10 tips for designing effective and secure recycling processes
Here’s my input on some of the key things to consider when you are designing or re-designing your recycling processes:
1. Get the right people involved
Identify the people who perform each step of the process and ensure that they are involved. In a recycling operation this will include sales and/or account management, scheduling, compliance management and reporting, logistics/collection, goods-in, recycling operations (i.e. processing the goods or waste), dispatch/shipping and finance.
2. Walk through each process
If you have existing processes our advice to you is to walk through those processes since some operations do not always follow documented steps and processes have a habit of “creeping” or “morphing” over time.
3. Document your recycling process
Start off by mapping out the major steps in sequence. Detailed steps can be added later and indeed some task may require their own specific process map. Use Microsoft Visio or Smart Draw or equivalent so that the process diagrams can be maintained and updated. This can be useful for a variety of different reasons including training new staff, explaining your processes to ISO auditors or including in a tender response.
4. Fill in the details
List out every single step in detail including any decisions, outputs (reports, certificates of destruction etc), wait times, physical moves, storage areas and update your process document accordingly. Top tip: Don’t try to include everything in a single diagram. Some of your sub-processes or tasks will be pretty complex (e.g. hard drive removal and data erasure) so simply create a new process diagram and reference that in your main recycling process flow.
5. Review and brainstorm
Once this is complete, print out some copies of the flows on large sheets of paper (A3 or equivalent). Pin them to the wall and gather your team for a brainstorming session. Step through each process and look for risks and potential for improvement. Ask the following questions:
- Are there any opportunities for security/hazard exposures (e.g. non-sterilised clinical waste escaping from process, data bearing assets escaping from an IT recycling process)?
- Can steps be removed or rearranged to improve the efficiency of the process?
- Is the appropriate recycling data being captured at each point in order to automatically generate reports and invoices from your recycling software?
6. Implement physical controls and visual aids
Picked these tips up from Andy Howell at Stone Computers! – thanks Andy!
When building a process for sensitive waste streams it is recommended that you use physical controls such as secure access to certain areas and/or a one-way systems. This way you can limit the physical points where sensitive material (e.g. hard disks that have not been erased/destroyed, hazardous chemicals prior to treatment etc.) can potentially escape. Adopt good visual management within your warehouse. Colour code hazardous or potentially hazardous material so that you can clearly identify it.
7. Extend the boundaries and involve your customers
You might be able to control your own processes but it is unlikely that you can control your customer’s. For this reason you may benefit from getting your customers involved in the elements of your process that take place at their premises (e.g. collection of waste material). Top tip: ensure that you include a “handshake” step where a customer reviews a list of what you are collecting and signs it off. You should consider implementing good recycling software that gives you the ability to perform an onsite inventory and capture an electronic signature.
8. Try it out
Build your process or rearrange an existing process and try it out. If you identify issues are areas for improvement then make changes and update the documentation.
9. Perform continuous improvement
Make it a habit to continuously reviewing your processes and looking for opportunities for improvement. Small steps to greatness!
10. Practice full disclosure
If you have a top notch waste tracking software (not unlike We3 Recycler J) then you can provide your customers and auditors with full details of their waste materials as they pass through your recycling operations. This will provide you with major brownie points....your customers will have faith in your operations and professionalism and word will spread. Contrast this with a poor undocumented operation that does not or cannot disclose detailed information.
By no means an exhaustive list. For those of you who are handling data-bearing assets (PCs, laptops, servers, mobile phones, ipads etc) I recommend that you visit the ADISA (Asset Disposal Information Security Alliance) site and download a free copy of their IT Asset Disposal Standard.
As always I would welcome your thoughts and comments.