Educating property owners about the types of materials that can be recycled is challenging, but the satisfaction of providing an alternative to landfilling is priceless. Effective recycling means thinking out of the box to create solutions for materials that are commonly discarded in the waste stream.
Providing a venue for metro-Philadelphia residents to responsibly recycle those items that cannot be accepted at the landfill is a valuable service beneficial to all. Recycling must consider all aspects of how operations affect the local environment and the workers that must handle a wide variety of material.
Article 018- Creating Recycling Solutions for Nearly Everything Generated within a Facility
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April 12, 2011
There are very few items generated within a facility that cannot be recycled. Old chairs, broken desks, partitions, pallets and carpeting are some of the most common types of materials that are often landfilled and can easily be recycled. But why are these materials still thrown in the trash so often? The answer is simple: there are few companies that provide this valuable service.

It is amazing what reuse opportunities are available in the marketplace today. Domestically, there are a number of non-profit agencies that are in desperate need of new furniture, equipment and technology. Internationally, there are many countries that have been ravaged by natural catastrophes and desperately need help in rebuilding facilities.

Even material that has no market available can be stripped and plastics and metals can be reclaimed, and those materials that have no useful life can be used in a waste to energy solution.

Commercial facilities have a great opportunity to expand recycling operations and increase the volume and types of materials that can be recycled. In many cases, the recycling solution will be cheaper and obviously more environmentally friendly.
Article 027- The Wood Pallet Tradgedy
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October 30, 2011
Walk into any facility and in all probability you will see perfectly good, reusable wooden pallets thrown in a dumpster because there is no space in the facility area for them to be stored. Although it is customary for an exchange system to be in place by vendors, inevitably there will be times there are simply too many pallets in a shipping area at one time and they need to be disposed of quickly.

Throwing wood pallets in the trash should never be an option, even if they are broken and cannot be reused. The repair of broken pallets is rather simple and even if they are not repairable, they can be chipped and the resultant sawdust is useful in a number of commercial, agricultural and industrial applications.

On a more limited, but yet creative end, there are a number of up cycling ideas in the marketplace. The message is clear: don't throw this valuable commodity in the dumpster when there exists viable, inexpensive and creative solutions for reuse.
Article 004- Unique Solutions for Commercial Tenants
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October 05, 2010
Nearly every tenant has the same problem: the accumulation of unwanted electronic devices that have reached the end of their useful life and limited space to store such equipment. Since electronics cannot be landfilled, the removal and recycling of electronics must be done by a certified recycler with proper certification and permitting. Are there any solutions to help tenants with this problem?

A proven and effective means of providing tenants with a means to dispose of unwanted electronics is through a facility wide collection event. These events are usually held twice a year in conjunction with Earth Day (April) and America Recycles (November) but it is not necessary to hold them in conjunction with these days. What has been found is that a typical company accumulates enough electronic waste to hold these events semi-annually with January being the most desirable time frame since many companies make end-of-year purchases of capital equipment.

A critical point to consider: only a certified (R2 or eSteward) vendor should be used to provide this type of service.

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This site is located in Philadelphia, PA USA and is designed, maintained and published by Charles Nygard. Copyright © 2012. Member of the Institute of Recycling and PBOMA. e-Stewards, R2 and ISO 14011 certified. Any content that has been republished and is not owned or created by myself is copyright to it's original owner.