Advantia Business Solutions Blog

Did you know a typical office of 100 people produces on average 20 bags of waste a week? This fills one 1,100L waste bin a week, equivalent to filling fifty 1,100L waste bins a year! Over 90% of this office waste can be recycled, but the idea of recycling is often overlooked by many people. Recycling is relatively easy to deal with, and shouldn’t be too difficult to introduce to your office! Here are 7 top tips for reducing your waste and implementing an effective recycling system that will obliterate your waste and put you on the path to sending nothing to landfill. 1. Focus on paper consumption It’s hardly surprising to hear that most office waste consists of paper. We all use it and we are all most likely guilty of wasting more than we should. The first action you can take to reduce paper is to set up your printer to print double sided, as this simple action can halve paper consumption. The second step is to ask yourself if what you are printing really ne...

Any type of business that’s tendering for new contracts, working towards an accreditation or explaining its progressive approach to customers, employees or suppliers can find itself answering questions on its eco behaviour. So what part can technology play? Quite a big one when it comes to improving environmental performance and cutting costs. When it comes to devices and systems at work, measures that can be taken to improve environmental outcomes can include how products are chosen and how, when and where people work with and recycle technology. Being a better environmental player can include small steps to begin with. Even if a business isn’t kitted out with movement detected motion sensors to turn off un-needed lights, or smart technology to adjust air temperature, there are a few steps any organisation can take to be that bit more environmentally friendly with its tech: Choose wisely Checking existing equipment to see if its life can be extended or performan...

Work trends have evolved dramatically over the past few decades and it is likely to never stop changing over the coming years. To prepare businesses for some of the possible changes, here are five ways the office will change in the next five years and how business owners can adapt to keep up with the ever changing pace at work: 1) Openness and transparency will be key The population of the workforce are beginning to be filled with the Millennials who are a generation of ‘caring and sharing’ – having shared most of their time on social media, blogs and vlogs. In a recent study it was found that both Generations Z and Y believed honesty is the most important quality for being a good leader. With them being used to open and transparent environments outside of work, it is becoming a common demand within their working lives too. There will be no management offices dividing the workers, and teams will sit according to projects. Small businesses will benefit greatly from this as ...

It is the end of the week, and what makes it even better is the fact that today is World Environment Day! The United Nations created today as the primary vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness for the environment. Over many years it has become more and more popular and is now considered a global platform for public outreach, giving over 100 countries the opportunity to celebrate the planet’s environment. Today serves as the people’s day encouraging us to do something positive for the environment, inspiring a wide collection of power that generates positivity on the planet. The theme for today is “Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with care”. It clearly highlights that humanity, the environment and the economy functionality ultimately depend upon the care and management of the plant’s natural resources. However, evidence shows that people consume far more natural resources than what the planet can sustainably provide. Many ecosystems on Earth are in critical danger ...

Being kind to the planet should be something we all do, so why not make your office greener? (And by that I don’t mean getting the walls painted bright green!) As you probably know, it is beneficial to the economy, but it can also be beneficial to your health and decrease energy costs. Below are some eco-friendly options to making your office greener: Paper Products Paper is one of the most used products in the office. Did you know that 12.5 million tonnes of paper and cardboard are used annually in the UK? However, only a small percentage of these are eco-friendly products. Instead of buying your average paper from the stationery shop, take a second to think wisely. Considering you probably use it at least 5 times a day for printing, writing, reading etc, you could help the environment as well as get your job done. There are many types of paper you can purchase such as FSC approved paper, 100% recycled paper and even carbon neutral paper. Recycled paper produces 73% less ai...

As some of you may know, Canon Europe are a very successful business and they are now celebrating the 25th anniversary of its laser toner cartridge recycling programme. This is an incredible achievement considering recycling is a very important factor for businesses dealing with a large amount of recyclable materials – however not everyone is recycling! The Canon programme is available for genuine Canon toner cartridges and is designed to minimise the use of resources whilst enabling customers to meet their printing requirements. Even before they are designed, Canon’s cartridges keep recycling in mind all thanks to HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene) plastic, which can be recycled multiple times and still achieve a quality level equivalent to if it was new. Reusing parts, recycling materials and energy recovery all combine together to play a vital part in not sending waste to landfill from the cartridges - making it environmentally efficient. The cartridges that are returned by cust...