3 January 2023
 Categories: , Blog

Business operations usually create a lot of trash, and much of it can be recycled. Whether you own a retail shop, office building, or another type of business, consider implementing a recycling program. You'll need to find a commercial recycling company to come to your building and recommend the right way to gather, store, and recycle the waste you produce. Each recycling company may have different rules, so you'll need to know what to do with your waste. Here are four tips for commercial recycling.

1. Determine Your Biggest Source Of Recyclable Waste

Your biggest recyclable material may be cardboard that comes from your inventory delivery boxes. Some companies may have a lot of metal waste instead. When you know how much and what type of waste you have, the recycling company can determine the size and number of recycling bins you need.

2. Flatten Boxes For Recycling

Boxes take up much less space when you flatten them. Your recycling company may want you to tear down boxes and flatten them before putting them in the dumpster. If you deal with a large number of boxes, you might consider getting a dumpster that is also a compactor so the boxes can be flattened and mashed together inside the dumpster.

You may need to keep other materials out of a cardboard recycling bin, but you might be able to add other types of paper waste if your recycling company is agreeable.

3. Clean Food Containers If Necessary

You may not have much waste from glass containers or cans if you don't have a cafeteria in your building, but if you do, ask the recycling company if you need to rinse containers before putting them in the appropriate bins. You may be allowed to mix cans, jars, and other types of small kitchen trash in the same bin, but it may need to be cleaned first.

4. Separate Metal Waste

Metal waste often has to be kept separate from paper and glass waste, especially if you produce a lot of metal waste due to manufacturing. Your recycling company may even want you to separate different types of metal.

Metal types have to be separated at some point, and the process is easier if you separate them as you throw the waste into different bins. This probably won't be necessary for waste created from a retail shop or business office since the amount of metal trash will probably be small.

A commercial recycling company can bring the dumpsters and recycling bins you need and then pick them up regularly to be hauled away. Once you have a system in place for recycling and have the right bins to make it easy, you'll probably find it isn't a whole lot of work to recycle, and you can feel good about doing something worthwhile for the environment. 

For more info about commercial recycling, contact a local company.