Still not sure about investing in recycling for your business? A study released by the世界银行late last year should be your wake up call.

According to “什么浪费：固体废物管理的全球评论,” the volume of municipal solid waste is expected to grow worldwide from 1.3 billion metric tons per year to 2.2 billion metric tons per year by 2025. And it’s going to cost the world’s cities $375 billion to manage it -- almost double the current $205 billion.

Think about how this could impact your business. It’s reasonable to expect higher taxes and new regulations for managing your waste -- even now,加利福尼亚要求回收计划对于每周至少生产四立方码的商业固体废物的企业。对于企业主来说，在经营公司时，有可能失去很多选择。

How can we avoid this ominous waste future? Shift the paradigm to focus first on recycling -- and then send what little trash is left to landfills.

当前的好消息是，可回收材料的百分比正在上升，而垃圾寄来的处置量正在下降。我们将其称为“不断发展的吨”，回收和废物公司正在为处理比以往更多的可回收设备做好准备。

A big part of what will make the "evolving ton" successful is single-stream recycling. This system, where all recyclables can be combined in one container, makes it easier to recycle because waste stream solutions providers handle the sorting. But for some companies, their waste stream may present more unique and complex needs.

Photo of分开的回收箱由...提供Kasia Bialasiewicz通过shutterstock。

基于圣路易斯的独特需求是联合工业公司, a subsidiary ofSpectrum BrandsHoldings, Inc., and a leading manufacturer of home, lawn and garden insect and weed control products in the United States.

United Industries needed a waste stream solutions provider that could simplify, streamline and accommodate its unique waste types. According to Kriste Branding, cost accountant for United Industries, this led the company to begin working with Republic Services [editor's note: where the author of this piece works] in December 2011.

On the surface, United Industries’ waste and recycling program is pretty complex. Eighty percent of its waste is recyclable but is industrial waste and as a result is not suitable for single-stream recycling. For example, the company produces a lot of plastics that are unique to its production -- plastics that are recyclable, but aren’t handled on the single-stream sort line. The company also has a large quantity of cardboard from incoming goods that it wanted to continue to sort on its own.

共和国服务的压力是制定一个可以容纳联合工业多样性废物流的计划。这是共和国提出的：

• 联合工业生产了足够大量的独特塑料，共和国服务能够收集和提供重复使用，即使单流回收排序线上没有技术或人员来恢复它。对于特定类型的塑料，收集推车位于联合工业的制造业线上，当全面的清理工作人员将购物车放在指定区域，并将其交换为共和国服务提供的空购物车。
• 联合工业公司继续其现有的纸板分类过程，共和国服务公司将材料接收到买家以进行重复使用。
• United Industries separates recyclable and non-recyclable dry waste from common areas of the company, like the lunchroom, and developed a unique system for both to go into the same single-stream pickup bin. Then, Republic Services picks up the bins and separates the recyclables from the trash.

这样一个看似复杂的计划成功的关键是使联合行业易于实施，并使员工执行。

To kick off United Industries’ program, Republic Services trained each group of employees on shift with personalized presentations that provided incentives to engage employees and ensure they were processing the information. According to Branding, a key takeaway was naming employee “recycling representatives” to keep the program running smoothly, which is especially important to quickly educate seasonal staff. Another key takeaway was placing how-to posters throughout the facility to ensure that the program remained top-of-mind for employees.

The result of United Industries’ program is a year-over-year reduction in waste costs. Republic Services collects a fee for hauling, bailing and processing materials, and then United Industries gets rebates based on the market value revenue from selling the recovered materials. United Industries is also avoiding an approximately $30-per-ton waste disposal cost with its dry waste program, and still generates revenue from cardboard. When the recycling materials market is strong, the value of cardboard alone can cover the cost of hauling.

To date, the new program has increased United Industries’ recycling by 45 percent, and according to Branding, employees are proud to work for a company that’s reducing its environmental impact.

Evaluating waste stream solutions providers

改善回收并不是您的公司应该独自做的事情。以下是评估废物流解决方案提供商时的关键注意事项：

• 结果：Your program must produce results, whether those are cutting costs, reducing environmental impact or boosting employee morale.
• Flexibility:No two companies’ waste streams are the same. Your provider should create tailored solutions for your company’s waste mix. Just because a type of waste you produce isn’t something typically picked up for recycling, don’t immediately write it off as impossible.
• Education:实际工作将在程序映射后开始。您的提供者应提供参与和激励员工的培训，并且您的计划应进行结构，以使员工保持承诺。您的提供商还应始终可以回答问题和解决需求。
• Convenience:Employees won’t participate if it’s not easy. Collection containers should be placed in logical places for each waste type, with as much consolidation as possible. Make recycling containers the default option and readily available. Place trash containers in areas that require more work to access.