As a business, you can create a lot of waste from the paper you use to the glass your employees bring in during lunch breaks. There are so many things we use in the office such as toner and IT equipment which can be recycled if we go about it the right way. We know this can often be confusing for people new to the world of recycling on such a large scale. So, we have the top 6 tips on how to reduce your business waste.

At Fresco Environmental, we have numerous ways we can help you reduce your waste as a business and start to be more environmentally friendly in your work.

Bring Down Your Paper Consumption

Most office waste comes from paper, making it the first thing you need to target. Reducing paper consumption will significantly impact your waste reduction, setting you on the right path. There are a couple of ways you can start about reducing your paper waste, such as setting all printers to print double-sided. A simple action like this can cut down on paper consumption by nearly half.

Fresco Environmental can also help you cut down your paper waste and optimise your waste expenditure. We offer a competitive rebate for paper and cardboard as well as supplying your business with Front End Loader (FEL), wheelie bins, balers and compactors depending on your companies needs. We want to take waste away from landfills and get more people recycling and so provide our customers with a range of recycling equipment that is competitively sustainable and of the highest quality.

Reduce and Reuse

With your paper waste sorted, you can start looking at other things to reduce or reuse in your office. Take the time to have a look around your work area and your records to see how much you are using articles like stationery, toner, cardboard and IT equipment. Sit down with some of your employees and brainstorm ways you can reduce the consumption of these items or how you can reuse the materials.

There are other kinds of wastes like plastic packaging materials and containers which you can also target. If you use a product that comes with a lot of plastic waste, start looking online for alternative companies who focus on zero-waste. With less plastic coming into your office, there is less for you to waste.

Make Your Recycling Clear

If you want your employees to be on board with your recycling and start helping make a difference in the office, then your recycling points need to be clear. When introducing more recycling into your office, you need to make sure your employees know exactly where to put their waste or it might end up in a general waste bin.

You can find signage for bins in stores or as printables online. All you need are some signs pointing out where the recycling station is as well as which containers are for which products. These are cheap and easy to make or find and can help boost your recycling considerably. Make sure your signs provide pictorial guidance for non-English employees as well as making it clear which bin is for what waste. You want your waste to be separated into different containers properly, or else you risk contaminating the waste streams, slowing down recycling.

Cut Down on General Waste Bins

Now that you have recycling bins displayed in your office, you need to cut down on the other general waste or personal bins you have. Many employees might have their bins situated by their desk to make rid of food waste or paper waste easier while they work. While this saves them time getting up and throwing their rubbish in a bin further away, it doesn’t help with your aim to improve recycling.

Have a small number of general waste bins and a higher ratio of recycling bins to encourage your employees to distribute their waste correctly. Have them centrally located, so they are easy to access for everyone in the office areas.

Expand Your Recycling

Starting your recycling initiative in work might take a while. There might be some initial resistance from workers, or you might be confused yourself on how you can head towards a zero-waste goal. Start simple with paper recycling as this causes the most waste in an office. Then, try targeting offer recyclable items such as glass, light bulbs, batteries, food waste and toners.

Fresco Environmental even helps recycle electrical waste and metal. Recycling metal can help reduce your Co2 emissions, which is vital for improving the environment we live in. The Electrical Waste directive (WEEE) includes processing systems and collection points made to allow consumers to separate electrical and electronic equipment into waste streams. It can be complicated to keep track of how to safely and legal to distribute your electronic waste, so Fresco Environmental as a Total Waste Management provider takes care of everything for you from start to finish in a legal and sustainable means.

Have a Site Waste Management Plan

To make sure you keep your recycling goals and promises, you need to produce a Site Waste Management Plan (SWMP). This will help you achieve all of the steps above and recycle as much as you can from your office. Make sure this policy is visible to all of your employees on notice boards, break rooms, the canteen or in emails. It’s also a good idea to have it visible where visitors and clients can see it as it shows a great message.

At Fresco Environmental we can help you keep on track with your recycling as we can complete monthly, on-site visits to assess your situation and provide on-going consultancy and total waste management in the legal disposal and recycling of your waste.

Check out our website today to learn more about the various ways Fresco Environmental can help you reduce your waste and recycle more. We want to stay away from landfills as much as possible and start reducing, recycling and reusing the products we buy and waste.