Minimising waste in the food and drink sector: using the business club

approach to facilitate training and organisational development

Katherine Hydea,*, Linda Millerb, Ann Smitha, Jo Tollidaya

aDepartment of Environmental Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire, UKbIRS Research, London, UK

Received 17 August 2001; revised 8 July 2002; accepted 3 October 2002

Abstract

The aim of the East Anglian Waste Minimisation in the Food And Drink Industry Project was to develop waste minimisation capability in

food and drink sector companies by providing a structured training programme and consultancy support to participating members of a

business club. The business club forum provided the structure within which interactive training and development sessions were delivered.

Expertise and assistance in implementing waste minimisation and waste management programmes was given to member companies at their

sites.

The project resulted in £1,800,000 per annum of identified savings with £1,100,000 of verified savings already achieved. Training and

development contributed fundamentally to these project outcomes and achievements.

The structured training package used three different approaches or methods. Teaching and workshop sessions were used to present

interactive training on waste minimisation practice. These were supplemented by interactive ‘report-back’ sessions where the ‘project

champions’ presented progress reports to the club on waste minimisation at their sites.

An overview of the business club approach is described, together with an account of the successes and challenges of applying a structured

training and development programme and the barriers to waste minimisation that were overcome. Training effectiveness was measured

according to reaction, learning, application and impact.

q 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Waste minimisation; Organisational development; Business clubs; Training

1. Introduction

This paper describes the implementation and

evaluation of a programme of waste minimisation in the

food and drink sector using the business club approach.

Reducing waste leads to lower costs, improved profitability

and enhanced environmental performance. Waste minimis-

ation initiatives can be achieved through different

strategies and approaches that range from individually

commissioned projects to group projects and business clubs.

The business club approach provides a structured format

through which waste minimisation strategies can be

developed and initiated. In the UK there are many examples

of the business club approach applied to waste minimis-

ation, ranging from multi-sectoral clubs to regional, local

and single-sector clubs.

The food and drink sector dominates the economy of East

Anglia and generates large quantities of both effluent and

solid waste. The business club approach was suggested as a

possible mechanism for stimulating and achieving waste

minimisation and associated improvements in environmen-

tal performance. The East Anglian Waste Minimisation

Business Club was set up to provide members with a forum

for training and development through the mutual exchange

of ideas and technology. This was seen as a potential means

by which to encourage the development of commitment, co-

operative information exchange and tolerance to new ideas

on operational systems, in other words those attributes

typically associated with the development of group cohe-

sion and dynamics.

0301-4797/02/$ - see front matter q 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/S0301-4797(02)00209-8

Journal of Environmental Management 67 (2003) 327–338

www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvman

* Corresponding author. Present address: c/o 2 Hockeridge Wood

Cottages, Hockeridge Wood, Berkhamsted, Herts HP4 2SEZ, UK. Tel.:

þ44-1442-879-360.

E-mail address: katherine_hyde@yahoo.co.uk (K. Hyde).

1.1. What is ‘waste minimisation’?

Waste minimisation is a widely used term that is subject

to varied interpretation. In general, it is synonymous with

phrases such as waste reduction, pollution prevention,

source reduction, clean production and clean or cleaner

technology (Hirschhorn et al., 1993). Waste minimisation

can be defined as “systematically reducing waste at source”

(ETBPP, 1998). However, for the purposes of this paper, the

definition offered by the Institution of Waste Management

(IWM) will be adopted and the term waste minimisation

will be taken to mean:

“Prevention and/or reducing the generation of waste,

improving the quality of waste generated, including

reduction of hazard and encouraging re-use, recycling and

recovery” (IWM, 1996).

In this paper, the term waste includes the inefficient use

of raw materials and utilities such as electricity, water

and gas.

1.2. Why minimise waste?

The benefits to industry from implementing a waste

minimisation strategy are numerous. The two most

frequently quoted benefits are firstly, cost savings in terms

of improved operational efficiency and reduced waste

disposal costs, and secondly, improved environmental

performance (Christie et al., 1995; ETBPP, 1998; Read

et al., 1998). As much as 4% of turnover is typically lost

through wastage if the full cost of waste in UK companies is

considered including: rejected raw materials; wasted

energy, labour and processed product; and the cost of

treating the generated waste.

Implementing waste reduction measures can reduce

these losses by a quarter (ETBPP, 1998). Other benefits

reported by companies implementing waste minimisation

programmes include an improved public image for the

company, improved staff motivation, reduced long term

liability for environmental impact and degradation,

increased profitability and gains in competitiveness

(Christie et al., 1995). Measures such as reduced

environmental impact and degradation may, in the long

run, turn out to be even stronger drivers than those arising

from cutting costs: the FTSE4Good and Dow Jones

Sustainability indices have proved to be recent prompts

for businesses to report performance on issues affecting

the environment; furthermore the Association of British

Insurers and the National Association of Pension Funds

have also called for companies to report on environmental

and social performance (Cowe, 2001). The World

Resources Institute (WRI) and the Aspen Institute

(based in the USA) have also started to recognise the

importance of such factors, giving awards to MBA

programmes which, in the opinion of their judges,

incorporate environmental and social issues into their

core curricula. However, while future managers may find

themselves well equipped to confront environmental

issues, existing managers must also be enabled to keep

up-to-date in these key areas. Some companies have been

notably pro-active in this respect, running programmes

that both improve environmental performance and change

employee attitudes to waste.

