We all have fiber. No, I don’t mean dietary fiber, but rather fiber waste. When we talk fiber waste, we mean things like cardboard, paper and the like. It is a huge problem in the US. Estimates vary, but at least half of all the waste that fills today’s landfill is fiber waste. At the same time, paper and cardboard are a vital commodity that can be bought and sold on the open market. It seems foreign to me that people do not ALL recycle cardboard? I can remember using a bailer at every job I had in retail-going back over 25 years. Since moving to Ohio, though it seems that much of what could be considered a resource is casually dumped into the landfill.
Luckily, there are groups like E4S who are determined to raise awareness and connect people who can change this. Today I attended a fiber waste panel discussion. The room was packed, which made me happy to see so much interest. Let’s face it. We pay for garbage service, but we pay less for recyclables. In fact, sometimes we get paid to recycle. So what is the deal? This was the question that was put to the panel. This panel discussion was moderated by Victoria Avi. The panelists included:
Beau Daane, Business and Recycling Specialist, Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District
Jaca Kaverman, Assistant Executive Housekeeper, Hyatt Regency Cleveland
John Piotrowski, VP of Operations, Green Recovery Group
Janet VonGunten, Specifications Sales Representative, xpedx
In addition, there was a supplier of recycling service pick up and a compactor company. Overall, the discussion was for businesses who have yet to start a recycling program or who are just getting their feet wet, it was filled with great ideas and resources. I even learned a thing or two from the talented and informed panel. Basically, though the idea was this:
Recycle your paper waste. It is the easiest thing to recycle and still most of it goes to landfill.
Cardboard is a valuable commodity and you can get paid for it.
If you are in an office setting, think about partnering with other tenants.
The Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District has a welath of information on how to deal with your waste stream and reduce your impact on the landfill.
Start with reduction before recycling. If you can use less to begin with, you will save money on products AND trash.
Reuse paper products whenever you can.
Engage your staff.
Identify opportunities and use them to benefit your company.
Recycling can help your bottom line and save you some money!
I could go on and on, but we watched this video and I think it says it all:
E4S events are top notch and I highly recommend you try and make it to as many of them as you can! And join the Zero Waste Network.
