As the leading manufacturer of ergonomic office products, Humanscale aims to have a net positive impact on people and the planet. Humanscale’s west coast facility is located in Fresno, California. Fresno’s small but dedicated team of employees were able to achieve a very high diversion rate of nearly 98% waste from landfill.
Humanscale aims to use materials as sustainably as possible. Achieving and maintaining TRUE Zero waste certification is a company-wide effort that requires participation and support from multiple departments. Our Packaging Engineer and Sourcing team is called on to eliminate waste before it occurs – working diligently with suppliers to rethink and redesign packaging that enters our facilities with the goal of reducing the amount generated in the first place. They also ask suppliers to prioritize packaging that can be reused or recycled.
Our Operations team works tirelessly to ensure that the waste management systems in place are working so that the material entering our facility is being properly handled and sorted. Periodic waste audits are conducted by Operations to assess the efficacy of these systems. Any time contamination is found in a waste stream, a corrective action is taken to prevent it from reoccurring. The Sustainability and Operations teams review waste audits to confirm as much material as possible is meeting best use. The Sustainability and Contracts team work together to review waste vendor agreements and pickup schedules. To meet a 90% diversion rate target, our teams met to review our progress monthly, and in 2020, Humanscale Fresno achieved the goal of diverting over 90% of non-hazardous waste from landfills.
Some specific waste strategies Fresno implemented to achieve over 90% waste diversion included reusing incoming packaging as outbound product packaging and eliminating single use cutlery in the cafeteria and asking employees to bring their own reusable items from home.
Humanscale has an overall goal to achieve a net positive impact on people and the planet. Reducing and managing waste and material use in a responsible and sustainable manner is imperative to realizing this goal. TRUE certification has validated that our processes are effective and that our calculations are accurate. Achieving TRUE certification taught us best practices and substantiated our waste program.