How to Improve your Recycling at Work

Over £6 billion can be saved by businesses in the United Kingdom if everyone of them improved their daily recycling habits and was a little more careful on what they purchased.

You don’t have to just recycle at home. Work places will most likely produce more waste than daily family life depending on the size of the company and type of business that you run.

Firstly, you should find a company that will be able to provide you with adequate containers for the type of waste that you produce and be able to collect it for you on a daily basis.

It will be a good idea to make all of you staff aware of the recycling containers, where they are and encourage everybody to take part. You can use email reminders and posters to make everyone more aware.

recycling

There are many little things also that people can do by changing some of the daily habits or routines.

For instance:

1. Try using mugs or glasses instead of throw away plastic cups to produce less plastic items

2. Only buy recycled products if possible

3. Recycle you printer ink cartridges or better still have them refilled

4. Try using both sides of the paper to print on

All of these little things added up can really make a difference, if every business in the country applied similar techniques it would be huge.

Quickwasters are always here to help you with your wastes and recycling needs. Please get in touch if you are in the London area and need some assistance or helpful and friendly advice.

Top Tips For Recycling In Schools

1.Position recycling points around your school

Put up recycling points in every room, do not forget non-teaching areas like the office, staff room and kitchen. Put rubbish bins and recycling points together so it is as easy as it is to throw something away.

2. Involve the right people

Get buy-in from your office school management team. Motivate teachers to lead by example and recycle as much as possible to encourage pupils to get involved. Set up a rota for emptying the recycling points. Ensure cleaning and support staff are informed and aware of how important their role is.       

 3. Raise awareness

For your recycling scheme to be successful, it is important for everyone in your school to have awareness on recycling. They should know exactly what to recycle and where to recycle it. Use awareness posters to encourage members of the school to recycle more and label recycling points and waste bins clearly to avoid the wrong things being put in the bins.

4.Keep it going 

Use recycling schemes as an opportunity for real life learning. Monitor your recycling scheme and investigate the reductions in recycling levels. Make sure you give regular recycling reports at assemblies and display the information on the notice board, to make sure everyone is clearly informed and motivated. Tell others about the successes, particularly to parents and local press and give praise to all teams involved.

Home Recycling Help

The large majority of household waste that is produced can be recycling into other things. It is estimated that 70% of what the average family throw out on a weekly basis is recyclable. If you take some care with this, you will save room in your main rubbish, bin, reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill and save your local authority money.

To start with you should have a place at home where everything can be stored in separate containers. This can be boxes, bags or bins. Your local council will provide you with these. If you do not currently have these, you can contact them through their website to order what you need.

Nearly all paper and card can be recycled. Flatten out old boxes so you can get more room in the container. Books, birthday cards and old toilet roll tubes can be put together.

Nearly all plastic containers are also recyclable. If you are unsure, just check the packaging. Some lids are not recyclable and this will be stated. These will have to go into the normal bin for disposal.

Metal is also recyclable. Any tin foil, tinned goods and old deodorant sprays can go into the same box. You should rinse out old food cans so that additional mess will not happen and you will avoid bad smells.

Find out where your recycling poin is in your area. You will be able to take old bottles, plastic, paper and card and even old clothes there. You can get this from the local council’s website.

You will have a limit to what you can have taken away from your collection date. If you have large amounts, it is advised to use the services of a local, reputable and licensed rubbish removal company to removal any unwanted items from your home or business premises.

The Garden Fence Disposal Guide

It is good to refurbish your garden every now and then, but how do you dispose of the waste that you build up during the process?

Garden refurbishment does not just include maintaining a lawn or plants. There are other things that may need attending to which could be paving, driveways or garden fences. This will produce some waste that will not be able to go in your normal weekly collection bin.

Garden tasks that will produce green waste will be cutting back bushes and trees, cutting grass or soil which can all be recycled or reused in some way.

If you are having a fence repair, you  will need to know what to do with the old wood. Here are five quick tips of what to do and what not to do with the old fence panels.

1. Dont break it up and throw it in the bin as you local council will not accept this and it will not be taken away.

2. Try to be creative and use the wood for something else in th garden or around the house if it is not too damaged. You can get some ideas here.

3. Do not burn the wood as this can be dangerous. Apart from annoying your neighbour, the wood may be treated with chemicals and release toxins in the air

4. Contact your local council to see if they provide a recycling service. They may be able to advise where you can take your items for safe disposal. You will need transport for this thouh

5. Lastly, you can hire a local and reputable rubbish collection service to come and take away your unwanted items so you know that you waste will be dealt with in a safe, law abiding and ethical way.

The UK Business Waste Regulations

Business waste is any waste that comes out of any premises used for conducting any business or trading activities. There are several regulations in the United Kingdom that govern how various forms of business wastes should be recycled and disposed. All UK cities and counties are required to dispose waste in a manner that does not endanger the human health or the environment.

Quickwasters business wasteIt is required to take all necessary measures to

  1. Reduce or prevent the production of waste. This is to make sure that as little waste as possible is produced so as to protect the health of citizens.
  2. Use any necessary means to recycle and recover produced waste. This is in view of extracting any raw materials that can be salvaged. The waste can also be used as a source of energy.
  • Regulations for hazardous wastes.

This is waste that has the capability of polluting the environment. All businesses are required to exercise strict control measures in every point of its production, management, movement and disposal. Also, the recycling process requires stringent measures.

  • Business waste shipment regulations.

The movement of waste between the United Kingdom and other countries is guided by some regulations. There is waste considered too hazardous to be moved around. Other forms of waste usually require a written note authorising the movement of business wastes. In short, every waste control is determined by the destination, reuse and disposal.

