While many businesses and households across the U.S. strive to recycle effectively, the unfortunate reality is that about 25% of all recyclable materials are contaminated in some way. “This is something that can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line yet is easily avoidable,” said Jim Theodoroff, President and co-owner of PolyWrap Recycling Inc.
Contamination is when a non-recyclable material gets mixed in with recyclable materials and it most commonly happens in business when employees are unaware of how to properly recycle and the importance of it. “Contamination can lessen or completely eliminate the value of the product a company is recycling,” explains Theodoroff. “For a business, contamination can make a single bale of material worth nothing and for a material recovery facility (MRF) it’s a significant expense to remove contaminations from recycling.” The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that contamination costs MRFs at least $300 million per year.
MRFs and waste haulers ultimately make the decision if a load of recycled material is contaminated, to what extent and if it’s still marketable to their buyers. It often comes down to the time and cost it takes to remove the contaminated materials versus simply landfilling the contaminated batch “When a business removes contaminants before they reach a MRF, they are not only improving their bales value but they are improving the entire downstream recycling process,” Theodoroff said. “That’s why it is so important for businesses, in all industries, to implement a contamination prevention process into their recycling programs. It avoids accidental contaminants within their bales that lessens the value.”
Discussing the importance of contamination management with your team can bring everyone together to understand the impacts that contamination has not just on your company’s recycling revenue, but also on the entire recycling industry. Providing helpful reminders around your business such as images of the correct materials and ones to avoid can serve as visual reminders to everyone at your business. Plus, providing recycling receptacles that are transparent allows all team members to easily identify when a contaminant is placed in by mistake. “With proper education, awareness and collaboration, we can all make sure that we are doing our part to recycle right,” Theodoroff explains. “Ultimately, it is good for business and the environment.”
For more information, visit https://polywraprecycling.com/.