October marks National Reuse Month, a waste prevention initiative to raise awareness about the economic and environmental benefits of reusing everyday items and materials that would otherwise go to waste.
An Irish publicly funded initiative is providing a free ‘reuse’ service for businesses not just for October, but year round. SMILE (Saving Money through Industry Links and Exchanges) is Ireland’s free, award winning, national Industrial Symbiosis programme.
SMILE provides a platform for businesses to connect and identify synergies which encourages the exchanging of resources between businesses. SMILE aims to cut costs, reduce wastes, source materials, identify new business opportunities and improve competitiveness. Their ethos is that one company’s waste is another one’s treasure.
Recently SMILE has facilitated technical assistance which is delivered by a consultant based in each of the three waste management regions in Ireland i.e. the Southern Waste Management region, the Eastern Midlands Waste Management region and the Connacht Ulster Waste Management region. Their role is to liaise and meet with businesses, assess their waste streams and identify potential synergies where a waste in one business could be a raw material in another business.