SWIX Blog

Recycling for Business

General Office Recycling

Source: Waste Management

Even with emails and instant messaging, most business offices still use a lot of paper. The good news is that practically any product or package made of paper can be recycled, and so can metal and plastic beverage containers. Best of all, with single-stream recycling, you can toss everything into the same bin.

Do’s

• Any type of office paper, even with staples and paper clips attached
• Junk mail
• Envelopes (with or without stamps and widows)
• Cardboard
• Phone books
• Catalogs
• Manila folders
• Snack boxes (without food scraps attached)
• Magazines (without wrappers)
• Bottles made of #1 or #2 plastic
• Aluminum beverage cans

Don’ts

• Waxed paper
• Food-contaminated paper (like a cheese-encrusted pizza box)
• Some items, like three-ring binders, may or may not be accepted. Check with your Waste Management rep to be sure.
• Foam cups or packing materials cups and other materials made of polystyrene are usually not accepted in single-stream recycling programs.

Other’s

• Three-ring binders may or may not be accepted. Check with your Waste Management rep to be sure.

Shipping and Receiving Departments

The shipping and receiving areas of your business provide even more opportunities to put single-stream recycling to work.

Do’s

• Flattened cardboard boxes, even if they have shipping labels, metal staples and tape on them
• Paper packing materials
• Cardboard packing materials
• Aluminum beverage cans

Don’ts

• Waxed paper
• Food-contaminated paper (like a cheese-encrusted pizza box)
• Some items, like three-ring binders, may or may not be accepted. Check with your Waste Management rep to be sure.
• Foam peanuts and polystyrene packing materials. Suggestion: Collect and save them to use in your own company’s outbound shipping needs

Other’s

• Bubble wrap and plastic cushioning are sometimes accepted for recycling
• Packing strips can be collected separately and recycled in bulk

Office Kitchens, Commercial Kitchens and Restaurants

Every kitchen — from the small one in an office to a large-scale commercial or restaurant kitchen —has plenty of opportunities to put single-stream recycling into action.

Do’s

Important: Be sure to clean food off these items before recycling them:

• Paper
• Cardboard egg cartons
• Cereal boxes
• Paper bags
• Corrugated cardboard
• Milk and juice cartons (rinsed out)
• Aluminum beverage cans
• Aluminum foil
• Aluminum trays
• Aluminum pans
• Clear glass containers (labels okay)
• Colored glass containers (labels okay)
• Plastics: Containers made of #1 and #2 plastic (milk jugs, water bottles, juice containers, detergent containers, bleach containers)

Don’ts

• Waxed paper
• Food-contaminated paper (like a cheese-encrusted pizza box)
• Some items, like three-ring binders, may or may not be accepted. Check with your Waste Management rep to be sure.
• Foam cups or packing materials cups and other materials made of polystyrene are usually not accepted in single-stream recycling programs.

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