There are many ways your company can tighten its budget by recycling items and supplies in your office or store. Taking the time to set up systems that reduce, reuse, and recycle workplace materials can minimize your business’s daily expenses. There are also options for selling recyclable items or gaining discounts for returning them, putting some cash in your bank account.
What Items Can Your Company Recycle To Save Money?
You can address many elements of your daily operations to decrease spending. Change the way you use some of the items below and improve your working capital.
Paper: Offices can use mountains of paper daily, depending on their services. There are various ways to minimize paper expenses for your organization.
1. Be more economical by reducing paper use within your business:
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Send internal communications and memos via email.
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Store files electronically.
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Create digital copies of reports and presentations rather than printing them.
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Make comment cards and suggestion “boxes” available online.
2. Reuse paper when possible for further savings:
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Make scrap paper out of printed materials that do not contain private or sensitive information.
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Reuse manila envelopes and file folders.
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Use outdated letterhead for in-house memos.
3. Recycle your paper waste to save money in the following ways:
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Negotiate a lower price for your garbage services pickup.
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You may qualify for tax credits.
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Some states offer rebates as incentives for workplace recycling.
Cardboard Boxes: You likely use a fair amount of cardboard in your business through frequent supply shipments. You can generate a revenue source by selling dry, clean, unused cardboard to a recycler. Many companies pay you for the boxes. This option is preferable to spending funds to pay someone to haul it away.
Ink Cartridges: Ink cartridges are expensive, necessary for your operation and bad for the environment. You can reuse your ink cartridges by refilling them. This practice saves you money by reducing the number of new cartridges you must buy.
Many companies offer store credit to organizations for returning their used ink cartridges, saving you cash on your new supply purchases. This kind of program is a simple way to preserve capital over time.
Compost: If your business throws away large quantities of food, your trash bins will be bulky and fill up more quickly, resulting in higher fees from the waste management company. Implementing a compost program helps you save on pickup fees and landfill fines.
Plastic and Aluminum Containers: Recycling centers may also pay for plastic bottles and containers. The price per bottle and amount limit varies depending on the state and the type of plastic. Contact local recycling centers to find out the specific rules for your area.
Give your employees a place to put their empty bottles other than the trash can. Set up accessible bins for plastics in break rooms and common areas so visitors to your office can also reduce waste.
Scrap Metal
You may not realize you can salvage many metal types, such as aluminum, brass, iron, copper and steel. The ability to reclaim metals repeatedly results in less manufacturing and diminished carbon dioxide emissions. The metal recycling process uses less energy than manufacturing as well.
Casting foundries obtain economical raw materials by reclaiming metal. This further benefits the environment and reduces the price of metal objects for everyone. During the metal casting process, foundry workers pour molten metal into a mold to make the metal components we use every day.
The need for scrap metal is higher than the supply. You can sell the scraps from your workplace, which helps the environment and your bottom line, too. These may be small items like steel chairs, light fixtures, faucets, pipes or used appliances. Companies that use large amounts of metal can get considerable value for their items over time. Some examples include:
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Auto body shops
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Roofing companies
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Electrical supply manufacturers
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Construction businesses
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Food packaging companies
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Manufacturing plants for automobiles, airplanes and ships
How Does Recycling Reduce Your Waste Disposal Costs?
The cost of garbage disposal is increasingly expensive as landfill costs continue to rise. You can cut costs by putting as much as possible into recycling containers instead of the trash as recycling companies charge less for their pickups. Even if you choose not to sell your items yourself, recyclers can recover a portion of their costs by selling the materials, enabling them to charge you less.
Set up a system within your company to lessen trash and increase recycling efforts. States are placing more restrictions, regulations and fines on businesses that may be costly if you have excess waste products going to the landfill.
Having an organized recycling program in your workplace also decreases the amount of trash that employees generate. Fewer garbage items reduce recycling contamination, which then increases the value of recyclable items. You benefit by saving money and helping the environment.