1.3. Waste minimisation initiatives

Several large multi-national companies have

implemented waste minimisation strategies as a result of

pressures from within the company (Shen, 1995). 3M was

notable in this respect since it became the first company to

initiate an organised, company-wide programme of pol-

lution prevention called the Pollution Prevention Pays (3P)

programme in 1975 (3M Europe, 1991). The 3M scheme

involved a shift from traditional ‘end-of-pipe’ solutions

towards pro-active pollution prevention to both benefit the

company and protect the environment. The scheme

encouraged individual employees and teams to develop

projects that prevented pollution at source, incorporated

recycling and reuse, and consequently saved money. After

1975, the 3P programme evolved into 3P Plus and was

assimilated into corporate culture as a total environmental

quality programme of responsible product stewardship and

business and environmental strategies. Between 1975 and

the late 1980s, 3M recognised more than 2400 projects that

saved more than $480 million, eliminating 120,000 ton of

air pollutants, 16,000 ton of water pollutants, 400,000 ton of

sludge and 1.6 billion gallons of wastewater (Susag, 1989).

Similarly, the IBM ‘Environmental Master Plan’ was

introduced to support IBM’s worldwide environmental

planning and reporting programme (IBM UK Ltd, 1993).

The programme was successful in source reduction

initiatives such as reuse and recycling, chemical substitution

and air, water, energy and waste management programmes.

At IBM Canada it was reported that an award-winning

process that eliminated chlorofluorocarbons from a circuit

board assembly operation saved more than $500,000 a year

in operating costs (Shen, 1995).

Such schemes operated by multi-national companies

have been initiated principally as a result of company

foresight, policy and culture. These large, multi-national

company schemes are operated both with in-house expertise

and with the help of external advisers and consultants.

However, many UK companies that have implemented

waste minimisation programmes have been largely reliant

on external support organisations for expertise and assist-

ance. This is particularly the case with smaller companies.

1.4. Barriers to waste minimisation

In 1994 Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Pollution’s

(HMIP) launched the 3E’s initiative aimed at reducing

Emissions, improving Efficiency and improving Economic

returns. The aim was to promote to business the potential

K. Hyde et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 67 (2003) 327–338328

environmental and financial benefits that integrated pol-

lution control could bring (HMIP, 1996). However, despite

the advantages to be gained, many companies were reluctant

to undertake formal, systematic waste minimisation, and

companies that did initiate schemes sometimes reported

setbacks in the implementation of their programmes.

Since that time, other obstacles to both initiation and

successful implementation of waste minimisation pro-

grammes have been reported, particularly amongst small

and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and these have

included:

† general business inertia and reluctance to change,

† lack of capital and ‘short termist’ attitudes to investment,

† lack of time,

† lack of staff resources,

† lack of available expertise,

† underestimation of organisational solutions; and

† a belief that waste minimisation is only of relevance

within large companies and major processing

industries.

(Christie et al., 1995; Doniec, 1995; ETBPP, 1996;

ETBPP, 1998; Montgomery, 1997).

Welford (1996) refers to changes in business ideology

that are difficult to achieve because environmental manage-

ment standards have been set largely by industry itself and

have been designed to be voluntary. Thus, lack of an

‘environmental ethic’ may also be a barrier, particularly in

SMEs. There have been few reports in the management

literature regarding the development of the environmental

ethic in SMEs relative to reports of environmental core

values arising in large organisations.1 The attitudes of lead

individuals have a particular impact within smaller

companies, particularly in areas such as the development

of environmental policies and management systems, as

noted by several authors (Dobers and Wolff, 1996; Fleer,

1997; Keys Young, 1997; Gilbert and Gould, 1998). In many

SMEs the lack of expertise and in-house resources of the

type available within larger companies may delay the

emergence of environmental policies.

1.5. Overcoming barriers

Despite evidence being available to show that sound

environmental management practices can improve profit-

ability (Porter and van der Linde, 1996), it is a commonly-

held belief that addressing environmental issues will incur a

net cost (Montgomery, 1997). In other instances, environ-

mental issues may not be considered in the context of

profitability (ETBPP, 1996). A lack of understanding and

knowledge about waste-related costs within a company may

mean that waste minimisation is not recognised as being of

relevance to the balance sheet. Indeed, the ‘true cost’ of

waste is frequently underestimated. Therefore, strategies are

required to assist companies in overcoming barriers and

encouraging the wider adoption of waste minimisation

methodologies. Three strategies have been utilised in this

area: the development of corporate culture, legislative

compliance, and provision of expertise.

1.5.1. Corporate culture

In assisting companies in overcoming barriers to

environmental change, Barrett and Murphy (1996) describe

case studies showing that the effectiveness of policy

implementation is in large part determined by the extent

to which individuals and organisations are willing to take on

board innovation and change, and that the process of

adopting environmentally-responsible and sustainable prac-

tices needs to be regarded as a process of cultural change.

The support of the CEO and the Board is fundamental to the

implementation of this process of cultural change and must

be translated into the allocation of resources of time and

money, including support for staff environmental awareness

training.

