Many commercial facilities create a tremendous amount of waste that could easily be recycled and kept out of landfills, and which would also reduce the need for virgin materials to be harvested. Offices may go through tremendous amounts of paper, cardboard, plastic water bottles, and other such materials that create unnecessary waste. If you want to implement a successful recycling program at your commercial facility, simply putting a few bins next to the trash receptacles may not be enough. Note some tips for successful recycling at any office, warehouse, production yard, and the like.

Packaging

Lack of quality packaging for holding recyclables is often one reason that staff members don't recycle as they should; packaging and bins can overflow very easily, or your workers may not know what can be recycled and which bins to use. It's good to provide very large bins that are emptied regularly and to use colour coding and graphics for those bins. Graphics can illustrate the types of plastics that can be recycled such as bags, plastic film, or other plastic items, as well as metal shavings, woodchips, and such materials commonly used onsite. This takes out the guesswork and makes it easy for your workers to collect and then properly dispose of recyclable materials.

Advertise recycling efforts where waste is produced

Having recycling bins next to trash receptacles is good, but it's also good to notify and remind employees of recycling processes where that waste is produced. For example, you might erect signs around your machinery that reminds workers to leave metal shavings and woodchips for a scrap collector, or to take them to the recycling area after they're swept up. Leave signs around the copy machines that remind workers to recycle paper and ink cartridges. This can ensure they don't inadvertently toss such items in nearby rubbish bins, if recycling bins are located in other areas of the facility.

Call a scrapper

A scrapper is someone who comes in and collects your scrap materials and recycling for you; they may specialize in certain materials such as metal and electronics, or plastic bottles. Since they get paid for the recyclables they collect and return to a recycling facility, they may not charge you to empty your recycling bins or collect metal shavings. This can help reduce the costs of having a trash collector pick up your recyclable materials and also ensure bins are emptied more often, so they're not overflowing and your staff hesitates to use them.