Innovative waste reduction strategies for businesses help save costs and protect the environment, by decreasing landfill waste and emissions caused during recycling processes.
Start by measuring and labelling bins so employees can easily distinguish which materials belong where.
Encourage your team to contribute ideas for waste reduction. Donate unwanted furniture, electronics and office supplies to local charities for donation.
1. Refuse
Reducing trash production through refuse collection helps limit its accumulation in landfills and incinerators, and reduce its environmental impacts. Refusal is considered the first step in an accepted hierarchy of waste management that includes refuse, minimization, recycling/reuse/biological treatment/trash disposal as steps 1-4 are completed.
Landfills have severe economic and environmental ramifications. Their use decomposes for hundreds or even thousands of years, polluting soil and water sources while polluting biodiversity-sensitive areas. To minimize negative environmental impact, investing in waste reduction strategies such as ditching single-use plastic bottles and buying reusable bins for organic waste is preferable.
Recycling cell phones over trading them in is one way of decreasing waste at your business; new phones use precious metals and oil in their production. Another simple step you can take to reduce business waste is unplugging computers, printers and toasters when not in use, as this drains energy even when turned off; saving money while decreasing electricity usage by your organization and keeping unwanted items out of landfills while making them available to those who need them.
2. Reduce
Companies that prioritize sustainable practices can significantly cut waste by adopting cutting-edge methods that prevent overproduction or usage of materials, thus decreasing landfill volume as well as pollution caused by processing unwanted items.
Implementing a single-stream recycling (SSR) system enables employees, customers, and business vendors to sort waste into recyclables, organics and trash more easily, thus cutting costs associated with waste removal services and unnecessary expenses.
Paperless communication methods and online document management tools help reduce paper waste in offices. Furthermore, providing reusable plates, cups and utensils during breaks will further help minimize single-use disposable waste.
Promoting sustainable consumption is one of the best ways to decrease waste. This approach involves informing consumers about their purchases’ environmental impacts, encouraging them to opt for products made with recycled and repurposed materials, or shifting entire operations towards zero waste entities where all waste generated is reused or recycled instead of ending up in landfills.
3. Recycle
Reduced waste production offers great environmental advantages; however, recycling materials provides another means of helping the planet. Make recycling convenient for employees by placing bins near high traffic areas with clear labels to encourage participation.
Begin by assessing what can be recycled at your facility, reviewing current contracts with waste and recycling services providers, upgrading to larger bins or altering collection schedules to reduce how much waste is taken away weekly.
Not only can paper, metals and plastics be recycled; many construction materials such as concrete, asphalt materials, masonry and reinforcing steel can also be reclaimed – from concrete to asphalt materials, masonry and reinforcing steel reusing processes and copper/nickel recovery from metal finishing processes as well as oil sludge/industrial byproduct recovery for use in fuel cell technologies can all be utilized as waste reduction strategies to keep materials out of the trash – including donating furniture/clothing items that no longer needed or no longer needed to local charities in need.
4. Compost
Composting gardens and lawns reduces the volume of waste that must be hauled away, thus saving both fuel and carbon emissions while keeping soil healthy – eliminating fertilizers and chemical pesticides for good! Many businesses and communities such as Middlebury College, Safeco Field and Joint Base Lewis-McChord report annual savings between $100,000 to $300,000 through on-site composting efforts.
Composting is a natural process in which microorganisms decompose organic materials into humus-like material that can serve as plant fertilizer. Composting is an aerobic process that uses a mixture of green materials such as food scraps, coffee grounds, leaves and paper towel along with browns such as wood chips or dead branches in an ideal ratio of 30:1 brown-to-green material ratio. Turning of pile is necessary for optimal aeration and decomposition of heap. By adding an “activator,” such as comfrey leaves, well-rotted manure or grass clippings to the pile it will help speed up and jumpstart its composting. Insects should generally not become an issue with properly constructed and maintained piles; however, adding lime or calcium can help discourage fruit flies.
5. Donate
Donating unwanted materials to local charities is an effective way for businesses to support those less fortunate than themselves while simultaneously cutting waste-related costs such as paper and plastic recycling costs. Donating to such organizations also reduces waste-related expenses like those related to paper disposal costs.
Donating unwanted or surplus items can also save on energy costs by switching to long-lasting and energy efficient LED bulbs instead of more costly options. Furthermore, replacing disposable utensils and cups with low cost dishwasher-safe versions may help to cut waste disposal and cleaning expenses significantly.
Formal plans put goals into action. By outlining what and how much waste to avoid, reduce, recycle or donate, waste reduction becomes a competitive edge for your business. Joining PCFWC gives you access to pre-competitive working groups, technical assistance and hands-on engagement services – giving us all a chance to tackle our collective goal of 50% food waste reduction by 2030 together! Join now.