Wehrmeyer and Parker (1996) suggest that corporate

culture is used by all employees as a reference point and that

individual behaviour tends to be changed in order to align

with the culture, whereas it is more difficult to change the

corporate culture itself. However, Klinkers and Nelissen

(1996) have described a project in which the involvement of

employees in corporate decisions on environmental care

was shown both to be a key factor in the improvement of

corporate environmental awareness and performance as

well as a key factor in optimising the success of the

corporate environmental policy.

1.5.2. Compliance with legislation

Legislation and its associated requirement for compli-

ance is one factor likely to encourage the wider implemen-

tation of waste minimisation policies. Although there is, as

yet, no legislation relating specifically to waste minimis-

ation, regulations such as the packaging regulations and

fiscal policies such as the landfill tax are already providing

incentives for companies to implement formal waste

minimisation programmes. Furthermore there is now the

suggestion that new European legislation would hold

businesses financially responsible for any environmental

damage they cause (Mann, 2001).

1.5.3. Availability of expertise

Aside from perceptions of ‘costliness’ and ‘irrelevance’

associated with waste minimisation programmes, lack of

expertise can constitute a barrier to implementation within

companies, and this is particularly likely to be the case

amongst SMEs. To overcome this barrier and bring about

the required organisational changes, one approach is to buy

in the required expertise in the form of external consultancy.

However, consultancy and training provided by external1 We are grateful to an anonymous reviewer for making this observation.

K. Hyde et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 67 (2003) 327–338 329

training companies can be both costly and difficult to

arrange.

1.6. The role of the business club in developing

organisational waste minimisation

The difficulties that may be experienced with external

consultancy and training have contributed to the adoption of

structured business clubs as a means to support British

companies seeking to develop waste minimisation expertise

and to optimise their training time. Approximately 122 UK

waste minimisation business clubs were listed by the

Environmental Technology Best Practice Programme

(ETBPP) in May 2000 (ETBPP, 2000).

Business clubs typically are initiated and run by a

partnership of interested organisations such as local

councils, utility companies, government business and

technical support organisations, regulators and universities,

with expertise in specific areas of relevance to most

members of the business group. In certain cases it may be

that many of the companies on one particular industrial

estate are involved, or alternatively many of the companies

within one regional sector. Typically, sectoral or regional

waste minimisation business clubs provide a forum and

support network for the training and networking of local

companies in waste minimisation practices (Aspinwall and

Cain, 1997; Cote et al., 1996; ETBPP, 1995a,b, 1998;

Johnston and Stokes, 1995). They may also sometimes

provide free or subsidised consultancy support to aid the

implementation of these practices.

Therefore the business club approach brings with it many

benefits, particularly for the small or medium-sized

company. Nonetheless, conflict may arise from bringing

together companies which are potential or existing business

rivals. In particular, Johnston and Stokes (1995) identified

competition between rival companies as a source of

potential problems that could arise during the operation of

a business club. They suggested that conflict between rivals

might lead to a less open approach during meetings,

reducing the training and development benefits and result-

ing in significantly lower estimated savings. Therefore,

while business clubs may provide many attractive potential

benefits, there may also be some difficulties in operating

them to maximum advantage of all participant members.

1.7. The East Anglian Waste Minimisation Business Club

for the Food and Drink Industry

The East Anglian Waste Minimisation Business Club for

the Food and Drink Industry was set up as part of a two-and-

half year research project funded through the Local

Competitiveness Challenge, and was identified by the

Government Office for the Eastern Region as a Flagship

Project. The project was led by Business Link Norfolk and

Waveney, the University of Hertfordshire and Enviros-

March Ltd. Project partners included: the Environment

Agency, Anglian Water Services Ltd, ETBPP, Norfolk

County Council, Tesco Stores Ltd, East Anglian Business

and Environment Club and the British Standards Institution.

Aims and objectives were established for the East

Anglian Waste Minimisation Business Club at the outset.

The primary aim of the project was to assist companies in

the East Anglian food and drink sector to improve

environmental performance and to decrease operational

costs. This was to be achieved by establishing and running a

business club that would facilitate the implementation of

waste minimisation initiatives and the tracking of savings

through the lifetime of the project. The objectives of the

project therefore were to:

† provide training and consultancy services via the

business club to support the development of waste

minimisation capability within participating companies;

† provide training and consultancy services via the

business club to support the development of monitoring

capability within companies, or where this was not

feasible, to provide monitoring services; and

† assess the extent of opportunities for, and extent of,

savings across companies arising as outcomes of the

project.

The longer-term goal was to develop a culture of

sustainable waste minimisation within each participating

company and to expand the programme and the business

club into other companies and sectors within the region.

The success of the waste minimisation training initiative

was assessed against the project objectives, which led to the

following questions becoming the basis for the evaluation:

† Was the training and support package successful in

developing waste minimisation capability within the

participating companies?

† Was the training and support package successful in

developing waste monitoring capability within the

participating companies, or, in those companies reliant

upon the University for this aspect of the work,

successful in supplying sufficient appropriate infor-

mation to allow companies to monitor waste savings?

† What number of waste minimisation opportunities were

identified within companies participating in the project?

† What was the estimated value of the savings generated

as an outcome of the project?

Lastly, while the development of favourable attitudes had

not been one of the explicit objectives, participant attitudes

to the initiative were also sought.

