How can commercial recycling help my business?
Most businesses produce materials that can be taken away for commercial recycling.
From cardboard and paper to cans, plastic bottles, packaging, and pallets, these materials should be recycled to reduce the resources we all use and relieve the strain on our planet.
That’s why landfill fees and tax, which are paid by businesses, have become more and more onerous over the past few years – to ensure businesses are using commercial recycling facilities.
The average charge is between £80 and £90 per tonne, including landfill tax. The exact charge varies across the UK.
However, for businesses that recycle, the costs of dealing with their waste responsibly can be offset against funds raised by selling materials such as cardboard and metal to commercial recycling companies.
Recycling also means you fulfill your duty of care to the environment and you comply with environmental legislation, avoiding potentially hefty fines for breaches.
It also means your customers know your brand takes environmental considerations seriously.
What materials are handled in On Time Shred’s commercial recycling?
Cardboard – Recyclers pay between £35 and £50 per tonne for old cardboard, so this could be an excellent material to help you offset your recycling costs. The best prices are paid for cardboard which is already baled, reducing transportation costs.
Glass – This is 100% recyclable and endlessly recyclable. Making glass from recycled material reduces the CO2 emissions caused and energy used to create it. For every tonne of glass which is re-melted, 246kg of carbon dioxide emissions are saved. It’s the perfect material if you’re trying to create a circular economy.
Paper – Most of us are drowning in paper. The paperless office is still a dream! However, two-thirds of it is recycled in the UK, reducing the number of resources which are needed to produce new paper. Shredded paper is used to create new paper and card, so even your once confidential paper documents can be recycled. One tonne of recycled paper will save 17 trees, 3 cubic metres of landfill space, and 7000 gallons of water.
Cans – Did you know that a recycled can would save enough energy to power a television for three hours? Think of how many are used in hotels, restaurants, bars, offices, shops, and factories across the UK every day.
Plastic bottles – We use around 13 billion plastic bottles every year in the UK, yet in 2017, only 7.5 billion were recycled. One bottle recycled saves enough energy to power a lightbulb for three hours, and it’s once less plastic bottle finding its way into the sea.
Packaging – It’s great news that the amount of paper and card packaging waste recycled in the EU has now reached a record high of 85.8%, while 78.3% of metallic packaging waste and 74.1% of glass packaging waste is recycled.
Vending cups – Plastic vending machine cups can be recycled by being broken down and converted into plastic components which are often used in vending machines.
Old IT equipment – PCs, laptops, servers, printers, smartphones, and tablets are all covered by strict Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations because they contain substances that are potentially harmful to the environment and materials which can be recycled. You must use a licensed company to take this equipment to a licensed facility.
Office furniture – If furniture can’t be re-used, it can be disassembled into its component parts of wood, metal, and plastic, and sent to the right recycling centre.
Wood, including pallets – Wood and wooden pallets can be refurbished and re-used, or shredded for garden mulch and compost.
Printer cartridges – These can be re-used by refilling them with ink.
What are the benefits?
You get an audit trail to prove you’ve dealt with your recycling responsibly and to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is important when dealing with the data in old paperwork and on laptops, PCs, phones, and removable media.
Your business also gets expert help in getting the best prices for saleable recycling like cardboard.