You might be wondering what commercial recycling is. “Commercial recycling” refers to recycling waste materials like plastic bottles, metal cans, papers, and more which a business generates. Commercial recycling aims to minimize waste and reuse the materials to protect the environment.
Through this blog, we will provide an overview of commercial recycling services, some of the methods of recycling waste, and the organizational practices for recycling commercial waste. This article explains the environmental and economic benefits businesses can gain from implementing commercial recycling services.
Going Green: The Importance of Commercial Recycling
Commercial recycling has become an essential aspect of waste management as the world focuses more on environmental sustainability. According to the UNEP, the world generates about 1.3 billion tons of waste annually; by 2025, this will increase to 2.2 billion tons. A significant portion of this waste comes from the commercial sector, making commercial recycling services an essential component of waste reduction.
Some of the challenges that commercial waste brings are:
- Environmental pollution
- Resource Depletion
- Economic Impact
- Impacts on Public Health
- Energy Wastage
With the rising concerns of environmental degradation and the depletion of natural resources, it is becoming increasingly important for companies to adopt sustainable practices. The most common methods of recycling include mechanical, chemical, and biological. Regarding waste management, commercial recycling has emerged as a crucial approach to reducing organizations’ carbon footprints.
The Environmental Benefits of Recycling in Business
It is possible for businesses to significantly reduce their environmental impact by implementing successful commercial recycling services and best recycling practices while benefiting their bottom line.
Conserve Natural Resources
Recycling protects natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals used to produce products from scratch. When businesses recycle, they reduce the need to extract raw materials, reducing deforestation, water pollution, and other environmental impacts.
Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
One of the most significant environmental benefits of recycling in business is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Commercial recycling helps decrease carbon emissions from landfills or incinerators. By recycling, companies contribute to fighting against climate change. With estimation, recycling one ton of paper saves up to 17 trees and reduces GHG by 20%.
Decrease Landfill Waste
Landfill waste releases toxic gas, which results in global warming and pollution. With commercial recycling, companies can reduce the waste that goes into the landfill, reducing its environmental impact.
Increases Company’s Brand Image
In this global age, everybody has become conscious of the environment. And consumers prefer buying sustainable products. So implementing best recycling practices means portraying that they differ from the crowd. This differentiation helps to increase their reputation in the market.
The Economic Benefits of Recycling for Companies
Similarly, some of the economic benefits of recycling include:
Lower disposal fees
Companies can save waste management costs by simply recycling their waste. Not only does this decrease the amount of trash, but it will also decrease the disposal fee they pay during disposal service. Companies can instead sell recyclable waste to recycling centers and generate revenue.
Decrease in production costs
Most of the time, companies that recycle their waste material or have the best recycling practices drastically decrease their need for new resources. Additionally, it also reduces their energy consumption, which has a direct link to production costs (specifically in terms of reprocessing).
Decrease fines and penalties
Since environmental regulations have been stringent in many countries, implementation of environmental laws has increased locally, state-wide, and federally. So companies opting for commercial recycling can avoid potential fines and penalties by adopting the recycling process.
New marketing opportunities
A strong brand image is crucial for the success of any business. By implementing sustainable practices like commercial plastics recycling, commercial metal recycling, and using commercial recycling dumpsters, companies can improve their reputation and become industry leaders in environmental custodianship. Customers often get drawn to brands that have demonstrated their involvement in social responsibility programs.
Conducting a Waste Audit
Conducting a waste audit is a crucial step in implementing an effective commercial recycling program.
Businesses can follow these simple steps to conduct a waste audit:
Step 1: Create a team
Nothing starts without teamwork in a business. That’s why to conduct a waste audit; you need to form a team of 4 to 5 people to help you compile and analyze the waste data. These people should be representatives of different departments, such as facilities, procurement, and sustainability.
Step 2: Conduct waste sorting to collect the data
To begin with the audit, your team must understand the amount and the type of waste materials your business generates. So to conduct waste sorting, try separating the waste into different categories such as:
- Paper
- Plastic
- Metal
- Electronics
- & Others
After you’ve finished categorizing it, collect more data from waste disposal and recycling services along with their invoices & receipts.
Step 3: Time to analyze the data
After you collect the data, analyze it more by looking at the patterns and trends. You can further figure out how your business can reduce commercial waste and how you can recycle. You can also implement a commercial plastic or paper recycling program in-house of the company.
Step 4: Implementation
Based on your analysis, implement changes that can help reduce waste and increase recycling. Purchasing products with minimal packaging can be a good start for your business.
Step 5: Check your waste reduction progress
It is very important to keep tracking the waste amount and follow the waste recycling percentage. You can do this by monitoring the waste products’ weight before and after recycling them. You can estimate the amount of commercial waste diverted from landfills. This data can provide valuable information to the business, which helps you in decision-making processes such as setting achievable targets. As a result, recycling will progress more quickly.
Implementing an Effective Recycling Program
When it comes to waste management, a well-designed commercial recycling program plays an important role. This plan is important for implementing an effective recycling program.
Step 1: Search for a reliable commercial recycling service
There are many commercial recycling service companies, so selecting the one that exactly fits your business recycling goal and target is crucial. You can look for certifications, awards, licenses, and their specialization.
Step 2: Lay out the recycling practices inside the business
This step begins with educating and informing your employees. You can educate employees about the importance of commercial recycling by giving tips on various recycling methods. Educating employees on how to sort and dispose of waste can make a big difference. The reduction of waste amount inside the business will result in lower commercial recycling dumpster service costs.
Step 3: Try to use commercial recycling dumpsters
A commercial recycling dumpster can greatly help you with your commercial waste management. These dumpsters help recycle waste and effectively segregate it, making recycling easier. Taking this step will give you a little push in your effort to reduce and recycle commercial waste.
Step 4: Track the effectiveness of your recycling program
Tracking progress is the most important step in your recycling program. Keeping track of progress will help you define the gray areas you can further improve on. You can perform waste audits and change the targets, programs, and vice-versa.
Choosing the Right Recycling Service Provider
As mentioned before, having the right recycling service provider is important. They can help you with your goals and targets with their best recycling practices curated for your needs.
For this, you can start by collaborating with local recycling centers. By doing this, you will get to promote your waste recycling program in the community and get a chance to be active in commercial recycling. You can also get in touch with the trends happening in different or specific industries/niches to make your program successful. As a result of this step, you can also build a sustainable recycling network, i.e., through promotion and word of mouth.
Measuring the Success of Your Recycling Program
Establishing goals and metrics for your program is critical to measuring success. You can start by setting clear objectives to help guide your efforts. These performance indicators can be:
- Percentage change in waste generation or waste recycling
- No. of recycling bins
- Employee participation level
Regularly analyzing and reporting your program’s progress is another crucial step in measuring success. With clear objectives and metrics in place, you can periodically review your recycling program’s progress and identify areas for improvement. Doing so will help you make data-driven decisions and refine your recycling strategies to achieve even greater success.
Prioritizing Commercial Recycling in 2023
Commercial recycling is a critical aspect of waste management, and businesses must prioritize it in 2023 to achieve sustainable development. Eventually, it will help conserve natural resources by reducing industrial waste and pollution.
You can promote commercial recycling by sorting and managing waste, creating awareness programs, labeling waste, and educating your employees. In 2023, every business must prioritize commercial recycling to create a sustainable future.