While attainment of the project aim would not depend

solely on the efficacy of the training, nonetheless attainment

of the training objectives would provide accountable

evidence for the success—or otherwise—of the overall

development package and the strategies promulgated within

the training. These objectives would make it possible to

K. Hyde et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 67 (2003) 327–338330

evaluate the overall benefits of the training and development

package, not least in financial terms as ‘value for money’.

1.8. Evaluating training

A key aspect of the evaluation was to assess the extent to

which the training had been successful in meeting the stated

objectives. The basic frameworks against which

training should be evaluated were originally proposed by

Kirkpatrick (1967) and Hamblin (1974). Both of these

authors recommended that any evaluation of training should

assess effectiveness at four different levels: reaction (did the

participants enjoy the training?); learning (did the partici-

pants learn anything?); application (did any learning gained

lead to change in the way participants perform their jobs?);

and impact (did the training lead to any changes in

performance at organisational level?). In fact, Hamblin

split the fourth level into two, measuring benefit of the

training for the organisation firstly at a local level, for

instance in terms of one unit’s production level, and

secondly at a fifth level based on a calculation of ‘ultimate

value’—the financial value of the training to the whole

organisation in terms of a full cost-benefit analysis.

Kirkpatrick and Hamblin first made these points many

years ago, and their frameworks are still recognised as

the ‘Gold Standard’ for the design of all evaluations of

training. Nonetheless it is still rare for the fourth level,

the economic impact of training, to be assessed.

Repeatedly, surveys indicate that few training courses

are assessed in any way (Saari et al., 1988, reported that

only 10% of training courses were evaluated in any way

whatsoever) or are assessed merely at the level of

employee reaction or extent of learning that has taken

place by the end of the programme (Axtell et al., 1997).

Tracey et al. (1995) have observed that few studies have

considered the transfer of learned skills to the work

environment (the third level, or ‘application’). At the

organisational (fourth) level, there has been little

evidence that companies are attempting to assess the

value of training in terms of improved company

performance and profitability (Kellie, 1999). Some

authors (Kirkpatrick, 1967; Macy and Izumi, 1993;

Phillips, 1997) have pointed to the fact that outcome

measures such as productivity and quality can be difficult

to measure.

Therefore the training programme for which the

evaluation is reported here differs from many other

programmes in two major respects: firstly, the training,

although delivered to individuals, is delivered with the

specific intention of achieving change at organisational

level; and hence this leads to its second major distinguishing

feature, in that the focus of the evaluation strategy is at both

‘impact’ (local organisational) and ‘ultimate value’ (whole

organisational) levels, and in particular is aimed at

identifying the total economic gains accruing to the

organisation. In addition, the evaluation was designed to

collect data from individuals regarding their opinions on the

training and development programme in order that refine-

ments might be made to any future initiatives.

2. Method

2.1. Partner organisations and participants

Fifteen organisations participated in the Business Club

(Section 2.3). One individual was identified within each

organisation to act as ‘project champion’. Project cham-

pions participated in the training programme, and were then

responsible for cascading the initiative within their own

organisation.

Other personnel from participating companies, for

example, directors, human resources staff and logistics

managers, also attended the training sessions, but respon-

sibility for ensuring continuity and roll-out of the pro-

gramme within companies lay with the project champions.

Therefore, while attendance for other personnel was

optional, project champions were required to attend all, or

at least a majority, of the training sessions.

2.2. Business club methodology: the programme

and the training

Description of the methodology adopted is divided into

three parts: Recruitment phase: launch and recruitment of 15

companies (6 months); Implementation phase: assessment

of the participating companies and implementation of

programme of training and support activities (18 months);

Evaluation and dissemination phase: evaluation of the

impact of the project and the training programme,

dissemination and replication (6 months).

2.3. Recruitment phase

Recruitment was conducted using a variety of methods

including: a mailshot to over 700 companies, a seminar and

a mixture of telephone calls and personal visits. All the

companies contacted initially were based in Norfolk.

The initial offer was made to any company operating in

the food and drink sector within the area served by Norfolk

and Waveney Business Link, whether a large company or an

SME. This was followed by a further mailshot to East

Cambridgeshire and the northern part of Suffolk. Some

companies were reluctant to join the scheme and it took

longer than the expected 6 month period to recruit the 15

companies required in order to satisfy the criteria set out

under the Competitiveness Challenge.

In general, the reasons given by companies for deciding

against participating in the business club included:

† management were already addressing waste minimis-

ation matters,

K. Hyde et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 67 (2003) 327–338 331

† waste minimisation was being addressed without exter-

nal consultancy support (i.e. at ‘lower cost’),

† the company did not have the time or resources to

dedicate to waste minimisation,

† not being convinced of the profitability or relevance of

waste minimisation for their organisation.

After 7 months, the target number of 15 organisations

had signed up to the scheme. Of these, seven were small or

medium-sized food processing companies, five were large

food processing companies and two were service organis-

ations within the food and drink sector. One service

organisation withdrew its commitment to membership as a

consequence of a change in management. Companies that

joined the project indicated that their decision was strongly

linked to the combination of the potential financial benefits

arising from waste minimisation and the benefit from

collaboratively funded training and consulting. The typical

motivations for companies joining the project included: an

identifiable drive to reduce wastage and so enhance

profitability; the desire to benefit from a training package

provided jointly by a training organisation and an industrial

consultancy; and the desire to benefit from the additional

financial rewards provided as a result of the public-funding

element of the project.

