The first item sold on EBay and lessons in resource efficiency

I don’t like useable stuff ending up in skips. So I set up www.warp-it.co.uk last year. We have saved clients £1000’s, 1000’s tonnes of CO₂, diverted tonnes and tonnes from landfill. 80% of Tyne and Wear Local Authorities use WARPit.

The secret to keeping nice stuff out of skips is being able to find new owners quickly and easily. To do this, a large network of interested subscribers is required.

The first item ever swapped on EBay demonstrates that if you have a large network you can almost always find a home for resources that are surplus or underused.

WARPit allows organisations to set up sharing/swapping circles for their staff to trade surplus or underused resources with other staff in the organisation, to stop unneeded purchases, save money and reduce environmental impact.

To maximise value to the primary organisation it is important to reuse items within the organisation where possible. Staff subscribers belonging to the primary organisation are known as Priority 1 subscribers. I tell clients to have as many staff as possible on their internal network.   

The more internal subscribers on an organisation’s WARPit system, the more chance that the items will be reused within the organisation and save money on purchasing new equipment.

In some circumstances there may not be the opportunity to reuse the equipment/items within the primary organisation due to time and space pressures- or lack of storage facilities. In this situation the items can be advertised to Priority 2 subscribers if required.  This is another benefit of having a large extended network- never incur disposal costs or risks again- because you can pass unwanted surplus resources to other’s.

Priority 2 subscribers are usually local partners, charities and businesses. Priority 2 subscribers help to set up town/city and region wide sharing networks. This is a network of organisations who are swapping and sharing surplus or underused resources with each other.

If you have a large enough network you can always find a home for your surplus or underused resources.

A tool for Facilities Management and the efficient management of surplus and underused resources #FMto set a title.

WARPit is a management tool for an organisation’s resources.  The system finds new owners for surplus resources, such as furniture, equipment, consumables, supplies, fixtures and fittings- whilst dealing with issues such as liability, duty of care and security.

Through a system of sharing networks- the system finds new owners within the same organisation in the first instance, or if not available in partner organisations. This reduces disposal costs and risks as well as freeing up space and provides a legal auditable traceable system for the management of resources- as well as other benefits.

 

Freeing up space

 

WARPit also helps to free up badly used space, as WARPit encourages staff to upload and redistribute surplus resources- it encourages de-cluttering, which increases space efficiency.

 

Furthermore the loaning facility allows organisations to free up space by loaning out resources they might only use once in a while which they normally have to store. A great example of this is a University who usually stores exam desks between usage. WARPit provides the legal framework to loan the desks to schools when not in use- saving on warehousing. 

 

Storage solutions

If an organisation does have the luxury of storage WARPit acts as a stock management tool- so that resources which are surplus to one staff member can be efficiently collected, stored and via the system, redistributed.

There is usually a problem with storing resources in large organisations. See here: Additional there is  only usually one person (if any) who knows what is in the store, this can be a drain on time and effort. WARPit solves this. Using WARPit search facility- staff can view the stored resources online which means they don’t have to visit the store, saving time and risk.

Another common problem in organisation stores is that convenient space can often get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of resources being stored which can lead to a mismanaged store. As there is no easy way of knowing what is in the store, the resources in the store do not get redistributed efficiently. The resources then are stored over time becoming obsolete- and then have to be thrown in the skip. In effect some organisations are actually paying to store waste before paying to dispose of it- with all of the human effort this entails of loading the store and then transferring to skip.

Bulky waste management

There are also some other features of WARPit which makes it a good FM tool- users can upload details of bulky waste and WEEE and the details can be sent directly to the responsible disposal person or contractor- acting as a bulky waste management system

 

Efficiency

The obvious environmental benefit of WARPit is that it keeps stuff circulating, maximising use and extending the life span of equipment. The big environmental saving is that organisations do not have to buy new products- saving waste carbon emissions and of course purchasing costs.

However because the system finds new owners feeing up space- then waste disposal costs and risk are avoided. Furthermore space is used more effectively which saves costs also. 

Endorsements

I have had some nice endorsements for WARPit lately: 

 

Julie Parkinson, Category Procurement Specialist , Northumberland County Council said 

"WARPit is a no brainer. There are so many benefits to the authority using WARPit.  Led by Procurement we have managed to intercept orders and steer staff to this portal which not only saves our disposal costs but reduces spend.  Working with a local social enterprise for all our transport requirements has also been working well for the local economy.  Overall after only a few months, the benefits have been fantastic!"

 

Dianne Pattison, Policy Officer Sunderland City Council said

“I would definitely recommend the system to other councils. It has solved all the issues we had initially [redistributing resources efficiently] and eventually the system should run itself. I think it is imperative to be seen to be leading by example. We are now rolling out WARPit to other large organisations in the city”

 

Tessa Bowering, Senior Environment Officer, Environment Agency said 

“Daniel made an excellent presentation to the South Wessex Waste Minimisation Group (SWWMG) on his redistribution network, WARPit... we are hoping to utilise the system on a large scale with all 250 member organisations.  I am looking forward to taking the project forward as I see it as a very worthwhile and exciting venture. ”

Louise Moore  , Managing Director, Innov8 Disposal Ltd said

“The work he has done on WARPit is amazing and I believe the future for Councils/Blue Chip companies and Multi-Nationals. I can highly recommend Daniel and his business.”

 

Vishwa Wijedasa, Practitioner, National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) said

“Daniel is an excellent speaker that can captivate an audience. He is an entrepreneur and has created a system that can assist organisations of all sizes to reuse their surplus or unwanted resources. Professionally, Daniel is very approachable and is able to transfer his positive energy to those that meet him to great effect. The British environmental sector needs more people to follow his lead.”

 

Simon Ward, Solicitor, University of Sunderland said

“Daniel's concept is impressive and I'm sure it will be a winner. I have been pleased to assist the University of Sunderland in finalising its agreement with WARPit. Daniel deserves his success.”

 

WARPit has only been live for 11 months and is saving an average of £1K and 700KG CO2e per week for clients. 

 Sunderland City Council have saved £75,000, 31.4tCO2e and diverted 15 tonnes  waste from landfill in 10 months.

The University of Southampton have saved £3.5K in avoided procurement in 4 weeks!

Northumberland CC acheived payback in 8 days. 

A big thank you to my early clients!