One common recyclable that ends up in garbage containers, which ultimately finds its way to landfills, is shrink wrap. Companies in the manufacturing and industrial spaces, especially, will typically produce large volumes of shrink wrap waste from pallets that are wrapped to bulk shipments that are also wrapped.
There are a few ways in which you can translate your film recycling program into serious revenue to help your business’s bottom line. Separating shrink wrap from waste saves it from the landfill and generates revenue. Additionally, separating shrink wrap from other recyclables when commingled, often increases the return of each grade because it decreases incurred handling fees. You can work towards a zero waste initiative when you find creative ways to improve your shrink wrap recycling program.
Some other common products used in companies that come shrink wrapped are bulk beverages, napkins, paper towels, bathroom tissue, etc. Sometimes people do not know the difference between plastic wrap and film and plastic bags. Both of these plastic products can be recycled, but plastic wrap and film cover a wider spectrum of the same recyclable materials.
Here are a few tips to make sure your business can get the most out of your shrink wrap recycling program:
Make Shrink Wrap Recycling Easily Accessible
In order to make recycling easy, all you need to do is have clear signage and conveniently located, color-coded recycling bins to help your employees accurately place the material. In addition to clear signage, you can have diagrams of illustrations of which material belongs in what bin. To avoid co-mingling of other materials in each bin, you should have an appropriate number of bins available so they do not overflow with recyclables.
Hold People Accountable
When you have your weekly meetings with your employees make sure you are starting a conversation around their recycling habits. If you show that you are interested in participating in making your business sustainable, your employees will follow your lead. You can even go a step further and continue the conversation in your employee’s quarterly reviews and even at crew meetings. Also, you can create a reward system around recycling your shrink wrap. This can encourage your employees to hold themselves and others accountable so everyone can enjoy a nice reward.
Keep People in the Know
The more you let your employees know how they are doing with recycling shrinkwrap, the more they will be inclined to keep the trend going. An easy way to measure success is to track how well they are doing in terms of volume and quantity. If you find that they are not performing as well as they could be you can have them figure out creative ways to improve on their own. This will switch the accountability to them and allow you to let them work as a team. Your business has the opportunity to improve its recovery rates for plastic wraps while generating extra revenue when you recycle the right way. Your business generates extra revenue if you bring the material to a recycling plant that is willing to pay you for your material. Being transparent about your employees’ efforts can be beneficial for everyone.
Hire a Recycling Company
If you do not want to recycle the materials on your own you can hire a recycling company like Generated Materials Recovery. When you hire Generated Materials Recovery they will come to your business and asses your current recycling situation. Then they will find a creative strategy on how you can begin to recycle efficiently and make the most out of your waste. GMR will pay the true market price for your plastic and even pick it up when you have reached capacity. They will also find ways in which their recycling programs will not interfere with your current business objectives and work in conjunction with them.
Find What Works Best For Your Team
Since there are a few options available to you to improve your shrink wrap recycling program, try and implement a few programs at once. This will allow you to see what people respond positively to and what they do not like. Make sure you let them know that you would like to be as transparent as possible so they can feel like they are doing the right thing for themselves. Your business will be able to make significant progress towards your sustainability goals when you begin recycling the little things. Not only will you feel good about bettering your own work environment, but you will also help the bigger picture of eliminating unnecessary waste making its way to the wrong landfills.
For more information about the different ways you can improve your shrink wrap recycling program, contact Generated Materials Recovery today.
