Implementing a good waste management system is a low-cost way for businesses to help the environment. Businesses can enhance their environmental efficiency by changing harmful habits and segregating waste into organized streams.
In this day and age, where everyone is concerned about the environment, it is more crucial than ever to include green solutions in the workplace.
Customers are becoming more aware of the environmental impact of the businesses they choose to patronize, and proper waste management can demonstrate a visible commitment to environmental progress.
As an increasing number of large corporations commit to addressing the climate crisis, the issue is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore for many small and medium-sized firms.
What exactly is a waste management strategy?
A waste management strategy is essentially a plan of action for the disposal of commercial waste with the goal of economic and environmental efficiency.
As landfill charges climb year after year, general waste remains the most expensive way of disposal; consequently, waste segregation is not only advantageous environmentally, but also economically.
A waste audit, which is a review and evaluation of the waste produced, is often the first step in the plan, allowing firms to discover areas for improvement. Following the completion of the audit, a strategy for reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill can be developed.
Educating and educating all employees within the company is essential, with increased attention and knowledge of the quantity of landfill waste produced being the first step toward reducing it.
Waste separation
A waste audit frequently reveals that dividing garbage into multiple streams would benefit a business.
A dry mixed recycling bin enables businesses to conveniently segregate recyclable materials such as paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, beverages, and food tins into one container, with the tedious sorting procedure completed off-site at an automated Materials Recovery Facility.
This simple strategy can be easily integrated into the demands of a demanding business and can dramatically reduce a company’s carbon footprint.
All metals can be recycled, with a drinks can passing through the system in just a few weeks. Recycled plastic bottles can be used to not only make new plastic bottles, but also to manufacture plastic that can be spun into polyester or to craft anything from drainage pipes to pencils.
Plastic in landfills can take up to 1,000 years to disintegrate, with drink bottles taking about 450 years on average. Businesses can also recycle glass by using a glass collecting service.
Once processed, recycled glass can be melted and remolded into new bottles, jars, or ornamental materials, requiring significantly less energy than finding and utilizing new material. Food waste rots in landfills and produces a large source of methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Food waste can also take a long time to degrade, with an orange peel persisting for six months after being dumped.
Businesses that recognize they generate a significant volume of food waste might incorporate a food waste caddy into their waste management strategy.
Habit change
A waste audit may have also shown problematic habits within businesses that have negative environmental consequences, such as reliance on single-use plastics or excessive paper use.
It is a business’s responsibility to do all reasonably possible to prevent, reuse, recycle, or recover waste – in that sequence – hence it is anticipated that firms employ strategies that avoid waste formation first and foremost.
Single-use plastics can frequently easily swapped for environmentally friendly alternatives, and this is an efficient strategy to reduce the quantity of garbage that organizations generate in the first place.
An audit could also identify locations where objects could be repurposed rather than disposed, such as reusing jars as drinking glasses or just using clean waste paper as notepaper.
Many organizations may also notice an increase in over-purchasing, whether it is food or office supplies. Being frugal when shopping not only eliminates unwanted products, but also the packaging they are delivered in.