6 Things Your Business Should Stop Recycling

We all know that recycling is important, and that in both commercial and domestic settings, we should be recycling as much as possible. As a business, recycling machinery brings many undeniable benefits and proper waste management is something that every organisation should have in place. However, there are some materials and items that shouldn’t go anywhere near your used recycling equipment, and today we are sharing 6 things that your business should stop recycling, and why.

Food Boxes

Whether you are running a busy restaurant with a takeaway service, or you operate an office where you treat staff to a pizza every Friday, you should think twice before throwing your food boxes in your cardboard baler. A common mistake is to think that corrugated card boxes used for food can be recycled, but often they are lined with plastic which shouldn’t be mixed with card recycling. Always check the boxes for a recycling symbol, and remove any liners from the box before putting in your recycling equipment.

Plastic Bags

Plastic bags can clog up recycling machinery and cause your business a lot of problems. Make sure all staff know not to put any kind of plastic bags in the recycling, as your machine operatives might have to spend time unclogging your recycling equipment later.

Receipts

If you are running a busy store or restaurant, the chances are you handle a lot of receipts every single day. You might assume these can go into your paper recycling, but the truth is, receipts contain Bisphenol A, or BPA, which is a type of chemical. When you put receipts in your recycling machinery, you can contaminate all the other recycled paper with BPA, making it unusable.

Shredded Paper

Just like receipts, shredded paper should not be put in your paper recycling either. While your business might have a process for shredding all confidential documents, the small bits of paper are not recyclable. They can fall through gaps in recycling equipment and cause clogs and other issues. Instead of recycling shredded paper, send it to be composted.

Coffee Cups

Perhaps your business supplies paper coffee cups in the staff canteen, or your team often bring in their favourite brew from a local café. No matter how coffee cups are getting into your company, they should not be leaving in your recycling machinery. Coffee cups are lined with a plastic film to help keep them resistant to liquids, but this makes them more challenging to recycle.

Hazardous Materials

Many items are considered as hazardous and recycling them can contaminate other items. Anything corrosive or toxic should be disposed of properly, well away from your used recycling equipment. This includes motor oil, fuel, medical waste, and oil paint. Even if the packaging these items came in are now empty, they should not be recycled.

At WRT, we are experts in recycling equipment and the various materials which can and can’t be sent for recycling. For more advice on your businesses waste management processes, contact us today.