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WasteCare Corporation is your source for commercial trash compactors, balers, waste equipment, recycling equipment, industrial shredders and grinders, and other waste related products and services.
WASTE RECYCLING CONSIDERATIONS AND
EQUIPMENT for
OFFICES and OFFICE
COMPLEXES
(For More Information Read the Article Below the Equipment - Material Table)
Waste & Recycling Equipment Category |
Brief Description / Typical Application |
Main Material Classes (Select the materials below for additional information) |
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Strategically placed for easy access they can be great cost savers for
cutting waste hauling |
Mixed Trash |
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Outdoor
Compactor hauled directly to the landfill |
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Typically for dry wastes such as compacting cardboard |
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Thru-the-Wall Compactors |
Discard trash from the inside with the compactor on the outside | Mixed Trash | |||
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Has the
ability for 2 or more chambers where various recyclables can be baled
separately |
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Great for
Cardboard and Shrink Wrap |
Paper | ||||
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Up to 250
lb cardboard bales and 230 lb plastic bottles |
Paper | ||||
| 60" High Density Vertical Baler | Shredded ONP - Paper up to 1,100 pound bales | Newsprint | |||
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For Break
Rooms, Breakfast areas and lunch rooms |
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For
crushing Fluorescent Bulbs |
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Paper, including cardboard, white paper, newspapers, paper bags, magazines, packaging and all other grades of paper, can make up to 80 percent of the waste profile. A general office's waste profile is made up of 15% cardboard, 65% paper, 6% plastic, 5% organics (textiles, food waste, etc.), 2% metal, 2% glass and 5% other trash. Outside of paper, other opportunities for recycling are plastic and printer toner cartridges.
Recycling Paper and Cardboard in Your Office Workplace
Check with your building manager or janitorial staff to see if there are already any recycling programs in place in the building. If there are programs in place, find out as much information as possible up front before you begin.
Recycling companies usually require between 500 to 1,000 pounds of paper before they pickup. However, many recycling facilties allow you to drop off smaller quantities. If you generate a small quantity, you may want to consider combining your recycling efforts with other offices on the same floor or in the same building.
The most commonly recycled papers are computer paper, white ledger paper, colored ledger paper and mixed office paper. Generally, the grades of office paper accepted for recycling are (please confirm this with your Recycler):
- Computer print-out (high grade): color barred or blank. Commercial forms or primers' inks are usually not acceptable.
- White ledger (high grade): non-glossy, printed or unprinted white, including letterhead, typing, writing and copy machine paper.
- Colored ledger: non-glossy, printed or unprinted colored paper.
- Mixed office paper (lower grade): unsorted paper including: office paper; manila folders; white, colored and glossy paper; junk mail; tabulating cards; pamphlets; brochures. This mix does not include: newsprint, phone books, magazines, Pendaflex or brown Kraft envelopes.
- Groundwood computer paper (low grade): looks like phone book paper.
- Corrugated cardboard (low grade).
Paper that is not usually recyclable include brown 'Kraft' envelopes, paper contaminated with food, newspaper, blueprint paper, phone books and magazines. (Phone books are usually recycled by the phone company.)
Contact your local recycling company to obtain their guidelines and restrictions for what papers they will accept for recycling. You will also need to ask how they want the paper prepared. Some require that it be baled in a vertical baler. If so, ask what size of bale they require. Many require 30" or 60" bales in order to fit on their trucks properly. Some recycling companies require that you use specific containers for collection that they can pickup and replace with their trucks. Some provide these free of charge and others charge rental fees. You also need to be aware of what they consider to be contaminants.
Analyze your Waste Stream and Establish a Recycling Team and Program
First, you will need to determine how much paper and the kinds of paper your office has. There is a basic formula for recycled paper generation:
1. Multiply the number of employees by 0.5 lbs. (recyclable paper / employee / day). This will be the total recyclable paper/day.
2. Multiply the total recyclable paper / day by 240 (working days / year);
3. Divide by this total by 12 (months per year).
4. Then divide this total by 2000 (lbs/ ton) to equal the total tons recyclable paper/month.
(# employees x 0.5 x 240 / 12) /2000
To determine potential paper recovery rates, tons of recyclable paper/month (the figure from above) is multiplied by 65 percent (or the estimated employee participation rate) to equal tons/month recyclable paper recovered.
Tons/paper/month x .65 = T/month recovered
Several random samples of trash cans will help you determine the kinds of paper the office generates.
The next step is to establish a recycling team. This team will analyze the waste stream, determine what will be recycled, and contact recycling companies and arrange pick ups. The Recycling team will also inform employees of new routines, update employee manuals with recycling information, and monitor the progress of the Recycling Program.
The team will locate points where the recyclable materials are being generated and place collection containers appropriately. The Recycling Team will also make equipment purchases (balers, compactors, hand carts, etc.) where necessary. You may also want to consider a container at each desk to accumulate solely office paper for recycling. Desks and copy areas are usually the main generation point in an office. To prevent other trash from being deposited into recycling bins, the bins should be CLEARLY labeled for Recycling. It is generally a good idea to place a regular trash container next to each recycling bin, making it easy for employees to use the correct bin. Desk containers can then be emptied into general collection containers on a daily or hourly basis.
One important step often overlooked is keeping your employees participation. Consider implementing incentives or bonuses for ideas in order to keep your employees excited about recycling efforts.
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For assistance in determining the best approach for your particular facility, email WasteCare Corporation at sales@wastecare.com and in addition to your contact information, let us know the approximate volume of trash being hauled from your facility each week or month and the approximate waste hauling cost each month and we will be glad to give you some suggestions.
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