If you want to lower expenses at your facility, one of the first areas to tackle is waste. Reducing waste helps lessen your environmental impact and costs overall. Luckily, this doesn’t have to be a difficult process. By implementing some simple changes you can see positive results in no time at all. Some changes may be a little more expensive; however they often produce long-term savings.
Why Reduce Waste?
Every business creates waste, but there are things that can be done to reduce the amount produced. Dumping all your waste in landfills is expensive and can reflect poorly on your brand.
Be proactive and consider how the following changes can help reduce your business’s waste and expenses:
Reduce
By reducing the amount of waste created by your business, there’s immediately less to dispose of.
- If your business prints a great deal, cut down where possible. Set printers to black and white, use both sides and instill an attitude of print only when needed. Encourage staff to view documents online.
- If you receive a great deal of unwanted mail that needs to be disposed of every day, it can add up. Contact the companies and ask to be taken off their mail list.
- When it comes to drinkware, try not to purchase disposable cups and glasses. Buy reusable ones that can be washed and used again.
Recycle Smarter
Inevitably, your company will still produce some waste. If possible, recycle it! Recycling is a great way to reduce your waste and expenses. Intelligent recycling can reduce the confusion and difficulty associated with recycling. Here’s how to recycle smarter:
- Use clearly labeled, separate waste containers (e.g., containers just for plastic, food, or paper) to reduce sorting time.
- Use the same color code for containers across the entire facility.
- Place containers in key areas where they are most likely to be used.
- Provide clear information about what goes in each container (images usually work best).
- Educate occupants so they know why and how each container should be used.
- If possible, install a composter on-site for food waste.
If you successfully implement the above, the amount of waste you create can decrease substantially, cutting costs, and helping the environment at the same time.