2.4. Implementation phase

Implementation consisted of training, consultancy sup-

port and facilitation of the implementation of waste

minimisation programmes within companies. This fell

into two main categories of support: centralised training

and more specific company-orientated site support.

Project champions were identified at each business club

member company to take responsibility for driving the

project forward on site. In addition to attending the training

and development meetings the project champions were

responsible for further disseminating the training and

techniques within their organisation.

2.5. Centralised training

2.5.1. The training schedule

Training days were held at intervals during an 18 month

period, commencing in December 1997 and continuing

through until June 1999. The centralised training sessions

followed a common format and were held at sites operated

by partner organisations or business club members. Core

training modules in waste minimisation methodology were

presented according to the schedule shown (Table 1) and

were delivered using a mixture of presentations and team-

based interactive training to encourage the flow of

information within and across the group and facilitate

assimilation of knowledge and practical skills (Bochniarz

et al., 1998).

Training modules were open to anyone from participat-

ing companies that wished to attend. Each training module

was followed by a progress-sharing session.

2.5.2. Champions’ feedback sharing sessions

A part of each training day was set aside for the project

champions to report to the club membership on the progress

of their teams since the last training day. These feedback

sharing sessions were highly interactive and stimulating

with time given to positive and negative experiences,

evaluation of progress, targets set, monitoring set-up,

progress in baseline consumption, process mapping, pro-

blems uncovered and solutions identified. Project cham-

pions were provided with the opportunity to update the

business club on waste minimisation progress in their

companies. Each project champion was encouraged to

present a report on actions, progress, problems and solutions

encountered since the previous meeting. These sessions

engendered a collaborative, competitive association

Table 1

Project champions meetings/fast track training schedule December 1997–June 1999 and conference

Date Waste minimisation session Fast track session

10 December 1997 Introduction to waste minimisation

11 February 1998 Data gathering Montage training

1 April 1998 Identification of opportunities Refrigeration training

3 June 1998 Structured problem solving Packaging—‘ the regulations and designing to meet

them’

30 June 1998 Project evaluation Energy efficiency, heating and lighting

23 September 1998 Project management Trade effluent, discharge consents, water conservation,

by-laws and industrial grey water recycling

18 November 1998 Workshop sessions on packaging and energy

efficiency

4 February 1999 Workshop sessions on Benchmarking and Progress

update

13 April 1999 BSi training on environmental management systems BSi training on environmental management systems

17 June 1999 Presentation on IPPC and workshop session

on maintaining the momentum

27 January 2000 All day waste minimisation conference

K. Hyde et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 67 (2003) 327–338332

between the champions and provided a stimulus to aim for

greater waste minimisation goals and to achieve more waste

minimisation initiatives.

2.5.3. Workshops

Each training day concluded with more specialised

‘workshop’ sessions associated with relevant environmental

issues including energy efficiency, the packaging regu-

lations, refrigeration and water conservation. The experi-

ence of individuals in cascading the waste minimisation

initiative was fed into these workshop sessions as part of the

development programme. Case studies and worked

examples were also used. These followed the presentation

component of each training day and provided a forum for

feedback and discussion amongst project champions,

including the sharing of best practice and solutions to

technical or operational waste minimisation challenges.

There was also further input from trainers and consultants as

and when necessary.

2.6. Site-based consultancy support

Specific company-oriented site support was provided in a

number of forms. Each site was allocated one or more waste

minimisation specialist(s) to co-ordinate and facilitate the

implementation of structured and sustainable waste mini-

misation programmes. Each specialist visited the allocated

sites at regular intervals to provide advice, training and

guidance in all areas of waste minimisation.

Specialist consultancy site work was also provided by the

project partners. Each partner was able to contribute support

to companies requiring assistance in a relevant field of

expertise. Areas in which partners were able to contribute

consultancy were identified and these skills were matched

with the specific requirements of each individual business

club member.

Additional support for each company was supplied

through the provision of specialist monitoring and targeting

software and through the availability of a Capital Award to

aid the purchase of monitoring and measuring equipment

such as meters. This enabled companies to analyse data

describing the consumption of utilities and raw materials,

and the production of waste. Examples of the type of

equipment purchased are set out in Box 1, below. Baseline

consumption and wastage rates were established and targets

set to improve performance. Data analysis allowed for the

identification of trends and opportunities for waste mini-

misation. The larger business club member companies were

provided with a site-operated copy of the software and with

training in use of the software. Since some of the smaller

companies in the business club did not possess sufficient

resources in terms of staff time or computer availability to

run the software, these companies forwarded data to the

University of Hertfordshire which operated a ‘Bureau

Service’ for the processing of data and for generating

regular progress reports to each client.

2.7. Evaluation and dissemination phase

The aims of the evaluation and dissemination phase can

be summarised as:

† to estimate the value of the project to the participating

companies in terms of skills acquired, savings made, and

organisational change achieved;

† to publicise to other companies in the sector and to other

industrial sectors, the technological initiatives and

innovation achieved during the project, both on a

national and international basis, including the value of

the training and development initiatives; and

† to increase the added value in competitiveness and

productivity accruing from the project by encouraging

similar schemes in other companies and sectors.

