Plastic Waste Prevention Activities

Written by Michele Wheat

Waste Prevention Activities

Why practice waste prevention?

• Reduce raw material costs
• Reduce purchasing costs
• Conserve valuable resources
• Reduce waste disposal costs
• Enhance your company's image

Waste prevention is any practice that eliminates or reduces solid waste that would otherwise be thrown out or recycled. The list below identifies every-day activities that can reduce the amount of waste your company generates. Promote these activities throughout your company and then publicize the amount of savings realized. Make waste prevention your first priority!

Office Areas

• Make double-sided copies.
• Reuse single-sided pages for drafts and note paper. Place a draft paper tray near printers and copy machines so that single-sided sheets can be reused.
• Office Waste Reduction Tips and Ideas
• Before running a large number of copies, make a single-copy test of copier settings. Remember to clear features when finished.
• Waste Prevention at the Office
• Avoid making extra copies. Make extras later if you need them.
• Reducing our office impacts
• Post paper-saving copy ideas at every copier.
• Managing and Reducing Wastes: A Guide for Commercial Buildings
• Use outdated letterhead for in-house memos and drafts.
• Reducing Waste in the Workplace (PDF)
• Reuse office supplies such as file folders and envelopes (manila and padded).
• Set up a "reuse station" for employee use.
• Office Waste Reduction Tips and Ideas
• Circulate a single copy of memos and reports, post them in a central location, or distribute them through e-mail. Make certain documents such as telephone directories and reference materials available online.
• Useful Tips on Waste Reduction That Can Help Your Office Save
• Share publications rather than ordering several copies of the same publication.
• Contact companies that send your business unwanted mail and ask to be removed from their lists.
• Keep mailing lists up to date by requesting corrections and offering recipients the option of being removed.
• Recycling and Waste Reduction: A Guide for the Workplace (PDF)
• Revise forms to reduce length and eliminate unnecessary duplicates.
• Avoid cover sheets for faxes. Use a rubber stamp especially made for fax transmittal.
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency'sPrograms and Tools to Promote Waste Prevention (PDF)

Purchasing and Shipping

• Purchase products in concentrated form or in bulk.
• Waste Reduction Tips For Businesses (PDF)
• Negotiate with suppliers to provide merchandise in returnable or reusable packaging or in packaging that you can recycle through your in-house recycling program.
• 8 Tips to Reduce Packaging Waste to Promote Sustainable Packaging
• Use durable containers instead of cardboard boxes for shipping items to branch offices, stores or warehouses.
• Wastes - Wastewise Program: Where are the Biggest Cost Savings?
• Establish a system for returning cardboard boxes and packaging materials to distributors for reuse.
• Reuse packaging materials from incoming shipments (such as boxes, newspaper, tissue paper, foam pads and polystyrene peanuts) as alternatives to buying new packing material.
• Reducing Waste in the Supply Chain
• Return, reuse and repair wooden pallets and crates.
• Waste Management, Reduction, Reuse & Recycling
• Repair rather than replace equipment. Purchase reused or reconditioned office partitions and remanufactured office equipment.
• Thinking outside the box: unwrapping a massive packaging problem
• Invest in equipment that prevents waste such as high-quality, durable, repairable equipment; copiers that automatically make double-sided copies; computer printers that do not discharge unused sheets of paper; and dishwashing equipment (along with durable cups, dishware and cutlery).
• How Your Business Can Cut Costs by Reducing Waste
• Purchase recharged copier, printer and fax cartridges.

Lunchroom Areas

• Provide durable cups, dishware and cutlery in the employee kitchen or cafeteria.
• Creative Solutions to Ending School Food Waste
• Cafeteria Waste Reduction from the EPA (PDF)
• Provide cloth towels as an alternative to paper towels.
• School Cafeteria Waste Project (SCrAP) - Environmental Research & Education Foundation
• Zero Waste Lunchroom: The How and Why of Reducing Waste in your School Lunchroom

Outdoor Areas

• Use a mulching mower to eliminate the need to dispose of grass clippings.
• 12 Steps To Transform Yard Waste Into Yard Wealth (PDF)
• Compost yard waste into a valuable soil amendment.
• How to Reduce Yard Waste
• Managing and Reducing Yard Waste
• Vermicomposting - Composting with Worms
• Set up a worm bin to convert non-fatty food wastes into vermicompost.
• A Step-by-Step Guide to Vermicomposting

Donate Used Items Instead of Paying for Disposal

• Donate used equipment, furniture and supplies to charitable organizations or schools.
• Where to Donate Everything in Your Home A-Z
• Start a "waste exchange" in your building or office park.
• Donate goods to Habitat ReStore
• Where to Donate Your Stuf
• Advertise surplus and reusable items through a free listing service, such as the Industrial Materials Exchange (IMEX).