Why office managers need a recycling policy in the workplace

Recycling in the workplace

We are advocates of recycling in the workplace and encourage our clients to do their bit for the environment too.

Creating a recycling policy is a simple and effective way for office managers to kick-start a company’s recycling.

Start by carrying out a waste audit to identify recycling in the workplace. Paper and glass will be the obvious ones. However, there are a number of other products in the office that can be recycled. These include plastic containers, batteries and printer cartridges.

For a recycling policy to be effective you need the buy-in from the whole organisation. Your contract cleaning company will als0 need to play a significant part in the recycling effort.

Speak to us about how we help businesses with their recycling activity.

Call London on 0203 405 8442.

Call Essex 01279 413 641.

Why choose recycling in the workplace? 

Recycling in the office will mean that you are reducing the amount of waste ending up in landfill. This in turn will help reduce the toxic greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere.

Recycling in the workplace helps to conserve raw materials and the natural environment.

When waste materials are converted into new products, there is less need for tapping into our vital natural resources. Recycled products use a lot less energy in the manufacturing process than producing raw materials.

Recycling could lead to savings in the office. Hopefully, through recycling there will be less waste for your regular refuse collection service. This could lead to a reduced requirement, either in capacity or frequency, of that service. This will offset the cost of contracting a recycling service or even lead to savings overall.

Recycling Facts from recyclenow:

  • Both metal and glass can be recycled again and again without loss of quality
  • Around 95% less energy is used to make recycled products instead of raw materials
  • If we recycle all the steel packaging we use in a year, it would save enough energy to make over 50,000 returns train journeys between London and Edinburgh
  • Recycling one drinks can could save enough energy to power a TV for four hours
  • All newspapers in the UK are made from 100% recycled paper. It only takes 7 days for a recycled newspaper to come back as a new one

Communicate your recycling in the workplace

Recycling in the workplace will hopefully become second nature to everyone in the office. However, when starting out, be sure to communicate very clearly why you are implementing a recycling policy and how each team member can play their part.

Use your company intranet, newsletters, group emails or posters to get the message out there.

WRAP have developed some downloadable posters to put around the office. These are perfect to clarify what can and can’t be put in the recycling bins.

 

What do we do to help the environment?

We, at Swift Office Cleaning Services have achieved ISO 14001:2015 certification.

This is a framework for organisations to meet the challenges of climate change. Our two main suppliers of cleaning products are also both ISO 14001 certified.

We also purchase our chemicals in larger batches so that packaging waste is minimised.

Here at Swift, we use trigger spray bottles which are 100% plastic. They have no metal spring or ball bearing so that the whole bottle can be recycled.

We like to encourage our clients to recycle paper and glass wherever possible. We are happy to dispose of waste in different containers for recycling on their sites.

At our own office we have paper and other recycling procedures in place.

Most of our recommended paper products are supplied by SCA Sweden – a world leading company in protecting the environment, planting two new trees for every one that is felled.

Choose Us For Your Cleaning Services

As a contract cleaning company who actively promotes recycling, we are the perfect fit for other likeminded businesses. Especially those wanting flexible, quality and cost effective cleaning services. We also offer a comprehensive green cleaning service.

We provide free cleaning quotations so call us to discuss your cleaning requirements and we will provide you with your bespoke cleaning quotation.

Call us on London 0203 405 8442 or Essex 01279 413 641 today to find out why office managers need a recycling policy and why you should choose Swift for your cleaning services.