Recycling on the Job

By Megan McLaughlin

For most of us, recycling is a given. It is part of everyday life and it goes without question for many. However, a lot of people are surprised by the lack of recycling in the work place. For many small businesses, recycling is expensive and a full-time job itself, but more and more companies are beginning to rise to the challenge of adding recycling to their work places.

What may seem like an easy feat to those who have weekly trash and recycling pick-up right outside their front doors, recycling can be a large burden for many companies. According to Earth911.com, “Americans have been recycling paper for more than 300 years,” and, “today, Americans recover 55 percent of the paper they consume.” However, the one area in which America seems to be slacking is recycling in the work place; less than half of the millions of office papers consumed in businesses across America are actually recycled.

Removal and costs are the top concerns and what seem to be holding businesses back from taking on this seemingly small task. One way to assess your specific need (as a business) is to perform a “waste audit.” According to Recyclespot.org, “A waste audit is an inventory of the amount and type of solid waste (trash) that is produced at a location. A waste audit examines solid waste generation, collection and composition. It also addresses reduction, reuse, recycling, composting and purchasing practices.”

Once you perform a waste audit, you will have the tools you need to start recycling efficiently and as inexpensively as possible. As a company, you should determine what products you will recycle and how you will have them removed from your offices, whether it is through a waste management company, or taking the items directly to a drop-off recycling center.

To learn more about waste management and recycling, visit this page about Waste Management for a Modern World. Here you can learn more about the history of waste management and recycling and the different methods we have used in the past and continue to use presently.