August 15, 2017 By St. Louis Recycling & Waste Solutions

Bathroom tissues & paper towels…TRASH or RECYCLING?

Products like paper napkins, paper towels, tissues, and anything else that might have come into contact with food, grease, the mouth or any bodily fluids, should not be placed in your recycling container to reduce the likelihood of an entire batch of recyclable paper products being contaminated by grease or biological pathogens.

The issue with recycling paper towels and napkins is that many of these products were actually created from recycled paper, so they’ve already been through the recycling process several times. Each cycle, the fibers in the paper get shorter, until they’re no longer recyclable. By the time the paper’s been reincarnated as a napkin or tissue, the fibers are too short to be used (recycled) again.

There are a couple of alternate choices to make these products more sustainable and eco-friendly:

Using fewer paper products in general is a good first step — using kitchen towels and handkerchiefs instead of paper products can help.
The short fibers in these products break down easily, they are a great candidate for the compost pile (we offer a business compost service – please inquire).

So if anyone is feeling guilty about tossing tissues and paper towels, please don’t. These kinds of paper products, including your toilet paper, are made of paper that’s already recycled as many times as it reasonably can be.

A little bit more about business composting services…

If your business would like to seriously reduce its trash bill and minimize its environmental impact, there is a recycling add-on solution. Composting.

The service is simple. We arrange for a compost bin to be placed inside or outside your business at a convenient location for usage. Your staff can place compost waste directly inside an office-style container that’s designed for indoor food waste collection.

Don’t believe us that your in-office compost bin won’t smell? That’s okay too, as not everyone likes the indoor composting option. We also have outside composting bins that are just as easy to use. They are weather-resistant and can sit outside nearest any exit door for convenient food disposal.

Regardless of your penchant for composting, every business should consider the environmental impact it makes, along with the proper recycling habits of its staff members. Conscientious recycling habits, reinforced over time with education and outreach, will make a significant impact into the success of any business recycling program.

(citation: Kramer, S. 2016, Feb 18. From http://www.businessinsider.com/dont-recycle-napkins-paper-towels-2016-2) (photo citation: Full Circle Freish Air Odor-Free Kitchen Compost Collector)

April 5, 2017 By St. Louis Recycling & Waste Solutions

Why are Plastics so confusing to Recycle?

Why are Plastics difficult to Recycle?

We just received our ten-thousandth email inquiry about plastic recycling and thought we’d share a bit of insight that maybe even just a few will find helpful.

Long story short…plastic recycling is confusing and here’s why.

We often look at them as the same thing…plastic. Just because they are “plastic” does not mean they are remotely alike. We’ve been told that paper is paper. While that’s actually false, the collection, sorting & handling of most paper fiber materials is in fact similar. Plastics are an entirely different beast. ***Here’s the email we just received this morning, which highlights common issues.

“Hello, I am an employee at the —— Mall here in St. Louis and noticed that while we recycle cardboard, we do not recycle plastic. Plastic packaging makes up the majority of our trash at the mall and I was curious to see if recycling a large quantity of plastic was at all possible. I want to gather information before I bring this idea to the mall’s offices and your company is a great option. However, I am not sure if the type of plastic we use, or any plastic at all, is included in your single-stream recycling program. While unpacking shipments I saw plastic marked with a 4, 6, and an 8. Would it be possible for this type of plastic to be recycled with your company? Thank you, Rachel ——–”

The short answer to Rachel’s question is that while the #4, 6, and 8 plastics are recyclable in nature, they are specialized to a degree that they do not qualify for most single-stream recycling programs.

#1, 2, 3 & 5 are widely accepted, while #4 is becoming increasingly problematic, so much that many municipal and commercial entities have been either shying away slowly, or have altogether refused to accept #4. The reason is that this #4 plastic is the thin-film type that can easily melt around the high-speed sorting equipment, shutting down plant operations, in addition to the fact that its low-density requires 20+ times more material to become a viable product. It’s sad, but a fact of life, that the economics of things drive the feasibility of recycling.

Now, the #6, 7 & 8 plastics should really be treated as source-separated recyclables, with the expectation that the material is in bulk. #6 is polystyrene and most recycling centers and haulers do not accept. However, there are specialists that deal in polystyrene recycling when the material is handled separately. #7 plastic is a mix of polymers too long and boring to list here, but let’s just say that most centers don’t recycle it. It can be, it just takes a lot of volume and dedicated processors to turn it back into product again. AKA, costly.