Conclusion.

It is important for business owners to follow the set regulations of disposing business waste.

Quickwasters have various rubbish collection services available. Please get in touch with our friendly staff for more information.

Waste Prevention Tips For Your Home

Waste less, reuse, recycle

There has been a decrease in the amount of waste produced in London over the past three years. However, there are still a lot of work that needs to be done to reach targets.

Recycling is a great way to turn rubbish into something useful. Preventing waste is even better. Therefore, if you reduce the amount that you produce in the first place and reuse things for a second time, you will also avoid the industrial processes that are involved in recycling.

Waste less, shop smart

There are a lot of ways you can produce less waste when you’re out shopping.  Follow these tips and you can see how much less waste you will produce.

  • Say “no” to single-use bags. Take your own bags when you go shopping. This will also mean you avoid paying 5p per bag.
  • When buying gifts, think about how to wrap them in an environmentally friendly way.
  • Plan your meals and make a list before going shopping.
  • Buy refills of products like washing detergents, coffee, hand wash and use refillable drinking bottles. It is also much cheaper.
  • Packaging costs money and can increase the price of goods. A little packaging can help to prolong the life of some foods but try to avoid excess packaging, especially on Easter eggs, toys and individually wrapped items like biscuits. Wherever possible, look for unpackaged products or buy products packaged in reusable or recyclable material.
  • Avoid disposable items that are used once and then thrown away. There are other products available which can be reused, for example rechargeable batteries, razors where the head can be replaced and low energy light bulbs.

Recycle or Upcycle?

Either is good and here is why!

Everyone should be concerned about the planets future and how the damage we are doing to it on a daily basis will alter the way the future generations live their lives.

The reason that recycling is so important so we use less energy and produce less materials that can cause harm to wildlife.

Another way of helping is by upcycling. This is similar to recycling but without actually throwing items away. What happens is that you turn unwanted items into something completely new and useable.

upcycle now

quickwasters upcycling

Upcycling is all about putting your thinking cap on and being a little creative and this is one of the reasons people do it, a hobby can turn into something productive. Using an old wine bottle as a candle holder,

It is not a new idea and it goes back many years to the 1930’s when time was very tough for families and you had to make do with what you have and make things last as long as possible. This would cut the cost of spending on new things and you reduce the amount of waste that goes into the rubbish removal cycle.

Conclusion:

Both recycling and upcycling are great and they both reduce greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and pollution so do as much as you possibly can! You can get some great, creative  ideas of what to do here!

3 Tips for Increasing Recycling in the Office

1.Education

Make sure you educate everyone in your office, let them know what is expected of them regarding recycling. You can start with the basics, you can make sure paper cups, drink cans and cardboard are recycled correctly on a daily basis. Then educate people regarding recycling everything from glass, to electronics and light bulbs,

2.Buy Recycled

If you are going to start a recycling scheme in your office, you may as well go full circle and start investing in a high quality recycled products. If you can, start switching to a certain percentage of your existing paper or promotional items for alternative recycling paper.

This will be great for the environment. Recycled goods no longer perceive a low-end or low quality they are seen as highly ethical and responsible and you’ll be doing the environment a great favour.

3.Reusable Items

Do not throw away all foam and paper cups at the coffee machine. Encourage your staff to bring their own mugs from home. If staff only write on one side of their paper, tell them to re-use their paper for printing drafts. There are plenty of ways to re-use everyday items.

 

Selling Up? Here is How to De-Clutter Your Home

There are many factors out of your control when you are selling your house like the location of your house or the current market conditions. However, what you can do is present your house in the best possible light by de-cluttering.

Reasons why to de-clutter your home before selling;

It helps you plan what you really need. De-cluttering helps you to mentally and emotionally prepare to move. You get to sort through your stuff and decide what you really need and what you need to get rid of. It helps put you in the right frame of mind before you move.

It helps you start the packing and sorting process early. It will shorten the time you have to pack when the time comes.

De-cluttering will help you remove items which might distract the buyers from the property. Sometimes this can detract from what really matters like space and the light flow and buyers might be more interested in the people who live in the house.

You can maximise space you have when you de-clutter. By moving things and creating more room, you can show the space in the room and they can envision how what they can do to make the most of the room.

Keep in mind that buyers would need to see the condition of the floor and walls before they buy so it would be a good idea to showcase these aspects as much as possible.

Create a good first impression. By clearing out some of the items you have, you can show buyers the space and the layout of the house as a whole and space sells, so this increases your chances of selling the house sooner.

10 Recycling Facts from Quickwasters!

Everyone knows that it is a great thing to recycle any items that you will normally need to dispose of as it will help the environment in the long run and help the future generations to continue to enjoy the benefits of this planet.

Here are 10 facts from Quickwasters that you need to need to know about recycling in 2017!

1. One single soft drink can that is recycled can power a modern television set for three hours. So that is two movies to watch! It can just take six weeks fo a drinks can to be put in the recycle bin and be on the shelve as a new product.

2. It takes up to five hundred years for a disposable nappy for a baby to decompose. You may wish to experiment with towle nappies which are re-usable.

3. Twenty thousand tonnes of batteries are discarded ed every year. It also takes fifty times more energy to make just one battery than it will actually give during its life span.

4. If you live in the UK and the capital of London in particular, did yo know that Londoners produce enough waste to

5. five out of six glass bottles are thrown away instead of put into the recycling.

6. By using recycled paper, it produces over seventy percent less pollution to the air.

7. 80% of a car can be recycled

8. fifty years ago, the UK produced twenty times less plastic

9. We throw away six trees worth of paper every year.

10. In Britain, one hundred million tonnes of waste is produced every year