IN many government and public sector organizations heaps of scrap equipment, furniture and materials lie un-disposed for want of any decision of the competent authority. Similar tendencies prevail in some private sector entities. The most obvious among such assets are the unserviceable vehicles. Timely disposed, these could fetch reasonable price and the buyer could sort out the useable components from the junk. A large number of extremely poor people are earning their livelihood from materials recovered from the solid waste in urban centres of the country.
Scraped equipment and materials, if dumped for prolonged periods are subjected to deterioration and pilferage. The metal parts get rusted and termite attacks the wooden items, paper products and the liveries. They occupy valuable space and give an ugly look. Some may also create hazardous situation. During visits of dignitaries, such locations are kept away from their sight. Apart from procedural difficulties, it is an attitude problem.
Stored recovered items can be classified as obsolete, unserviceable or surplus. Obsolesce is caused by being outdated or uneconomical in operation. Un-serviceability occurs when the necessary facilities, materials or expertise for repairs are not available. Items are declared surplus if not in actual use or anticipated as required spare.
While establishing a facility some requirements of materials and equipment are foreseen considering the production or delivery time of essential items and possible contingencies during the execution period.
Some extra provision may therefore be necessary to avoid implementation delays of important projects. On completion of works, saved materials and equipment, if not needed for operational purposes, may be considered as surplus. Spares procured in quantities exceeding the actual rate of consumption may also be categorized as surplus.
Some types of assets of an entity may become surplus by implementing certain administrative and procedural changes. Business plans or the production process changes may render some of the existing tools and gadgets, previous product items and raw materials as surplus. Alternatively, the entire outlay may become surplus on closure of an entity. These may therefore include items in use or in the warehouse. Timely disposal of items in working order could facilitate their utilization elsewhere.
The useful life of any device or component is often prescribed on the basis of historical data of similar items under a given operational and environmental conditions. Enterprises reserve funds for replacements of various categories of assets on expiry of the prescribed period. The actual replacement costs in the real world are however subject to many variables. It is also difficult to forecast the scrap value of any item at any future moment.
Often, the replacement is not done like by like. The replaced or abandoned assets as such remain hidden and unaccounted for. Often the case for their disposal is not initiated. Disposal procedures in many organizations are clumsy and take much time to decide. Due importance is not given to the disposal function and cases thereof are not properly pursued. Senior officers in many organizations also ignore this aspect during their formal inspections.
In some entities clear procedure is not specified for the preservation of various categories of record and documents. Papers are susceptible to decay with time and are highly inflammable. These are often preserved indefinitely but can hardly be sorted out when actually needed. Preservation of some types of records may be a legal requirement for a specified period. Strictly confidential documents, when not required, may have to be destroyed. Prompt disposal of other categories should be done as per prescribed procedure.
Broken items of furniture can be seen piled up in institutions such as hospitals, hotels and public offices. If disposed, these can be repaired and used by the poor or their materials used for other purposes. Often, offices are refurnished but the old setting is not disposed. Their hoarding may serve no purpose.
In any industry, official entrusted with the spare parts store should not be allowed to stock the used parts and components. These may be intermixed and tempt the maintenance staff to malpractices. All recovered parts and devices should be defaced and disposed off separately, as quickly as possible.
Expiry period of many chemicals or other perishable items is specified on containers under the law or the relevant code of practice. Often, disposal of the expired items is excessively delayed or never done. Leakages from their containers pollute the storage area. Paints, lubricants, adhesives, plastic and rubber items are often stocked with old used tyres and tubes. Inflammable materials should be disposed off immediately after use.
Some industries use radioactive devices and materials. Their disposal should conform to the codified procedure. Common use items like fluorescent light tubes and VDU need to be carefully disposed. Some electric lamps and batteries contain mercury and lead, which are poisonous substances. Enough care is not taken in their disposal.
In spite of much emphasis the disposal of hospital waste is still far from being satisfactory. It is a real health hazard to the poor children searching the debris dumps near pathological laboratories, clinics and hospitals.
Packing cases are often preserved for re-use. It is justified if some items are frequently transported. But placing in open and subject to vagaries of weather will destroy them. Placing in safe place may not always be economical in term of space. A careful decision may be necessary for re-use of packing materials in individual cases.
Economic uplift of the developing countries like Pakistan demand optimum use of all the available resources. The timely disposal of the surplus or unserviceable items can benefit us in many ways. It will return some minor amount of the invested money to entrepreneur and free the occupied space for its better utilisation. It will also generate working and earning opportunities for of the section of the population living below the poverty line.
Specifying definite working procedures (SOP) and provision of better environments is a requirement of quality certification for international trade. Doing the needful will help in maintaining healthy atmosphere, boosting the moral of workers and promoting the overall business activity. In any case the minimization of wastes and cleanliness is also binding on us by our Faith.
