Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Waste disposal costs can be up to 5% of a companies' annual turnover. Many businesses are unaware of the amount of avoidable waste they produce and the potential savings they could make by reducing this waste.
The best way to reduce both waste costs and environmental impact is to eliminate waste at source through careful purchasing and better utilization of materials. Where waste cannot be eliminated completely, try to reduce the amount generated. Aim to re-use and recycle as many of the products in your office as possible. Disposal of waste to landfill or incineration should be a last resort after all the above options have been considered.
What you can do:
- Choose minimally packaged products or ask your suppliers to take excess packaging away with them when they deliver.
- Avoid purchasing disposable catering products such as milk jiggers, sugar sachets, plastic cups and paper plates.
- Recycle old documents, newspapers and magazines. Recycling paper reduces pressure on natural resources, as its production involves between 28 - 70% less energy consumption than virgin paper and uses less water.
- Computers and mobile phone batteries contain toxic materials such as mercury, cadmium and lead, which damage the atmosphere or sensitive watercourses. A number of charities will be happy to take old computer equipment, mobile phones and printer cartridges so that they can be recycled, such as Oxfam or ActionAid.
- Fluorescent tubes are hazardous waste - the mercury from one tube can pollute 30,000 litres of water beyond a safe level for drinking. A number of waste management companies now specialise in recycling fluorescent tubes by extracting the glass and metal components and distilling the elemental mercury from the powder for reuse. Please click here for a list of relevant companies.
- To find out more about recycling facilties in your own area visit www.reuze.co.uk, www.recycle-more.co.uk, or contact your local authority. If you are an office in a multi-tenanted building, why not approach other tenants to create a joint recycling scheme?
