Starting up a recycling program at your business’s next construction site or demolition job can give huge benefits to the environment and our community by keeping recyclable waste out of local landfills. It can also be beneficial to your business!
There are a lot of negative myths about on-site recycling going around in the construction world. Most of these are left over from days gone by, when recycling was much more expensive and less common. However, now it’s easy to integrate recycling into your construction or demolition plans. Here are a few of the most common myths, and the positive truths that prove them wrong.
1. Recycling is Too Complicated
There’s a lot going on at job sites to begin with. Having one bin to throw everything in seems to simplify things. However, recycling is a lot simpler than you probably think—and the benefits can far outweigh the few complications that do arise.
Suddenly tacking on a recycling program to a halfway-finished job certainly is complicated. Laborers have to get used to a new protocol, storage and waste containers may need to move, and other problems can arrive.
If you plan the recycling portion of your next job from the beginning, though, you can seamlessly integrate a recycling program into your job plan. By training your workers on basic recycling protocol in advance, as well as deciding where to put your containers, you can make the whole process much simpler.
2. Recycling Containers Take Up Too Much Room
It’s true that if you have a big job, you’re going to need a big recycling container. However, there are a few ways to ensure that your recycling container uses space in the most efficient way possible. In addition to pre-planning the placement of your recycling container(s) as discussed above, Encore Recyclers can help.
We provide recycling containers of virtually any shape and size, and can even custom-make one to suit your exact needs.
If you can get the right container, you can easily fit recycling into your job site.
3. Recycling is Too Expensive
It’s true that recycling isn’t free. Even if you don’t hire a specialist recycling contractor, your labor costs are going to go up due to the extra time required to sort, and in some cases clean, recycling.
However, recycling can often offset its own costs or even make your business money because of the value of the metal scrap produced by major jobs. This is especially true for demolition work, which produces very large amounts of waste—some of which can be very valuable.
In addition to the value inherent in the recycled materials, there are less tangible, more long-term benefits as well. Obviously there’s an environmental benefit that helps everyone and keeps our community cleaner—but along with this comes the less obvious reputation boost you can gain from demonstrating your company’s or crew’s environmental friendliness.
The benefits of recycling are huge, and outweigh the difficulties and costs in almost all circumstances. Recycling can turn trash into treasure in the truest sense possible, and also helps out the community a great deal.
