How does your office rate when it comes to recycling?
Is it a one-bin, out-of-sight-out-of-mind, somebody else’s problem type of office? Or is it a reduce-reuse-recycle sort of place where everyone separates apple cores from drink bottles and nothing ever goes in the wrong bin?
Chances are it’s somewhere in between, and even though we might all want to do the right thing, it’s often inconvenient or confusing. But not only can you recycle more things in your office than you might have thought, in many cases that recycling is also easy and convenient.
The Usual Suspects
The obvious office recyclables include paper, cardboard, cans, bottles and other drinks containers. Even with these familiar recyclables, providing colour-coded bins for separating different types of waste can increase the rate at which they are recycled significantly. Another way to boost re-use and recycling rates of printer paper is to provide collection trays at each workstation.
Care needs to be taken with confidential documents, but secure shredding and recycling services are readily available.
One type of waste that causes confusion is plastic bags. They can’t go into the hard plastic recycling bin, but can be collected and dropped into the bag recycling bins at most supermarkets.
Recycle Lighting
You probably don’t give your office lighting a second thought, but not only is it possible to recycle old lighting, in many cases it is extremely important to do so.
While there is a general move towards LED lighting, most offices are still lit by fluorescent tubes. These contain mercury, a toxic metal that is best kept out of the environment, and the best thing to do is to recycle fluorescent tubes. It’s easier than you might think, so give us a call on 1300 32 62 92 to talk to one of our experts.
And even though it may not be hazardous, other types of lighting can also be recycled to recover valuable resources.
Recycle Batteries
Most of us don’t give a second thought to tossing spent batteries in the bin. In Australia alone we get through over 260 million batteries weighing around 12,000 tonnes each year. Less than 5% of batteries get recycled.
What can you do to help? Our battery recycling service makes it easy for you to set up a collection program in your office. Make it even more effective by encouraging your workmates to recycle batteries from home.
Recycle E-waste
Computers and printers, keyboards and mice, scanners and speakers, phones and the odd vintage fax machine – offices find themselves with an ever-growing electronic waste disposal problem. E-waste contains valuable metals such as gold as well as hazardous materials including mercury and lead, so it’s not surprising that governments are cracking down on electronic waste being dumped into landfill.
While free, e-waste recycling schemes are available for households and small businesses, larger businesses are responsible for their own e-waste management. Got an e-waste problem? Our simple, two-step electronics recycling service will soon see it solved.
If all your electronic equipment has seen you finally reach the goal of a paperless office you might find yourself with a lot of empty filing cabinets on hand. Most are made of steel, so those old cabinets can either be sold for reuse or readily recycled back into new products.
No Headaches
Recycling shouldn’t be a headache, and when it comes to batteries, lighting and e-waste Ecocycle offers a range of simple solutions. Call us today on 1300 32 62 92 or fill out the form, and one of our experts will be pleased to design an integrated recycling solution just for you.
