Reducing industrial waste: concrete strategies and innovative solutions

Against a backdrop of growing economic, environmental and regulatory pressure, reducing industrial waste has become a strategic issue for any company wishing to reconcile performance and responsibility. Whether it’s lost time, excess energy consumption, unused raw materials or unused waste, every link in the production chain can generate an invisible but real cost.

In this article, we offer you an overview of concrete actions you can take to optimize your industrial processes, based on proven tools, real data, and innovative solutions like those we’re developing at Teeptrak. The aim: to transform every loss into a value-creating opportunity for your industry.

Key figures

“29% productivity gain after implementing TRS monitoring (source: Teeptrak customer case study)”.

industrial aspillage: causes, issues and consequences

Definition and forms of industrial waste

Industrial waste covers all human, material, energy and time resources used without generating value. It manifests itself at different levels:

• Energy overconsumption due to poorly regulated machines or inefficient processes.
• Time : waiting periods between two operations, microstops, unnecessary travel.
• Material raw materials or components that are discarded, unsold or misused.
• Quality Quality: rejects, non-conformities or rework leading to losses.
• Logistics overstock, flow disruptions, delivery errors.
• Workforce under-utilized or misallocated personnel in the production process.

These losses are not always visible on conventional dashboards, but their real cost adds up to millions of euros a year in some industrial companies.

Myth vs. reality

“We often think that waste is only material. In reality, waiting times or human errors often weigh more heavily.”

Economic, environmental and social impacts

Did you know?

“Energy waste represents up to 30% of a production site’s invisible costs.”

Where do losses come from? (stock, energy, time, quality)

According to feedback from theindustrysources of losses are :

• The unplanned stops and micro-stops (up to 25% of total loss)
• The overproduction or excess stock
• The energy consumption consumption
• Quality defects related to processes or personnel

A pie chart can illustrate this average distribution:

-25% Time lost

-20% Energy

-18% Material

-15% Quality

-12% Logistics

– Others

Case study :

“At Nutriset, reducing micro-stops has eliminated one of the biggest production ‘irritants’, with a gain of several points in OEE.”

What are companies’ legal obligations?

AGEC Act, Garot Act and sector regulations

The AGEC law (Anti-Gaspillage pour une Économie Circulaire – Anti-Waste for a Circular Economy) requires companies to progressively transform their practices: fight against waste, better waste recovery, traceability of flows, and reduction of food losses, particularly in the agri-food and catering sectors.

As for the Garot law, it specifically targets the donation of unsold food in supermarkets, and extends to other players. These texts oblige companies to implement concrete actions and justify their commitments.

Sectors concerned :

• Food industry
• Retail & FMCG
• Commercial and institutional catering
• Construction and manufacturing

Expert advice

“Anticipate regulations rather than suffer them: measuring means protecting yourself.”

ISO standards, reporting targets and eco-design

Reporting objectives :

• Tracking tons of waste generated and recycled
• Energy consumption indicators
• Monitoring the rate of compliant/non-compliant products
• Loss reduction targets per share

The 7 types of waste according to Lean: deciphering the problem

Lean Manufacturing categorizes waste into 7 major types, common in industrial environments:

1. Overproduction producing beyond actual demand
2. Excessive inventories excess inventory: unnecessary accumulation of products
3. Unnecessary movements Unnecessary movements: operators or components in the wrong position
4. Waiting time wait between two process steps
5. Non-quality defects or touch-ups
6. Transport Unnecessary product movements
7. Overprocessing unnecessary tasks

Practical tip

“Involve operators in mapping invisible waste (waiting, unnecessary travel, etc.)”.

Reducing industrial waste: concrete levers for action

Diagnosing losses: tools and methods

Before any action is taken, it is essential to identify precisely where, when and why losses occur in the production chain. Several industrial tools are available for this purpose:

• VSM (Value Stream Mapping) Visual mapping of flows and waste.
• Gemba Walk immersion in the field to observe malfunctions in real time.
• Pareto chart Prioritizing the main causes of waste by impact.

These approaches enable us to build a targeted action plan based on concrete data.

Checklist

“Have you identified these 5 types of losses in your industrial flows?
✔️ Downtime
✔️ Overproduction
✔️ Quality defects
✔️ Excess inventory
✔️ Energy loss

Set up performance indicators

Controlling loss reduction is based on key indicators such as :

Real-time monitoring via connected tools enables performance gaps to be identified immediately.

Mobilizing teams: awareness-raising and training

Reducing waste is also a human project. Team buy-in is a decisive lever: without their involvement, even the best technology remains under-utilized.

A training plan can include :

• Sessions on good anti-waste practices
• Field feedback workshops
• Monitoring of indicators by operators themselves

Point of vigilance

“Technology alone is not enough: team buy-in is key.”

