Here is a great opportunity for businesses to either re-invigorate existing recycling programs or to introduce new programs with National Recycling Week happening from 9 – 15 November 2015.

National Recycling Week was introduced by PlanetArk in 1996 to bring national focus to the environmental benefits of recycling. Now more than ever, this needs to be a focus as our landfills continue to fill to capacity.

So National Recycling Week is a reminder that we have to improve our practices to manage waste. Australians are up there as one of the worst offenders globally when it comes to producing waste. Each of us produces, on average, 2.2 tonnes of waste each year. National statistics also points out that approximately 60% of waste making its way into landfills can be recycled – this equates to 19 million tonnes of waste that can easily be diverted to be reused, recycled or up-cycled.

We work with many large buildings with lots of different tenancies here in Melbourne and across Australia. We carry out regular waste audits to capture and report on really helpful information as part of the services we provide, so we can see how effective the recycling programs are that we implement. This also helps us to make recommendations and work with tenants to continually improve.

Our team of waste auditors capturing important data

It’s often difficult to keep good practices in place as staff come and go and work gets really busy. Unless there is a regular reminder of what needs to be done, it is easy for us to slip back into old habits. What helps us to be successful is to have a good bin system in place, clear signage, making recycling tips available and regular audits to keep us all on track to reduce our waste problem and the associated costs.

A good bin system and clear signage helps to avoid contamination of the different waste collection streams

So to help your business during National Recycling Week , choose one or all of the below and improve your recycling rates by:

1. Relaunching your recycling programs.
2. Introducing another waste collection stream such as organic recycling.
3. Removing under desk bins as they tend to cause an increase in recyclables going into landfill.
4. Running a competition on best up-cycled item from waste.
5. Buying less which means less waste and less recycling…even better!

Good luck and if you want some up-cycling ideas for inspiration for a competition, then check us out on Facebook. There is a great post on ‘5 Quick Upcycling Ideas’ and like us whilst your there!