Although the evaluation and dissemination phase was

officially allocated a 6 month period following the

conclusion of the implementation phase, in practice

evaluation and dissemination was ongoing throughout the

duration of the project.

3. Results

In general, the progress sharing and interactive workshop

approaches received the most favourable comments.

The progress-sharing sessions for project champions pre-

senting the latest waste minimisation initiatives and

challenges on site were felt to be particularly useful for

promoting ideas, discussion and knowledge transfer

amongst the business club members.

Box 1. Examples of items purchased using Capital Awards

Evaluation of impact was facilitated by purchase of

items such as:

† Scales for monitoring yield of raw materials of

evaluate efficiency of changes to production methods

† Drip trays, to prevent blood from meat entering

effluent and to reduce raw material waste at source

† Water and electricity meters to monitor utility use

† Hose triggers to assist in reducing water consumption

† Effluent monitoring systems to allow separation of

strong waste from effluent and hence reduce effluent

tanker loads

† Baler to enable segregation and recycling of

cardboard

K. Hyde et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 67 (2003) 327–338 333

While the training topics had been geared to reflect

members’ expressed needs, there were some criticisms of

early sessions that indicated that the material was not being

presented in a manner that met the needs of managers and

operatives alike. The programme was therefore modified

firstly, to incorporate the training material into workshop

sessions and to alternate the taught and workshop sessions;

and secondly, to incorporate material that could be worked

through at either a relatively basic or at a more advanced

level. In this way, the participants could be grouped

according to their particular learning requirements and

each group could be self-directed to its own working level,

within controlled limits. Also, the members were encour-

aged to participate more in the training by leading particular

topic sessions themselves.

The afternoon ‘fast track’ sessions were initially well

attended, but attendance diminished as the programme

progressed. One reason given by the members was that of

being unable to justify taking a whole day away from the

workplace for training, on a regular basis. The training

schedule was adjusted accordingly and the number of

whole-day programmes reduced. The morning group

sessions continued to be well attended and it was evident

that the value of that training to the members far outweighed

any disbenefit of being away from the office.

The workshop approach also stimulated the level of

engagement amongst the club members at meetings. This

was enhanced by sessions led by managers selected or

volunteering from within the member companies.

The interactive and group approach allowed the business

club members to feel that they were contributing to the

programme and were, in an appropriate measure, able to

influence the content of the meetings and the future

programme. For example, workshop topics were provided

by the cold storage company on energy efficiency, and by

the wine bottling company on packaging initiatives.

3.1. Learning and application

By the end of the project, significant operational

experience had been accrued by the member companies in

terms of their competence to monitor on-going costs,

wastage and savings and in their competence to assess and

set appropriate and achievable targets.

This was evidenced firstly, by the progress made in

implementing waste minimisation initiatives within their

companies. Secondly, however, the development of training

and development capabilities within member companies

also contributed fundamentally to the project outcomes and

achievements. Training and development achievements

were evaluated in terms of the changes to knowledge,

skills, attitudes and behaviour (Bramley, 1996).

The following quotations from participating companies

demonstrate not just that change occurred at all of these

levels, but also that the value of the training received was

many times greater than the initial training costs including

membership of the business club:

“Waste minimisation has in effect not only made us save

a lot of money but improved our training skills beyond

recognition. You can’t save waste without telling people

how to do it.”

Managing Director, dessert production company; project

savings £22,400 per annum

“One of the main wastage areas was soon identified as

the off-cuts generated by operators in the trimming stage.

To reduce this, a combination of detailed operator training

and targeted managerial supervision of trimming was

introduced.”

Senior Manager, salad production company; project

savings £589,700 per annum.

“The changes we made may have brought about only

relatively small savings, but the project has led to an overall

change of attitude with regards to waste minimisation.”

Director, brewery; project savings £1200 per annum.

3.2. Impact

Some 221 opportunities for improvements and savings

were identified and quantified. The types of opportunity that

were identified are shown listed in Table 2.

Baseline consumption and wastage figures within each

company were established to help identify opportunities for

waste minimisation and to set targets for improvement.

The targets were agreed with the project champion at each

company and were reviewed during the periodic assessment

Table 2

Types of improvement or saving

† Reduction of raw materials’

waste at source

† Improvement in the

segregation of liquid waste

streams and effluents,

thereby improving treatment

efficiency

† Improved re-use rates † Reduction of amount of

waste sent to landfill or

licensed liquid waste sites

† Improvement of raw material

yield

† Reduced source water

abstraction

† Increase in rate of

use of grey water

and rainwater

† Increasing bulk purchasing,

there by reducing costs and

reducing waste packaging

generated

† Improvement in energy efficiency

and reduction of energy

requirements per unit of

production or output

† Increasing segregation of

solid wastes to facilitate

re-cycling

† Improvements to packaging design

to minimise waste generation

† Reduction of liquid effluent

generation

† Optimisation of freight logistics

K. Hyde et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 67 (2003) 327–338334

of waste minimisation achieved (recorded in tonnes, KWh)

and in the accumulating savings.

Table 3 shows for the thirteen participating companies,

the number of waste minimisation opportunities that were

identified during the project and the savings achieved per

annum.

