Repurposing office materials to drive positive change
With more than 1,800 facilities around the world, BMO is continually looking for opportunities to drive positive change through our focus on sustainable real estate practices.
That’s why we’ve partnered with our furniture supplier, Teknion, a Canadian company that has an industry leading program that helps customers divert unused furniture with a goal of achieving zero waste. BMO is leveraging this diversion program into our operations, working to identify existing furniture and fixtures that can be repurposed internally or donated during our construction of new spaces, and in retail and office space redesigns.
These items range from chairs, tables and panel systems to the major appliances used in our break rooms. The program also assists in repurposing an assortment of office supplies, including binders, stationery and writing materials.
Piloted in the summer of 2018 and expanding in Canada over the past year, the diversion program is one of the key ways that we’re managing our environmental footprint while also building stronger communities.
With 17 projects in total, we are already seeing the positive impact of this program.
More than 140 metric tonnes of furniture has been diverted from landfills, amounting to more than 392 metric tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) being avoided. That’s the equivalent of removing more than 82 cars from the road for the year.
More than 27 metric tonnes of our diverted furniture has been donated to 14 different charities in our communities. And items that could not be repurposed or donated have been disassembled and recycled according to best practices and industry standards. That adds up to 20 truckloads of waste – about 113 metric tonnes – being recycled instead of sent to a landfill.
As we continue to gain insights from this program, we’ll be looking at ways to incorporate and expand it across our footprint. It’s one of the ways we’re working to be a catalyst for positive change and Boldly Grow the Good in business and life.
Learn more about environmental stewardship at BMO here.
