For over 20 years CTC has been taking the approach that it is not sufficient to look only at waste from and end-of-pipe or output perspective – a mistaken view that solid waste is inevitable and it must be treated in the best possible way.
CTC will always look at a process (in a company or a society) from a Material Flow perspective. The Inputs are, in many ways, more important to consider than the Outputs – and CTC will follow the Material Flows from the beginning of a system to find the best possible resource efficiency solutions.
Often, companies are carrying out activities in a way that has evolved over years and when we ask them why they are doing things in a certain way, they say ‘that is the way we always did it’. They worry about the cost of waste and what to do with it – rather than thinking about the root cause.
The CTC approach – in its private consultancy work, and in the programmes and research it carries out – is that waste prevention at source is always the best option and we have developed considerable experience in this preferred option. We have many case studies to prove that a considered approach to the processes that companies undertake and the materials that they use, can lead to significant resource efficiency improvements and cost savings.
CTC has also carried out a large amount of research on materials and waste issues at a macro level – considering the best solutions across society, communities, homes and business generally. This has led to major policy-related documents being published, such as:
- Roadmap for a National Resource Efficiency Plan (2014)
- A Study of Pay-by-Use Systems for Maximising Waste Reduction Behaviour in Ireland (2011)
- National Characterisation of the Municipal Waste Streams in Ireland. (2004)
- Assessment and development of a waste prevention framework for Ireland (2002)
Through a combination of micro work with individual companies, meso assessments across business sectors and macro work in society, CTC has considerable knowledge in material flow and waste issues.