A further 106 savings, with estimated value of over

£740,000, were identified as potentially arising from

initiatives that had not yet been implemented at the time

at which the project was evaluated. The value of these

potential savings, together with the £1,055,300 of savings

already achieved and ongoing (Table 3) amounts to a total

of £1,800,000 per annum of identified projected savings

(Hyde et al., 2000; Henningsson et al., 2001). Achieved

savings across all participating companies amount overall to

0.4% of turnover, representing an average saving of £390

per employee. If the projected savings are included in these

calculations, savings rise to 0.6% of turnover and £650 per

employee.

These figures indicate that the East Anglian Waste

Minimisation Business Club for the Food and Drink

Industry was effective in bringing about organisational

change and achieving significant cost savings (level 4 in

the evaluation framework). The comments made by project

participants also indicate that the training was successful at

levels 1–3 (reaction, learning and application).

4. Discussion

The results indicated that the training and development

programme was successful in achieving waste minimisation

amongst the participating companies. The delegates were

enthusiastic regarding the nature and content of the training,

and the learning achieved during the training sessions was

subsequently implemented and cascaded, leading to signifi-

cant cost reductions in each company. Within the conven-

tional framework used in the evaluation of training, the

programme can be said to have been a success at all four

levels: reaction, learning, application and impact.

The results indicated that the training and development

programme was successful in challenging, reducing and

overcoming many of the identified barriers to waste

minimisation. Lack of expertise can be one such barrier,

and as a result of this project, expertise was developed in all

thirteen participating companies which, together with the

savings achieved, contributed to the development of a

positive corporate culture towards waste minimisation. The

programme also demonstrated dynamics of willingness to

change, a change in attitude towards investing in waste

minimisation, including investing in staff training hours and

other staff resources, and the building of organisational

confidence in generating cultural change.

4.1. Provision of a structured training and development

programme using the business club approach

The East Anglian Waste Minimisation Business Club

was successful in providing a structured training

and development programme for 13 regional companies.

The formation of the club provided a useful forum for

training, support and mutual exchange of ideas for the

implementation of a structured waste minimisation

methodology. In line with the project objectives, waste

minimisation capability was developed in each of the

participating companies and the monitoring capacity was

Table 3

Opportunities and savings for thirteen participating companies

Type of company Size

(number of employees)

Annual turnover

(£)

Number of

opportunities

identified

Savings achieved

per annum

(£)

Indicative savings as

%age of turnover

Sandwich and snack producer 55 1.4 million 4 42,300 3

Wine bottling 90 .8 million 5 76,600 1

Condiment manufacturer 200 Not available 7 12,100 –

Chilled produce processing and

distribution

750 45 million 12 589,700 1.3

Salad grower and processor 700 45 million 22 147,500 0.3

Vegetable grower and processor 140 70 million 4 6600 0.009

Cannery 244 Not available 2 105,700 –

Dessert producer 35 ,1 million 10 22,400 2.2

Soft drink producer 250 Not available 5 17,500 –

Cold storage, frozen food processing 120 5.5 million 17 24,100 0.4

Housing trust and catering facility 55 þ 35 volunteers 1.5 million 10 7900 0.5

Hotel 9 150,000 11 1700 1

Brewery 5 300,000 6 1200 0.4

Total 2688 – 115 1,055,300 –

(1) Three companies did not publish case study details of annual turnover at the production site, but their data were included in the anonymised data sets.

(2) ‘Indicative savings as percentage of turnover’; value of savings drawn from database combined with indicative values of turnover provided by companies

for their case studies. The resultant values may differ somewhat from specific indicators based on the database values.

K. Hyde et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 67 (2003) 327–338 335

developed that allowed savings to be tracked. Savings of up

to 3% of turnover of individual companies were identified as

a result, when calculated using indicative values of turnover.

Participants developed a favourable, indeed enthusiastic,

attitude towards waste minimisation and the economic

benefits that accompanied it.2 In this respect the benefits of

the business club approach to encourage and support waste

minimisation corresponded to results from other studies

(Johnston and Stokes, 1995; Chinying Lang and Chinpeng

Ho, 1998; Christie et al., 1995; Read et al., 1998).

In addition, participants were also keen to point to other

benefits, such as the development of training and develop-

ment skills and expertise as additional benefits accruing

from participation.

Experience from the East Anglian Waste Minimisation

Business Club also indicated that the business club approach

provided the collective benefits associated with teamwork

such as cross-fertilisation of ideas, stimulation of inno-

vation, motivation and knowledge transfer, and stimulation

of management strategies. An element of stimulation and

impetus was provided during the early meetings of the

business club by project champions striving to demonstrate

who could drive forward the greatest number of waste

minimisation initiatives within their companies. Accord-

ingly, this club characteristic was credited with making a

contribution to the rate of progress within the participating

companies.

A study of other waste minimisation business clubs

conducted by Johnston and Stokes in 1995 concluded that

the principle benefit of this approach was from ‘ideas picked

up which could be directly applied’. Other benefits from this

approach included: “the inspiration stimulated by the

progress of other members; the pressure created by

the obligation to update the club regularly on progress; the

reassurance that other companies had similar problems and

the benchmark this provides; the experiences of different

methodologies; and the sense of community.” The authors’

experience of running a business club demonstrated similar

attributes to those indicated by Johnston and Stokes, since

the business club approach provided a successful and cost-

effective forum through which to deliver training to a group

of companies.

