At ISB Global, our work is not just about helping waste and recycling companies to be more efficient. It’s about using our skills to drive the move to a circular economy, eliminating waste going to landfill and supporting action that will have a positive effect on the climate emergency.
As we have built our business, this motivation has been the foundation of our work. We know the impact that waste generation and material consumption is having on our planet. We know there are ways to do things better, and that we can create intelligent technologies that support businesses to be commercially successful while also contributing towards a more sustainable way of doing business.
What’s the problem?
There’s not just one problem we need to tackle. But for the purposes of the Zero Waste Business Network, the problem we have is two-fold: consumption and waste.
We are voracious consumers. We want the latest technologies, the comforts of modern living, the cheapest clothes, and the newest gadgets. We want big cars and more holidays. All the things we buy require raw materials to create – and those raw materials are finite. We cannot consume infinitely when the planet has limited resources.
Put simply, the world cannot continue to consume raw materials at the current rate. At some point, fresh resources will run out. What we throw away does not go away.
At the same time, we produce a tremendous amount of waste. This varies from country to country of course, but even in the UK we still send far more waste to landfill than we need to – and that waste is a significant contributor to the climate crisis – producing greenhouse gases and leaching poisons into the soil. Waste that doesn’t make it to landfill often ends up in rivers and oceans, damaging sea life and causing deterioration in water quality.
What is the answer? We need to change our consumption habits, change our waste habits, and find better ways to reduce raw material use, reuse the materials we’ve already mined, and recycle wherever we can.
The Zero Waste Business Network
We are proud to be an SAP partner. SAP is committed to finding ways to support this problem – 77% of transactions around the globe come into contact with an SAP product somewhere, so the company is ideally placed to influence behaviour and make a difference.
We’ve come together with SAP and other partners to offer a solution to the climate emergency that supports businesses to succeed sustainably and ethically. This is called the Zero Waste Business Network.
As part of the SAP Sustainability Management portfolio of products, the Zero Waste Business Network is a suite of modular applications that incorporates multiple SAP, partner software products, partner intellect and market knowledge. This unprecedented collective of expertise inspires a circular economy. Managing product and material design, sourcing, production, consumption, recovery and reuse, logistics, transport and finance.
Can we get to zero waste?
It’s difficult to imagine a world without waste. The first step needs to be targeting zero waste to landfill. Keeping waste out of our land spaces and our water systems will have a big impact on the greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere and the poisons leaching into soils and water supplies.
By helping waste and recycling management companies to collect, separate and discover new income streams from waste materials, the Zero Waste Business Network can have a positive influence on business strategy and consumer behaviour – building positive impacts for the long term.
To find out more, contact our team today or visit our showcase below.
