Waste is a messy subject, for businesses and for households. By its very definition, it is useless matter, leftover after the completion of a process, whether thats after making a meal, unboxing a package or any other action that creates a seemingly useless by-product, destined for the waste bin.
Landfills in the UK and across the world are filling up at an alarming rate, and whilst ‘consuming less’ is a temporary remedy for this, learning to see waste as a resource rather than an unnecessary bi-product, could be the key to a more waste efficient circular economy. Reducing landfill amounts, generating power, creating jobs and saving the planet, all in one go.
Re-use
A valuable part of treating waste as a resource is to re-use the waste we produce in our households and work environment. Re-using waste essentially strips it off it’s ‘waste’ title and transforms it into a valuable asset once again. Whether you’re recycling cardboard to create more cardboard, using animal waste on a farm to generate electricity or giving old items to charity shops or those in need, it is important that our waste gets used again, instead of simply discarded and thrown on a landfill where it can serve no purpose other than to rot (In some cases) and pollute the earth.
Below are a few tips to help your business make the most of it’s waste:
Recycle as much as you can, to ensure your waste is used after you no longer want it
Consider donating old products to charity shops or trading them in
Encourage people to segregate their waste upon throwing it out
Look into options for sending your food waste through an anaerobic digestion service
View it as a resource
An important thing to get across is to businesses and households across the UK and around the world is that waste is a misleading title for a large percentage of the excess material we throw away in general waste bins every day.
Reprocessing materials is a vital part of a more sustainable world, and a strong part of the circular economy. Improving both the quality and quantity of recycling collections, and attitudes towards excess materials generation at work and home will help to create a zero-waste environment the focus is centered on how to reuse and save waste, instead of finding new ways to dispose of it.
The Waste Hierarchy
The Waste Hierarchy details the preferred ways to dispose of manage your waste. Here is our infographic on the Waste Hierarchy:
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