Effective environmental management starts with good data. But with limited resources, how do you decide what to measure and how to make sense of the information you collect?
Start with the basics
Before investing in sophisticated monitoring systems, make sure you have the fundamentals in place. At a minimum, you should be tracking energy consumption, water use, and waste generation at site level, ideally broken down by production volume.
Key performance indicators
The most useful environmental KPIs relate resource consumption to production output. Measures like energy per tonne of product or water per unit produced allow you to track efficiency improvements independently of production volumes.
From data to decisions
Data is only useful if it leads to action. Establish regular review processes—weekly operational reviews and monthly management reporting—to turn monitoring data into improvement opportunities.
Technology options
You don’t need expensive systems to get started. Many organisations begin with spreadsheet-based tracking before investing in more sophisticated solutions. The key is consistency and accuracy, not complexity.