A Recycling Guide For Building Managers
Posted on: 7 December 2016
Having a great recycling program in your building is something to brag about as a facilities manager. But getting the program to flow smoothly is a challenge. Here are some tips on creating a manageable recycling program for your building.
Find a Company that Does it All
Your first task is to find the right recycling services for your building. One of the biggest criteria will be whether they can handle everything that you throw at them. For one, you'll want to check to see if the recycling center accepts all of the different types of recyclable materials that you have to offer. If you do a bit of analysis of your building's waste contents, you might find various types of metals, plastics, wood products and others that could be recycled.
And then there are those items that are somewhat difficult to recycle. For example, plastic bags are recyclable, but only certain facilities can accept them. Things like batteries, used electronics, and old toner cartridges are also hard to place. You'll want to speak with your recycling services representative to see whether they accept all of these items, or if you'll need to send them somewhere else to be recycled.
Find Out What the Sorting Guidelines Are
Also be sure that you know what the recycling guidelines are for your facility, and how you can keep up with them. Some facilities accept unsorted recycling, but others require you to separate different types of material for pickup. This will affect how you collect recyclable from your building's occupants. If you need to sort the items out before a pickup, then you might want to create a shared recycling area with cleanly labeled bins for various types of materials. If you can accept items unsorted, then you might just have your building occupants places their recyclables out once a week so that you can collect them and turn them in for recycling.
Educate Everyone
Finally, you'll need to find a fun way to educate all of your building occupants about the how and why of your recycling program. Hopefully most people understand why they should care about recycling, but it still helps to have some kind of reading material that explains why you're starting a recycling program. As far as the how, you could create diagrams, written explanations, or even videos of how to recycle in your building. You could also hold an info session to explain your new program.
For more information or assistance, contact companies like Uribe Refuse Services Inc.
Share