Recycling at work is a great way to build company spirit and do something positive for the environment and the local community.
Additionally, certain recycling schemes will reward businesses with tax breaks and other incentives saving you money in the long run.
Recycling makes good business sense as it’s easy to set up and run. It can also save space and money, help the environment and create a fantastic team spirit.
The initial steps of workplace recycling
The first step for workplace recycling is to identify what could be recycled or improved that won’t hinder the process of work. Simply, this can be achieved by looking in waste bins to establish which materials need attention. Usually a good start is how much paper is printed or used. In today’s world of computing, paper isn’t as necessary as it once was. Reports, communication and notes can all be made digitally in ways which are unimaginable thirty years ago.
Next, you need to make your business recycling friendly by conducting an audit. Examples of a successful audit include a Peterborough based manufacturing company that saved up to 1700 pounds a year by recycling rubber waste for their manufacturing process. They managed to reduce their waste landfill by two skips a week nearing 10,000 tons. This hard work was initially started by a waste audit in which the recycling potential for the company was first evaluated.
Is this included in the business rates?
Recycling costs are not usually covered in business rates and should be arranged privately. The service cost is dependant on a few factors including the quantity and the materials of the recycled product. Companies such as Enviro Waste are tasked with recycling work waste will collect the waste from you and sell the items as scrap or resell the items if they are in good condition.
Why you will benefit from recycling
Encouraging your staff to recycle is also a great way to promote teamwork and good will in the office. By clearly communicating to staff why they should be using recycling bins, or reducing the amount of paper used, employees will begin to understand why its is so important to recycle.
Encourage senior management to get involved as their buy in and contribution is vital in getting the recycling message across. Information about a company’s recycling schemes and ethos should be distributed throughout the business with email newsletters getting to everyone from the top to the bottom. Its vital that all employers feel they are valued when it comes to the impact that they can have on the recycling scheme. This includes the cleaning staff who are often forgotten about members of staff as they are usually employed directly from another agency. It is important to include them into your plans and to ensure they are following the recycling plan.
Removing individual bins under employees desks are one way to encourage more communal recycling and general good working habits as it makes employees think harder about what they are throwing away. Recycling doesn’t have to be difficult but it should be a thought out process. Sometimes removing the convenience of a waste goes a long way to helping us think the process through more thoroughly.