Head Office staff at a recent waste audit
Nick Lewis 2490°
Barbara M. 145°
Barbara R. 0°
B. W 0°
Bob S. 10°
Chris A. 31°
Dan T. 60°
Gail S. 20°
Jennifer K. 10°
This is really good to read. Were the staff orginally offered any incentive to get involved in this ?
Hi, No other incentive for staff other than spending a couple of hours away from their normal duties. We've found that employess are very quick to put their hand up.
Thanks Sally .. that's great to know . Very helpful .Can I ask one more ? Did it change people's behaviours in any other way . I mean in terms of making other changes on energy or waste at home or at work ?
Like it - clear and simple
any updates on this ?
Hi Barbara,
The project has grown significantly over the last year with many areas of the NZ Post Group taking on board the waste programme. There's heaps of sites throughout the country so it's being done on a site by site basis. Things like plastic or paper cups are becoming a thing of the paste. One of the new challenges is the desire of some staff for us to compost. This is currently being worked on.
This is brilliant. Good on you guys showing that no matter what organisation you are in there are people keen to make a difference. One quick question... Was this an initiave started from the bottom up or otherwise?
Hey Datamail, nice going! We did the same at our facility in Texas, and we found a huge amount of waste could be removed with just a little concerted effort by many people.