Most of us are now in the habit of recycling household waste & understand the requirement for the environment.
We would like to introduce this practice to XXXXX by improving the recycling stations and removing the one
thing everyone takes for granted.
“The Waste Paper Bin”
Look inside your waste paper bin and the waste paper bin of your colleague and have a look at what you see…
These are all items that can be recycled.
bottles, stirrers, paper, aluminium cans, cardboard, envelopes.
Office waste: green & general
- printer stations
- photocopiers
- fax machine
- vending machine
- workstations & bins
- packaging from deliveries to site (e.g stationery)
- what we bring into the workplace
- post
Main areas where we generate office waste:
• It will remove the convenience of having a bin next to every desk, so staff will have to think about the way they deal with unwanted items, rather than simply dropping them into their own personal bins without a second thought.
• If staff stick to their normal routine, a general waste bin will quickly become full and overflow, creating a very visual illustration of the level of waste being generated on a daily basis, this will encourage separation into the recycle bins.
How will we do this?
All staff will be asked to remove from the office all of their desk bins and will be left with the option of the recycle bins and a general rubbish
bin in the vend area. This will have two effects:
The potential benefits of cutting down on waste are huge especially when you consider that many businesses spend up to 4% of their turnover generating waste, but where are these savings made?
• Purchasing - as less items are used• Energy saving - as more is recycled• Waste - as everything is recycled correctly• Every ton of paper that is recycled saves 17 trees• Recycling conserves natural resources, such as timber, water, and minerals• Recycling creates less pollution as there is no need to extract and process raw materials
Why should we do this?
• The amount of waste paper buried each year in the UK would fill 103,448 Double Decker buses, which if parked nose to tail would go all the way from London to Milan
• Paper usage is rising UK-wide by around 20% every year
• The average XXXXX worker uses approximately 26 sheets of paper every day
Paper
• Every year 50,000,000,000 aluminium cans are used in the UK
• Recycling just 1 aluminium can saves enough energy to run a computer for 3 hours
• The average XXXXX worker uses approximately 1 can every day
Cans
• 13bn plastic bottles sold in the UK last year, just 3bn were recycled
• Recycling a single plastic bottle can conserve enough energy to light a 60W bulb for up to 6 hours.
• The average XXXXX worker uses approximately 1 drinking bottle every day.
Drinking Bottles
How we currently dispose of office waste
Recycled £47 pcm
Waste bins emptied into Skip. Contents include recyclable items.
OFFICEWASTE
Paper recycle
bins
Cans / bottles
Toner / ink
Cardboard cartons
General Waste
We currently separate & recycle some waste but we need to go further.
1.
2.
3.4.
5.
Currently taken to amenity site
Collected by supplier for recycling
Currently taken to amenity site
XXXXX Office recycling station
Coloured PaperEnvelopes Catalogues
Glossy PaperNewspaperMagazinesCardboard
White paper Fax paper
Coloured paperPhoto paper
Letter head paperComputer paper
Coloured PaperEnvelopes Catalogues
Glossy PaperNewspaperMagazinesCardboard
White paper Fax paper
Coloured paperPhoto paper
Letter head paperComputer paper
Crisp packetsSweet wrappers
Apple coresCling film
Foil
Crisp packetsSweet wrappers
Apple coresCling film
Foil
Place recycling waste in the right bin by following the correct lid colour guide:Place recycling waste in the right bin by following the correct lid colour guide:
PlasticsAluminum Cans
SteelPlastic Cups
GlassPlastic Bottles
Card
PlasticsAluminum Cans
SteelPlastic Cups
GlassPlastic Bottles
Card
GENERAL WASTE Mixrd Recyclables MIXED PAPER
- Mixed Paper - Cans
-Plastic Bottles -Glass bottles
-General Waste / Non Recyclables Bin
• Cleaners will empty all recycling bins into a large recycle container which will be situated outside
• Grundons will collect recycling on a weekly basis
• Each month, Grundons will provide us with the amount we recycled which we will share with all employees
Collecting the waste
•Currently Severnside is costing XXXXX£47 per month to collect Paper only recycling.
•Xxxxx takes the rest of the items for recycling to a local amenity site, the intention here is good however it could lead to fines under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
•If we went with Grundons we would pay £36.65 per month to recycle the following items:-•Paper•Cardboard•Plastics•Aluminium Cans•Steel•Plastic Cups•Glass•Plastic Bottles
we would:-•Save £124.20 per year on the current process•Reduce our carbon footprint of Mike driving to the Amenity site•Dramatically reduce our chance of receiving a fine
Recycling Proposal
Recycling Station Proposal
I have researched the most cost effective bins that are suitable for the xxx office.
We will need at least 3 bins with different colour tops in each work area and kitchen which equals to 8 Recycle points
The Options are :-
1 2Slim Jim
60L
Bin & lid £35.99 + VAT each
Addis Bin
54L
Bin & lid £16.98 + VAT each
Employees could keep a paper tray on their desk to collect recycling throughout the day if they feel that this is necessary, however the HSE recommends that short frequent breaks be taken from your monitor every hour.
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