Project Overview
When a social value driven supply chain work together…
Commercial real estate services provider, CBRE, as part of its work providing FM services to the Zurich UK portfolio, identified a number of surplus office furniture, fittings and supplies as a result of office moves and re-organising office spaces at three key sites. With sustainability at the forefront of both CBRE and Zurich’s business operations, a solution was needed so these items could be diverted away from traditional waste streams and donated to local communities who could make use of the items.
Encore Environment, a supplier to CBRE for facilities management waste services and waste data and carbon reporting, was contacted and successfully implemented its pioneering environmental and social value initiative, Project DIVERT, to facilitate the connection between the surplus waste items and local communities in need.
Achieving positive environmental and social value
From Zurich Insurance’s London office, 16 boxes of stationery were recovered including folders, pens/pencils, dividers, paper, staplers, and hole punches, and donated through Project DIVERT to Milton Keynes charity, Return MK, which provides activities to engage young people otherwise excluded from mainstream schools to enable them to have a sense of social inclusion. In addition, around 45 trophies have been donated to Winchester House School, part of the Stowe Group to be used across a number of schools for eco-champion trophies, sports and various prize giving awards.
In Cardiff, over 160kg of office furniture including a coat stand, 14 x flip charts and display stands, were successfully diverted to Cardiff based, not-for-profit organisation, NuLife. NuLife upcycles furniture for those in need working alongside Cadwyn Housing Association in response to the amount of people who were being housed without any furniture. A further 200 coloured stress balls from Zurich’s Birmingham office, have been donated to Waste Wise Kids, a nonprofit organisation that supports primary schools in teaching young children about waste, sustainability and recycling.
“We are so proud of Project DIVERT and what it can achieve to help local communities,” said Rachel Rowley, managing director at Encore Environment. “This would not be possible without the forward thinking actions of our clients. This Project DIVERT really shows how a supply chain of like-minded environmental and social value driven organisations can work together to reduce the amount of waste going through traditional waste streams and helping so many local community groups. It has a hugely positive impact on the communities involved.”
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