Business
Sustainable Waste Practices That Actually Make Business Sense
For the most part, when businesses say they care about sustainability, it’s nothing more than words. They can’t really explain what that looks like in a practical day-to-day scenario or what their long-term goals are. They’re simply repeating what they want the consumer to hear.
And when it comes to sustainability, you can bet that those “cares” they have aren’t as thorough or extensive as they should be, or even as the business suggests they are. Behind the scenes, it looks like mixed materials, overflowing skips, and scrap being mismanaged. Not in a malicious way, just in a way that shows there’s been no thought put into what happens next.
These tips can help avoid this and reinforce sustainable practices for any business.
Review Waste Streams
A lot of times, commercial waste is all lumped together, and sites don’t actually know what they’re throwing away. They assume or guess without taking the steps to actually assess it.
Undertaking a basic waste review isn’t as hard as it sounds, especially when you start with the obvious problems: recyclable cardboard, food waste, metals, etc. These materials all end up in the same place out of habit, not carelessness, and for increased sustainability, you need to know the type of waste you have and ensure that it’s going into the right waste avenues within your business or on-site. Create separate receptacles for each different type of waste so that what comes next isn’t as complicated as it needs to be.
Make Sustainability Easy
The thing with changing how you work is that it needs to be easy, or people simply don’t do it. If you make sustainable steps complicated, people will resort to the easiest thing to do, which is to ignore it and revert back to previous practices.
These are actions such as placing bins exactly where the type of waste is produced, having clear visual labels showing what is expected, training, and ensuring everyone understands their part. It’s having containers the right size for the volume of waste you collect and increasing options, not limiting them. You’re looking for the easiest choice here, and it needs to work.
Use Specialist Services
General waste contracts will cover the basics; however, they don’t always cover everything a commercial site produces or have recycling options once they collect all materials.
To avoid this, look into the different types of services in your area that deal with the specific type of waste you produce, whether it’s metals, damaged plastic, concrete offcuts, packaging materials, etc.
The reason being services like metal recycling will be focused on repurposing that certain type of waste so it can be used again. The same goes for things like using electronic waste providers or using companies that only deal with paper and cardboard. You get to reduce waste sitting in landfill and boost your eco credentials at the same time.
Improving sustainability within business waste needn’t be complicated, and for the most part, it shouldn’t be. Simple, effective solutions that work in practice are much better for everyone than complicated routines no one can keep up with. Keep it simple, keep it clear, and you’ll be hitting targets with ease in no time.