Nevertheless, difficult or challenging aspects of running

a business club have been recorded. Competition was

identified by Johnston and Stokes (1995) as causing

potential problems for business club operation. They

reported that “a conflict arose resulting in a less open

approach at the meetings, estimated savings significantly

below average for one of the competitors and a degree of

resentment.” Other problems may result if companies are

subject to commercial change, such as takeovers. In the case

of the East Anglian Waste Minimisation Business Club,

within the first year of operation of the club, one company

was acquired by a competitor group of another business club

member. However, subsequent business club meetings

remained congenial and no observable changes were noted

in the behaviour of two competitor companies in respect of

their participation during the first few club meetings. At the

point at which the acquisition occurred, significant progress

had already been achieved in respect to the group dynamics

mentioned earlier, such as sensitivity to group behaviour

and relational facility. Subsequent business club meetings

continued to produce a reasonably open approach to

information exchange amongst many of the companies,

such as those companies cited earlier. Therefore, the effects

of the acquisition on the group were considered to have been

neutral in impact.

Negative effects may arise when companies that are

closely linked within the supply chain perceive that it is no

longer ‘safe’ to reveal commercial or production data for

reasons of possible commercial vulnerability. Certain

negative effects were experienced by the East Anglian

Waste Minimisation Business Club when the companies

declined to participate in joint benchmarking during the

evaluation and dissemination phase of the project.

The companies indicated that they would not participate

in a joint benchmarking exercise for reasons of confidenti-

ality, despite assurances of anonymity. A further negative

effect that arose during the latter phase of the project was

that in some cases companies under-reported the savings

achieved in order to assure the perceived commercial

advantage attached to those savings.

Other problems associated with the business club

approach identified by Johnston and Stokes were that

project champions believed that they knew more than any of

their fellow club members and were, therefore, ‘giving more

than taking’, and some of their business club members

apparently felt that meetings were boring and that ‘too much

backslapping’ occurred. The experience of the East Anglian

Waste Minimisation Business Club also demonstrated that

some of the members thought that they were giving more

than taking. In certain circumstances some member

companies were more prepared to reveal details of

initiatives carried out and savings made than other member

companies. This may sometimes be an unhelpful attribute as

it can lead to a general loss of trust and information sharing.

Roberts (1998) has commented that “given the

inadequate resource-base of many partnerships, the need

for collaboration frequently outweighs the demands of

competition.” Overall, the East Anglian Waste Minimisa-

tion Business Club participants displayed precisely this

mixture of positive, neutral and negative effects arising from

forces of competition. The overall balance of the outcomes

however was positive, with each participating company

having made significant savings and having developed an

organisational ‘culture’ of sustainable waste minimisation

by the conclusion of the project.

2 It is possible that the companies that joined the project were those with a

more positive attitude at the outset. However, there are no data to indicate

whether or not this is the case.

K. Hyde et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 67 (2003) 327–338336

5. Conclusions

5.1. The benefits of the business club approach

Despite the problems described by various authors, the

business club approach to waste minimisation and the

development of regional networking has been heralded as an

efficient method through which to encourage and demon-

strate the benefits of waste minimisation and the generation

of collective solutions (Christie et al., 1995; ETBPP, 1998;

Read et al., 1998; Roberts, 1998). The benefits of regional

networks for the transfer of information, technology and

knowledge have been recognised for some time and regional

business clubs have been established for a variety of

purposes. Cooke (1996) reports that regional innovation

networks have provided an effective way of transferring

knowledge concerning innovation and that business net-

working is an effective way to increase company turnover.

Cooke’s ideas were supported by the outcomes of the

project reported here.

Cooke (ibid.) has also argued that “not-for-profit

organisations are excellent for setting up networks because

they are trusted”. This was an important consideration in the

role to be played by Business Link Norfolk and Waveney

and the University of Hertfordshire in the initiation and

operation of the East Anglian Waste Minimisation Business

Club. The trust of member and partner companies and

organisations was essential to the success of the business

club since the possibility of a regulator or utility company

obtaining sensitive data could severely compromise the

openness required for successful club operation.

5.2. Possibilities for the future

The study by Christie et al. 1995 indicated that business-

to-business networks are very important in the dissemination

of waste minimisation strategy and methodology amongst

industry. Companies particularly valued the assistance of

organisations with a record of success in developing and

implementing environmental management systems and

cleaner technologies. This, together with the experience

gained from the East Anglian Waste Minimisation Business

Club, would suggest that there is yet more potential for waste

minimisation business clubs to continue to evolve for some

time whilst more companies continue to implement environ-

mental management systems and cleaner technologies.

Companies that have participated in waste minimis-

ation business clubs like the East Anglian Waste

Minimisation Business Club are in an advantageous

position to identify other companies within their supply

chain who wish to implement waste minimisation. The

‘initiator’ company then has the opportunity to act as

mentor to the supply chain companies, providing

training, support and expertise that has been assimilated

through their own participation in the business club.

Realistically, the mentor company is only likely to

provide these services given the opportunity of some

mutual benefit. In any case, the ‘pass it on’ factor

should be borne in mind during the planning phase of

future business club training projects, with the business

club perhaps being structured so that the larger,

consumer-facing organisations may act as mentors for

companies within their supply chain. This should

provide more efficient encouragement and propagation

of waste minimisation strategies within organisations.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Jennifer Hurstfield for

helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.

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