Can office parks be zero-waste? CRE managers are helping office-goers upcycle office waste into useful products.

While the concept of a circular economy and zero waste are popular across the industrial sector, corporate real estate too is weighing more precedence toward this direction. Innovative in its approach, Embassy Services Pvt Ltd supports its Co-Working and Business Park clients by proactively finding more effective ways of recycling waste.

Empty Milk Carton recycling at WeWork

Wework India, the renowned co-working space provider generates an average of 400empty Tetra Pack cartons every day,totalling over 8,500 every month,at its Mumbai office. Tetra Pack cartons are made primarily from high-grade paper. Hence, they can be converted into useful paper products and composite sheets used in roofing or to make furniture.

From every 8500 Tetra Pack cartons, ESPL gets four corporate bins, 20 exam pads, one garden bench or 18 pen stands, which are used by employees and tenants of WeWork. They are also handed over to visitors or anyone interested in taking them.

Commenting on this initiative, Raghuvinder Singh Pathania – Head of Operations, WeWork India said, “Having a proactive and skilled FM partner like Embassy Services makes it easy for us to pursue goals beyond our routine scope. As much as we are a globally responsible organization dwelling in sustainability at every level, our space users are aware individuals who find great value in such initiatives.”

Event promotion material upcycling at Embassy Office Parks

The Energize Program is a year-long community engagement program dedicated to engaging employees working at Embassy Office Parks. For promotions and glamour, backdrops and standees made of satin cloth would be used. Since the content on them was event-specific, they would go to waste after the event.

Since an average of three events were conducted every month at each of 12 business parks, over 300 square feet of satin was collected. These are sent to an upcycling unit and converted to sling bags, water bottle holders, compost bags, etc. For every 100 sq ft of cloth, 10 compost bags, 5 bottle holders and 5 sling bags are produced.

The compost bags would then be filled with compost and handed over to office park users along with saplings on World Environment Day.

Urban Green – Farming at the Workplace

Over 1100 plots of land at Embassy Office Parks have been dedicated solely for this activity, in which park users can adopt a plot of land for a cycle of three months. ESPL provides them with the seeds of their choice, supports them with resources needed and teaches them how to grow plants under the supervision of expert gardeners.

Office users grow their own plants and take home the produce once ready. The compost used for this program is generated by converting wet waste produced within the campus through vermicomposting and Organic Waste Converters. The program generates over 6000  kgs of vegetables annually.

Sudhakar Murthy, Head of Specialist Services Group, Embassy Services Pvt Ltd said, “Our clients often rely on us to provide innovative ideas for waste management and engagement initiatives. We proactively find resources that can support our vision and execute them with compliance. When a responsible client and a compliant FM partner come together, there is so much great work that can be accomplished.”

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