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How to Recycle 80% of Your Office Waste

18th November 2018

The Scottish government wants us to achieve 70% recycling targets by 2025. Brightwaste is pushing its office recycling clients to aim for 80%. As a country, we’re presently sitting at just over 60%.

The Scottish Government set out their vision for a zero waste society in 2010. Their vision sees a Scotland where all waste is seen as a valuable resource, not disposed of in landfills, and most waste is sorted so that only limited amounts need to be treated.

"Admittedly we’re getting better at our office waste recycling, but we need a step change to get to the next level," states Roger Green, MD of Brightwaste which provides nimble office recycling services across central Scotland, and wrote this article.

Here’s where the issues arise, and what we can do about them.

  1.             Time

"We’re too busy, with too many other immediate, pressing priorities. Never mind an office waste recycling target, we’re fighting fires and chasing profit targets!"

Recycling needs to be easy and instinctive. How? Ask your recycling company to provide FREE cardboard bins, clearly marked, and plenty of them.

The cost to them is about £6 per box, but they’ll be saving many times that by more easily batching and selling your recycling. YES, recycling has a value - typically around £65 per tonne.

And, better still, it WILL improve your profitability targets. Recycled waste is approximately 25% cheaper to dispose of than General Waste, as you avoid landfill tax.

Plus, a genuine sustainability policy might help you win your next big tender submission.

  1.             Understanding

"Is my crisp packet recyclable? No. Is my sandwich packet recyclable? No. What about that window envelope? Yes. And my coffee cup? No!" continues Roger Green of Brightwaste.

Ask your recycling firm for plenty of FREE laminated recycling awareness posters above the recycling bins and around the office. And ask them to come in to speak to your staff. They will WANT to. They want quality recycling as much as you do.

As you gradually collect more knowledge on recycling, the easier it becomes.

Have you tried the ‘Scrunch Test’? If anything bounces back when you scrunch it, don’t recycle it. Crisp and sandwich packets are good examples of this.

  1.             Apathy

“I just don’t care. Why sweat the small stuff?”

I get this. 10 years ago, I actually felt a bit this way too.

But now recycling is no longer the ‘small stuff’. It’s actually vital to us and should be part of everyday life.

In the last 30 years we’ve seen an explosion in Employment Law and Health and Safety. Recycling and waste management is the next big thing, with increasing legislation, compliance requirements, and enforcement.

To quote the SEPA Chief Executive Terry A’Hearn: “Recycling is a real Scottish success story. The most successful countries in the 21st century will be resource efficient, circular economies, where what once was waste is valued as a resource.”

You can’t ignore the need to recycle your office waste responsibly. When you find the time, understand it and attack it, recycling actually feels good.

It’s easy, it feels good, it saves money, and it’s the law.

To help you, please use our ‘12 Steps to 80% Office Recycling’ captured in the graphic above.  Or contact Brightwaste for a free review of your office recycling and a no-obligation quote on 0330 022 5998 or via info@brightwaste.com

 

 

 

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