New operating guidelines for commercial property managers

The Better Buildings Partnership (BBP) — a group representing a number of Sydney’s leading commercial and public sector landlords — has launched Operational Waste Guidelines to help building owners, property managers and waste companies to work more effectively using a standard across their portfolios. The guidelines will be outlined at the Australasian Waste and Recycling Expo (AWRE), to be held from 12–13 August in Melbourne.

BBP member Oliver Batchelour, the director of Foresight Environmental, said the guidelines will resolve the biggest pain points commercial building owners face in the realm of waste management, such as inaccuracies in waste data reporting, which can impinge on Green Star accreditation. He explained that without verified waste data, key decisions regarding recycling rates cannot be made.

“There’s an element of operational cost control that cannot be managed effectively if you have inaccurate waste data,” he noted.

One of the problems with waste data reporting in Australia is that data is reported by weight, but most waste programs are generally collected, charged and reported by volume. The challenge and inaccuracies occur when converting from a volume-based system to a weight-based one.

The BBP guidelines promote the idea of using various criteria to provide a rating which will help building managers and building owners in benchmarking and comparing their waste against other buildings. This will be particularly advantageous for those attempting to achieve Green Star accreditation for operational waste management.

Batchelour will join speakers Rachel Caddie (Recycle Smart Consulting), Jon Collinge (Lend Lease) and Eliza Hoppe (Consolidated Property Services) in delivering the seminar session ‘New operating guidelines for commercial property managers’ at AWRE on 12 August. The session will describe how to use the new guidelines for more efficient procurement, management and reporting processes, with case studies on hand to identify and present real-world solutions for better waste management.

For more information on AWRE, its seminar programs and the list of exhibitors, please go to www.awre.com.au.