Local companies have revealed how they save up to £1,000 per employee every year - just by reducing waste.

During a half-day seminar and workshop held at the W5, Odyssey in Belfast on Tuesday, business representatives shared their cost-cutting secrets. The event was hosted by Envirowise, which provides free, practical environmental advice for UK businesses, and by Invest Northern Ireland.

The representatives described how companies had improved their competitive edge by implementing simple waste-saving ideas. In many cases this resulted in benefits amounting to the equivalent of around 1% of annual turnover.

Martin Gibson, Programme Director of Envirowise said: "Business people are often surprised - if not shocked - by the amounts they can save by being greener. Having an environmental policy is now a core business issue. It's good for the environment, too."

The companies giving testimonials had all been part of the TCS Flagship Waste Minimisation Project. This involved graduates working in companies for two years, on technology transfer schemes. Ideas included using fewer raw materials, using resources more efficiently and generating less waste. The afternoon training workshop showed the delegates who were involved with environmental practices in their own companies how to apply the principles of cleaner design to their own companies.

The event took place just as new legislation concerning the disposal of waste by businesses came into force. This week Environment Minister Dermot Nesbitt introduced the legislation, which could mean fines of up to £5,000 for companies breaking the law.

The new 'duty of care' legislation places an obligation on businesses in Northern Ireland to take due care in handling and disposing of waste.

Mr Nesbitt said the new legislation would mean an end of dumping at illegal unlicensed landfill sites and fly tipping because the producer of the waste now had a responsibility for its final destination and would have to prove that they disposed of it legally.

(MB)