During 2019, we generated 864 tonnes of waste in the UK and the US. The gathering of waste data being collected in Asia continues to become more reliable in 2019. Waste and recycling continues to be a focus area for ongoing reporting. Of the UK and US total, 63 per cent was diverted from landfill through recycling, composting or incineration. Scope 3 carbon emissions associated with our waste are calculated at 42 tCO2e, a minor contribution to our overall corporate footprint in comparison with the energy use of our buildings and air travel. We continue to work with our suppliers to seek opportunities to increase recycling rates and decrease waste generation in the first instance. As an office-based business, we are not large producers of hazardous waste and so do not currently capture this in our global reporting.
In the US, Jackson’s Smartcycle programme provides an environmentally sustainable and cost-effective way for colleagues to discard food and compostable waste. Since the programme began in 2016, Jackson has diverted an additional 22 per cent of waste in our Lansing facilities from landfill through the diversion of compostable materials and food waste to aerobic compost facilities. After successful field-testing and analysis in our Lansing office since 2016, the compost programme was introduced in the Nashville office in 2019. Petroleum-based food containers have been replaced with compostable containers made from renewable materials such as sugarcane fibre, corn and wheat straw. Waste food and containers are sent for processing at state-of-the-art aerobic composting facilities to avoid the production of methane. Jackson receives a portion of the nutrient-rich compost produced, to use on the grounds to enrich landscape beds. Jackson rewards colleagues for their commitment to the environment through an incentive programme, which provides canteen discounts for use of non-disposable dishware, encouraging colleagues to use washable cups for coffee and water to reduce the consumption of disposable cups.
In Asia, we introduced Follow Me Printing in our One IFC office in Hong Kong, centralising the printer rooms, reducing the number of printers from 21 to 11 and adjusting the default printer settings to black-and-white and double-sided printing. These measures have resulted in a 50 per cent reduction in the average number of pages printed monthly.