Sustainable Business |  


Businesses across the UK are learning to create opportunities and make money by  re-using resources. The savings? £123m The cost of advice? Free. 
T

he National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) is a business opportunity programme that identifies and develops mutually profitable links between companies across all industrial sectors. This means that spent resources such as energy, water and materials from one company can be recovered or reprocessed and re-used by others. 
NISP is a nationally coordinated programme with a network of 12 regional offices.  The Northwest office, which covers the Manchester area, has a team of specially trained industrial symbiosis practitioners who provide free help, advice and support to companies of all sizes, and from every sector. 
NISP is funded by the UK Government and therefore does not charge companies to participate. Between April 2005 and March 2008 NISP members throughout the UK generated just over £123m in new sales and made savings in excess of £103m as a direct result of their involvement in NISP.  At the same time, the links generated between NISPÕs member companies have reduced the UKÕs carbon emissions by 4.4 million tonnes and diverted more than 3.4 million tonnes of business waste from landfill. 
NISP North West is working with companies from a range of industries throughout the regionÕs £98bn economy, including food and drink, automotive and construction. These include Bayer Cropscience Ltd, Diageo, Envar Limited, Melba Products, the North West Food Manufacturing Company and United Utilities.  ÒItÕs all about bringing companies together both big and small,Ó explains Malcolm Bailey, Regional Director for NISP in the Northwest. 
ÒIn some cases itÕs clear where the saving can be made, or where the opportunity is, in others itÕs less obvious and this is where the benefits of being part of a national programme with over 80 practitioners across the UK comes to the fore.  
ÒNISP doesnÕt only provide advice; it offers ongoing practical support that enables companies to turn opportunities into cash. As well as identifying ways to reuse previously discarded materials, we assist companies in securing resources to improve infrastructure and expand operations or help them obtain funding to carry out research and development.Ó 
Tel. 0845 3008025  | www.nisp.org.uk 


Did you know? 

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The links generated between NISPÕs member companies have reduced the UKÕs carbon emissions by 4.4 million tonnes and diverted more than 3.4 million tonnes of business waste from landfill. 
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