{"id":6240,"date":"2020-04-08T14:25:29","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T19:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/?p=6240"},"modified":"2020-04-08T15:10:05","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T20:10:05","slug":"3-steps-to-becoming-carbon-neutral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/3-steps-to-becoming-carbon-neutral\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Critical Steps to Becoming Carbon Neutral"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\">Carbon neutrality is becoming an increasingly important factor in the way businesses operate. Some of the world\u2019s largest companies like Lyft, DHL, Ikea, BMW, John Deere and Daimler are making commitments to achieve carbon neutrality, and the trend is catching on throughout the supply chain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\">When it comes to carbon neutrality, it\u2019s very easy to get \u201ctunnel-vision\u201d and hone in on fleet operation, but there is a secret to carbon neutrality\u2014everything counts. Every waste stream your operation produces is a source of carbon, both in its creation and disposal. Establishing a waste reduction and recycling plan is critical to achieving carbon neutrality for your operation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\">Assuming you\u2019ve already taken steps to make your fleet more carbon-friendly through technological advances like routing software, trailer tails and electronic tuning of trucks, what are the steps to carbon-neutrality that you\u2019re missing?<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\"><b>The Path to Carbon Neutrality<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\"><b>1. Measure Everything<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\">With the mindset that every pound of waste translates to a carbon value, you need to track everything,<i>\u00a0<\/i>not just the waste produced through manufacturing processes. Here are some examples of waste that manufacturers and fleet operators don\u2019t often consider:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\"><b>Pallets<\/b>. Pallets are a very common item in the shipping and logistics world, and although they are commonly re-used, what happens to them when they break? Typically, they end up in the dumpster. That\u2019s perfectly good wooden material that can be recycled as biomass, for example.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\"><b>Packaging<\/b>. Packaging materials from breaking down a pallet of goods, or excess material created when wrapping up pallets, all end up in a landfill unless you have a recycling program in place.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\"><b>Used oil<\/b>. Fleet maintenance, a critical aspect of an operation, brings about used motor oil. Not all oil recycling programs are created equal, so make sure that however you choose to recycle motor oils is the best option for reducing your carbon footprint.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\"><b>Used oil filters<\/b>. Used oil filters can be tricky to recycle depending on local regulations and the materials the filters are made of. Make sure that all recycling programs are not only in compliance with regulations but also in line with your company\u2019s carbon neutrality goals.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\"><b>Used fluids<\/b>. Other waste fluids, such as\u00a0antifreeze, brake fluid and transmission fluid all have specific regulations regarding how they can be disposed of. In many cases, these fluids are recyclable.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\"><b>Used tires<\/b>. Tires make up a huge portion of a fleet\u2019s waste stream. Traditional methods of tire disposal are extremely carbon-heavy. Finding the right recycling program that offsets this carbon will have an extremely positive effect on your environmental impact.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\"><b>2. <\/b><b>Utilize Technology<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\">Technology is constantly changing the way we conduct day-to-day business operations and can play a critical role in managing waste streams. If you want to achieve carbon neutrality, you have to start with how much carbon you produce. This is where using the right waste and recycling vendors is absolutely critical.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\">Without data on what you\u2019re throwing away, you\u2019ll never know where to start. Waste vendors need to be utilizing tracking systems to tell you exactly how much waste you\u2019re producing and where it\u2019s going. The key is to find vendors that offer that kind of transparency and accessibility to data. Working with a single vendor to handle all waste streams and recycling programs can be the differentiating factor between managing a program with real insight and just another question mark on your carbon footprint.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\"><b>3. Put the Numbers to Work<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\">All the data collection in the world isn\u2019t going to do you any good if you don\u2019t apply it where it\u2019s needed most. When asking the question of how to achieve carbon neutrality, the simple answer is often to \u201cbuy carbon credits.\u201d That answer isn\u2019t wrong, but it\u2019s not 100% right either. An \u201caverage\u201d ton of waste diverted from a landfill equals an estimated 2.5 metric tons of CO2 emission reduction. So, every ton recycled means less carbon credit needed to offset your carbon footprint. Carbon credits are a quick solution, but they are expensive. By reducing the total number of carbon credits you need, you save money twice\u2014once when you reduce your waste and again when you use fewer carbon credits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\">Another aspect of putting these numbers to work is sharing them. Communicate successes and weak spots from the C-suite to the investors. Consumers and shareholders alike need to know that they are putting money into a company that\u2019s dedicated to making a difference.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Helvetica;\">The application of carbon-neutral practices not only allows your business to remain competitive, but it\u2019s also an initiative that consumers and investors both seek. Aside from the obvious benefits to the environment, taking this \u201call waste-counts\u201d mentality saves your business money in the long run. When you waste less, you spend less, and you look great doing it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: Helvetica;\">This article originally appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sdcexec.com\/sustainability\/article\/21126470\/quest-resource-management-group-3-critical-steps-to-becoming-carbon-neutral\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SDCExec.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Carbon neutrality is becoming an increasingly important factor in the way businesses operate. Some of the world\u2019s largest companies like Lyft, DHL, Ikea, BMW, John Deere and Daimler are making commitments to achieve carbon neutrality, and the trend is catching on throughout the supply chain. When it comes to carbon neutrality, it\u2019s very easy to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":6241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fleet-efficiency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}