Reduce energy and material waste

Inindustry, energy waste and the loss of raw materials represent significant hidden costs. Several operational levers are available to limit these costs:

• Thermal insulation of equipment to prevent heat loss
• Real-time monitoring of consumption with alerts in case of drift
• Heat recovery and reuse in other process steps
• Control of material waste (cutting, molding, packaging)
• Automatic control of standby zones (compressors, lighting, machines)

An ADEME study estimates that an industrial company can save 10-15% on its energy consumption with simple, targeted actions.

Maintain and enhance equipment reliability

Unmaintained equipment quickly becomes a source of waste (breakdowns, rejects, slowdowns). There are two main approaches:

Conditional monitoring, via sensors or systems such as PerfTrak, enables action to be taken at just the right moment: neither too early, nor too late.

Optimize logistics and warehousing

The supply chain is often under-optimized, generating overstock, shortages and invisible waste. Here are the major levers:

• FIFO (First In, First Out) method to avoid expiry or obsolescence
• Kanban system to regulate internal flows
• Reorganization of storage areas to reduce unnecessary travel
• Digitizing inventories to reduce human error

Common mistakes to avoid:
❌ Multiplying “safety” stocks without justification.
❌ Forgetting to link production and supply in real time
❌ Ignoring small flows (parts, consumables) which are often neglected.

The role of real-time monitoring in industrial performance

To sustainably reduce waste, it is essential to visualize losses in real time, quantify them, and then quickly correct them. This is precisely what an industrial monitoring system like TeepTrak can do.

By collecting and centralizing data from your equipment, you can immediately identify anomalies: micro-stops, slowdowns, non-quality, or under-consumption. You no longer manage blindly, but on the basis of real data.

With our customers, this approach has enabled us to gain up to 10 to 15 OEE points in just a few weeks, while empowering our field teams.

Visualization of losses and micro-losses

Before Teeptrak: diffuse unidentified losses
After Teeptrak: micro-stops traced, analyzed and corrected → TRS +12%.

Use case: measurable production gains

“We saw a 29% increase in production volume after installing PerfTrak on a single machine.“
– Customer testimonial, plastics industry

Connected tools and rapid return on investment

Key benefit

“Average ROI observed < 6 months for Teeptrak customers”

How can Teeptrak help you reduce industrial waste?

Our Plug&Play solutions for TRS and loss monitoring

Our tools like PerfTrak and Monitrak enable you to identify precisely where your performance is being lost, thanks to ultra-fast deployment on all your lines.

You gain visibilityand reactivityand above all value.

Example of concrete results with our customers(Stellantis, Hutchinson…)

• “10 to 15 points improvement in OEE in 3 months” – Groupe Hutchinson Hutchinson Group
• “19,000/year in additional revenue per machine” – C.R., Production Manager C.R., Production Manager
• “Elimination of microarrhythmia and irritants” – Nutriset

Train your teams with the TEEPTRAK Academy

Our customers have access to free, ongoing online training to help them master our tools and make continuous improvement a team culture.

Calculate your ROI with our simulator

Access our online tool to estimate the potential gain on your production lines.
🎯 Test the simulator

Reducing food waste: a complementary industrial challenge

Sectors concerned: food processing, catering, distribution

Food waste also affects industry, particularly the :

• Agri-food (production, processing)
• Foodservices (canteens, hospitals, companies)
• Distribution (unsold, out-of-stock, overstock)

Anti-waste best practices and regulatory compliance

Mini checklist :

• Monitoring losses in weight or volume
• Setting up donation partnerships
• Respecting best-before dates
• Optimizing portions and flows

CSR issues and consumer expectations

Consumers expect companies to manage resources responsibly. Taking action against food waste means enhancing the value of products, improving brand image and reducing costs, while complying with new regulations in France and Europe.

Waste as a lever for competitiveness and CSR

Continuous improvement and brand image

The fight against waste is an integral part of a continuous improvement approach. Industrial companies that reduce their losses demonstrate their commitment to responsible production, while reinforcing their credibility with stakeholders.

“We were able to standardize our indicators, empower our teams and improve our employer image.”
– Vincent Perrault, Groupe Eolane

Reducing invisible costs

Responding to regulatory and societal pressures

• More stringent environmental reporting obligations
• Consumers’ growing expectations of transparency
• Label requirements (CSR, ISO, anti-waste, etc.)
• Pressure from customers in calls for tender

FAQ – Answers to frequently asked questions

Practical resources at your disposal

Teeptrak Academy to go further

Need to develop skills inimproving industrial performance? Our Académie Teeptrak offers accessible, free training adapted to your environment.

→ Sign up today to master our tools, understand your losses, and transform your production.