Businesses in the UK generated 28 million tonnes of commercial waste and 12.4 million tonnes of industrial waste in 2020 (Gov UK). This figure only includes the ‘received’ tonnage at recycling and waste facilities.
Commercial waste includes paper and packaging waste, office furniture and electronics, food waste, raw material and textile waste, retail waste like packaging and display, construction waste and pharmaceutical or medical waste. Some of this can be reused or recycled.
Ways to recycle commercial waste
For example, Green Salon Collective collects hair salon waste that cannot be recycled in standard facilities. They collect human hair and make it into wigs, composting and gardening products and water spill cleanup tubes. They collect metal foils for recycling. Previously only 1% of salons recycled foils. This helps salons make more profit and reduce their carbon footprint.
Bantam Materials recycles plastic bottles from countries that are at risk of ocean pollution. Since 2011 they have recycled over 10 billion bottles. They sell the flakes, pellets and preformed plastics to businesses that want to use recycled plastic for products. This reduces the requirement for virgin plastic to be manufactured from petrochemicals.
Bio Collectors collect commercial food waste from councils, businesses, restaurants and hospitality businesses within the M25 to use in their biogas production. The biogas provides clean energy which is fed into the National Grid. They are one of only a few anaerobic digestion facilities that are certified by the British Gas Council. Bio Collectors recycle around 100,000 tonnes of waste a year.
If you are renovating your office space or relocating your business Globechain Reuse Marketplace provides you with a marketplace to list your unwanted furniture and fittings so that someone else can benefit from them. They will also help you to calculate the data on the impact of your donation for your Environmental, Social & Governance report.
Crown Workspace are a commercial fit-out and relocation specialist. As part of their services, they offer sustainable office clearances where they will arrange for the donation, recycling and refurbishment, or disposal of office furniture, IT equipment and electrical items.
Cast Furniture is the only furniture consultancy in London to offer a take-back scheme. They will take back any piece of furniture procured by them for commercial office spaces. The furniture is then passed on to their recycling partners who refurbish it to ‘as good as new’ for resale. The furniture they sell is already carbon neutral. The take-back scheme reduces commercial waste and avoids landfill with their circular scheme.
Commercial waste solutions
Commercial waste is a problem in a growing economy. These examples prove that there are clever and innovative ways to reduce waste. A circular approach will keep items in use for longer and recycle them once they have reached the end of their useful life.
Do you have a business that produces waste? We have a net zero training programme that is free for all our members to help you to calculate your carbon footprint and put a plan in place to reduce it. Join Blue Patch today.