#8. That’s the number plastic that Rachel provided above. And there appears to be some discrepancy over that RIC designation, or resin identification code. In some places, they don’t even list #8 and go straight to #9. Either way, most might consider this as ABS plastic, or the hard, dense plastic you see surrounding your TV’s, computers, coffee makers and many other electronic & mechanical housings. While ABS is recyclable, it goes the same way as #6 & #7, meaning it will take a lot of material in order for a specialized processor to turn that into a saleable commodity.

The long answer to Rachel’s question is this…how far are you willing to go in order to properly recycle your specialized plastics?

If they don’t qualify for single-stream, which a bunch do not, what are you then going to do about it? There’s not a plethora of choices unfortunately, because recycling is a volume industry. If you don’t produce enough of something and it’s not separated, you’re going to be paying someone to remove it 99% of the time. So what are Rachel’s top options?

A) if the goal is to actually recycle, than we’d recommend separating those materials out into separate containment solutions. The containers themselves will vary, based upon volume, but could range from gaylord boxes or 8yd dumpsters, to 40yd roll-offs, or even compactors and balers. There’s not just one answer because Rachel’s idea of large volume may differ from what the recycling industry considers large volume. We can assure you that there is a container size and collection frequency that can be matched with each separate material…the question is, what will that cost? And how will that cost compare to just throwing it away like they’ve been doing?

B) which leads us to the answer that many companies choose to employ. Trash it. *Disclaimer – we are not judging here, so please no angry emails from business owners about the economics side…we get it.* The sad fact is that more times than not, the separation of those non-single-stream recyclables is more costly than just tossing everything into one big waste container. When you mix them all together, you minimize the hauling costs from your current provider, saving on container spaces taken up, and you may save on internal costs by eliminating any sorting or handling time. Packaging and container manufacturers all have economic choices to make about what they wrap their packages in, so this plays an integral part. This proliferation of tough-to-recycle material is what helps drive the trash industry – which is big business and has an interest in your high collection fees to pay off those landfill costs.

The point is – every business must make a decision on how they’re going to approach recycling. Most times it’s a ‘no brainer’ because single-stream recycling is relatively inexpensive compared to trash. When you start talking about more difficult materials like those mentioned above? Well, then there’s a few options to consider. Speaking with an honest, qualified recycling provider like St. Louis Recycling & Waste Solutions can help, as we pride ourselves on giving your business the real scoop. Good news, bad news, so-so news…we’re here to help long-term and truly consult on real-word solutions that work.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-plastics-so-confusing-recycle-shawn-smedley?trk=v-feed&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_recent_activity_details_all%3B8ifwHsSh1GP26JcJbGY7UQ%3D%3D

February 19, 2016 By St. Louis Recycling & Waste Solutions

Recycling doesn’t have to be expensive…it can actually SAVE you money

Recycling Bin According to this article at STLtoday.com, recycling efforts throughout St. Louis are growing at a snail’s pace – costing the region and businesses like yours lost productivity and lost profits. But together, we can change that with cost-reducing, easy to implement solutions.

Single-Stream Recycling, while convenient, can be a costly undertaking. It requires large capital investments from recycling & hauling companies for compactor vehicles, logistics, state-of-the art sorting equipment and thousands of various containers for placement at customer sites. One of the largest ongoing costs for recyclers is the labor necessary for the collection & sorting process.

While this sounds daunting – and expensive – from the customer standpoint, we propose an alternative focus. Our efficient, low-cost single-stream recycling bin service has created savings opportunities and convenience in one solution. Imagine removing large monthly expenses for recycling or trash dumpsters and replacing them with recycling bins for your business, office, warehouse, school, or apartment/condo complex. The savings from converting to our concierge or “valet” bin service can provide lower expense management AND provide highly-convenient, interior or exterior collection points for all of your recyclables.

Today’s work environments generate mostly recyclable waste. The main contaminant cause is food waste, which is readily solved. Food waste can be rinsed or scraped out into one or more bin services by either a compost bin service or utilizing a designated trash bin. The percentage of true waste produced from a typical business environment is extremely low.

If your business does happen to produce true landfill waste, our recycling services can be customized to solve those few items that cannot be placed in a recycling bin. The savings and convenience add to your business’ bottom-line and provide for more efficient collection methods. The efficiency can reduce internal costs by limiting staff time and efforts for transporting recyclables and waste to outside dumpsters. Our staff can even help augment your maintenance or cleaning staff, thereby lowering costs even further.

Ready to do your part and save money? Contact us to see how single-stream recycling can help reduce your business’s environmental impact, increase sustainability efforts, AND save your firm money.