How Important is Recycling within Corporate Social Responsibility?

29 October 2018  |  Business  |  Sean Mallon  |  Leave a comment

Guest post from Ella Hendrix

Corporate social responsibility is a term used to describe how all businesses should conduct themselves in an ethical manner. This relates to how it treats its employees, the environment and how it sources its products. In the 1960’s when the term was first coined, corporate social responsibility was a voluntary movement whereby the business would decide how responsible it wanted to be. Over time this has developed into a regulatory movement, especially in the last ten years. Regulations such as the UK’s 2015 Modern Slavery Act are now in place to tackle any exploitation at home and abroad.

Protecting the environment is undoubtedly becoming a larger part of undertaking corporate social responsibility. A part of this is recycling and it needs to be taken very seriously.

How key is recycling in protecting the environment?

In a utopian world, all waste would be recyclable. There would be no litter, no landfill sites and no pollution. We are sadly nowhere near that world and perfection will probably never be achievable if corporations don’t take the issue seriously. We are working to solve the issue in the best ways we can, some complex, others simple. One very easy way to help is for a business to have an effective recycling system in place. This highly commendable act can create visible change.

What defines a highly effective recycling system?

A system that works efficiently for the business and helps the environment in the best way possible would be defined as highly effective. It is simple to achieve this, however, most businesses that produce waste are not achieving it.

The common problem

The answer lies in what these businesses use to contain waste. More often than not it will be bins and skips that are used to contain loose recyclable waste. It will then be collected by a waste management company, sorted at the depot and recycled. It sounds ideal but it is not. Bins are susceptible to overflowing with loose waste. It is not guaranteed how much recyclable waste will be generated in a set amount of time and so a bin could overflow into the general waste stream before collection day. This would result in recyclable waste heading to a landfill site. Loose waste can also easily blow away in the wind and it could land anywhere, perhaps polluting a field for example.

Bins can also be an expensive overhead as collection costs are consistently increasing because of a yearly landfill tax hike. Multiple bins can especially cost a small fortune per annum. They are also voluminous and take up large amounts of space in backyards, warehouses and car parks. Lastly, labour hours are wasted on bins as they require waste to be flat-packed and torn up in order to squeeze as much in the small space as possible.

Is there a simple answer?

Swapping bins for a recycling ‘baler machine’ is how businesses can make an improvement to their recycling system. With a baler, businesses can reduce their bin numbers or remove them altogether. The crucial point in regards to the environment is that using a baler compacts all waste together. This means it will not blow away or overflow into an alternative waste stream. Waste can be 100% recycled as all loose waste enters a baler straight away or alternatively a plastic bag stand which when close to full will also enter the baler. A recycler will then collect completed bales and the business will know it is doing its best for the environment. An additional bonus to having no or fewer bins and fewer collections is high C02 emitting waste management lorries will spend fewer hours on our roads – a small but over time, significant contribution to protecting the environment.

In terms of positives for the business itself, excellent cost savings can be made by binning the bins. Collections will cease or reduce, meaning fewer pounds need to be spent. Bales are viewed as valuable commodities by recyclers so in the majority of cases they will be collected free of charge. Businesses that produce high levels of recyclable waste may even be able to receive rebates from the recycler due to their high value. Most balers have the footprint or less of one 1100 litre bin so the space savings can be momentous if there are several on site. A waste area could be transformed into a new outdoor seating area or car parking spaces could be made available by removing bins. Either way, both options are better than cluttered, messy bins. Lastly, as waste can be placed straight into the baler, no time is wasted on breaking down the material to fit into bins. The labour hours saved will prove to be valuable over time.

Corporate social responsibility and the modern-day values of going green mean recycling is a key part of a business’s ethical strategy. The outdated method of using bins has been surpassed by the eco-friendly and economical recycling method of using balers.