Three ways to reduce the amount of refuse your business contributes to landfills

The rubbish that is left to fester in landfills plays a key role in global warming, as it produces an enormous quantity of greenhouse gases. If you run a business and would like to reduce your enterprises' contributions to landfills, here are three tips which may help.

Invest in reusable items for your drinks

Many business owners have water stations and automatic coffee machines on their premises. In most cases, these drink sources come with disposable plastic or paper cups to hold the liquids they deliver.

If you employ, for example, a dozen people, and each of these individuals drinks three or four cups of water and coffee throughout the course of each work day, this could lead to several thousand of these disposable cups ending up in a local landfill each year.

If you want to avoid this, you should consider investing in a large collection reusable mugs and glasses for your premises. These items can be purchased for very little and will drastically reduce the quantity of refuse that your business contributes to your area's landfill.

Use the services of an eco-friendly bin hire company

Rather than renting your bins from a standard company, who will simply deliver all of the bin's contents to the nearest refuse site, it's a good idea to seek out a bin hire company who takes a more environmentally-friendly approach to waste disposal.

Try to find a company who offers recycling bins, which you can use for any paper, cardboard, glass and other recyclable waste that your business produces.

Whilst ordering a selection of bins for this purpose may increase your waste disposal costs slightly, it will significantly reduce your enterprise's carbon footprint, which is good both for the planet and for your business' reputation. Talk to local bin hire companies to see if they offer these sorts of services. 

Set up a compost bin

During a typical work day, your employees probably create a lot of food waste, in the form of sandwich crusts, egg shells, bits of leftover salad and fruit peelings. If you want to prevent these leftovers from reaching the local landfill and contributing to the rise in greenhouse gases, it's worth purchasing a compost bin for your premises.

Don't be deterred by concerns about what you will do with the resulting compost; even if your business premises don't have a garden area outside, there are still plenty of eco-friendly things you can do with this substance.

You can, for example, use it to nourish any indoor plants you keep in your office or reception area. Alternatively, you can donate the compost to a local community garden or to some of your local farmers.

Make sure that the bin you choose for your compost is specifically designed for this purpose; it should be completely airtight, to prevent the food odours from attracting pests into your business premises.


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