How recycling waste, balers and compactors help reduce landfill mass

The Government reports that at the present rate, the UK will run out of landfill space within 10 years, so it’s urgent we find more effective ways of handling waste.

This article looks at the impact of waste on business and looks at how recycling, waste compactors and balers can help to create a more effective way of managing waste.

The cost of waste

Businesses produce five times the amount of waste created by households in the UK and in any one day Britain produces enough waste to fill Trafalgar Square to the top of Nelson’s column – that’s a lot of rubbish.

At work, plastic, paper and cardboard waste takes up a huge amount of valuable space; creating potential health, safety and fire hazards as well as a bad impression of a messy, disorganised workplace. Waste can also attract pest nuisances in the form of insects and rodents.

Add in the financial cost of transporting loose waste and the cost of meeting waste legislation and it’s easy to see that getting to grips with waste makes sound business sense.

Reducing the burden of waste

Avoiding over-ordering will help, while waste compactors and cardboard balers could be the way forward in managing the amount of packaging waste that business has to deal with.

Cardboard balers and waste compactors won’t make the zillions of tonnes of rubbish in our landfills disappear but they will help reduce the burden. They can also help businesses meet the stringent requirements of waste legislation and save them considerable amounts of money and time into the bargain.

Smaller is always more beautiful when it comes to waste

Balers create neatly tied up, easily transportable bundles of paper, plastic, metal or cardboard waste while compactors crush general waste into cubes up to 90 per cent smaller than the same quantity of loose waste.

That means less bins and skip loads to collect, thereby saving money for your business at every collection.

Waste legislation

The EU Landfill Directive requires that businesses separate out different types of waste for recycling wherever possible. This waste must also be properly controlled and recorded. If you don’t do this, your business could face an EU fine for non-compliance. A waste baler can help you comply with the Landfill Directive by making the task of segregating and recycling waste on your site much easier and more profitable.

As well as the legal requirement to recycle, the Landfill Tax is also making it much more financially attractive for businesses to divert waste from Landfill. Currently standing at £32 per tonne, the Landfill Tax is set to rise by a further £8 each year so that by 2010 it will cost an additional £48 per tonne to send waste to landfill. So it makes good sense to try and recycle as much of your card, paper and plastic waste as possible –baled waste is easier than loose waste to recycle and help you avoid increasing landfill costs any may even generate some income.

Action Plan for waste

• Review ordering and usage of materials
• Re-use boxes and packaging wherever possible
• Get a waste audit and advice on cost effective waste disposal
• Consider where you can use waste balers and compactors
• Find out whether you can turn your waste into a revenue stream and meet legislation by selling baled waste for recycling