Recycle
You are probably already doing some form of basic recycling.
Cans, bottles, plastics, paper, cardboard can all be recycled easily.
Most garbage companies offer recycle bins of some sort to both regular businesses and home-based businesses. Some only offer large cardboard recycling bins while others offer mixed paper or plastic and can recycling too.
Check with your local waste company for details on their offerings.
Determine if there are any other items you can recycle.
One way to do this is to take a look in your garbage bin right before it is picked up.
See if any materials are being disposed of that could be recycled instead.
Ideas for recycling:
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Choose to buy recycled and recyclable products
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Purchase paper with at least 30% recycled content.
Tip: Try paper with a higher percentage of recycled content, but it may cause excess jams in some older printers/copiers.
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Recycle paper, cardboard, glass, aluminum cans, plastics, bottles, etc
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Recycle plastic grocery bags by returning them to the store, or better yet, bring your own reusable bag to the store with you
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Avoid purchasing juice “boxes”, as they are made up of a complex mixture of paper, plastic and metal that is difficult to recycle
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Avoid Styrofoam containers, as they are not recyclable!
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Recycle ink & toner cartridges and buy refilled cartridges.
HP provides return envelopes with many of their products and some office supply stores offer discounts if you return cartridges
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Make recycling easy for your staff by placing bins in convenient locations around the facility
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Recycle batteries
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Recycle E-Waste* – Televisions, Cellular Phones, PDAs, iPods, Computers, Video Game Consoles, Sound Systems, Consumer Electronics
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Recycle Paint – Can be recycled by reprocessing or reblending
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Recycle automotive fluids, tires and car batteries
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Recycle eyeglasses
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Florescent products contain mercury that cannot be processed by normal curbside recycling.
Recycle florescent tubes and CFLs by taking them to a recycling center or hardware store that has a recycle bin specifically for florescent products.
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Save packing material you receive and reuse for shipping
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Save yard waste and organic kitchen scraps for use in Composting
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Recycle old appliances.
If recycling an old refrigerator or air conditioner, make sure that the recycler can handle removing the refrigerant properly.
*Remember, E-Waste cannot simply be thrown into a recycle bin. It must be processed by an eWaste recycler.
Recycling Plastics:
The importance of recycling plastic or switching to biodegradable non-plastic alternatives cannot be understated. Plastic is a growing disaster for the environment.
Plastics are made from non-renewable resources extracted and processed using energy-intensive techniques. Plastic packaging is a huge source of waste in our landfills and is eaten by animals.
Many states require that plastics have numbers stamped on the bottom of them to identify how they should be recycled.
This system was developed by the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) in 1988 to allow consumers and recyclers differentiate between different types of plastics to help facilitate recycling.
Check with your local waste company to determine which numbers can/can’t be recycled.
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#1 PETE (PolyEthylene Terephthalate) includes clear single-use water / soda / juice bottles, meal trays, salad dressing, mayo/miracle whip containers, and some cleaners
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#2 HDPE (High-Density PolyEthylene) includes milk/water jugs, detergent bottles, cereal box liners, and grocery bags
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#3 V or PVC (Vinyl or PolyVinyl Chloride) includes toys, non-food retail packages, plastic food wrap, binders, shower curtains, medical tubing, some baby bottle nipples, plastic pipes, bottles used for cooking oil, shampoo, window cleaner, peanut butter and some squeezable bottles (honey, mustard)
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#4 LDPE (Low-Density PolyEthylene) includes dry cleaning bags, produce bags, frozen food bags, most plastic wraps, and some squeezable bottles
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#5 PP (PolyPropylene) inludes medicine bottles, aerosol caps, drinking straws and food containers (such as yogurt, ketchup bottles and sour cream/butter/hummus tubs)
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#6 PS (PolyStyrene) includes Styrofoam (packing peanuts, egg cartons, coffee cups, take-out food containers), compact disc jackets, plastic tableware, and some yogurt containers
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#7 "Other" is a catch-all category that covers anything that is not categorized by 1-6. It includes both dangerous and safe plastics.
It includes reusable water bottles, baby bottles, sippy cups, certain kinds of food containers and Tupperware. It also includes CD/DVDs, cell phones, ABS pipes / Lego toys / golf club heads, automotive parts, and head gear.
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*#1 PETE and #2 HDPE are the most common forms of plastic, so they are the easiest types to find locations where they are accepted for recycling.
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