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In
partnership with Mecklenburg County LUESA
Air
Quality and Solid Waste Divisions, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities
Mecklenburg Utilities
Sponsored by the Environmental Assistance Office (EAO) for
Small Business at UNC Charlotte, The Environmental Corner is designed
to serve as an environmental management and pollution prevention resource.
Lately, there have been concerns about
our Earth’s health and keeping everything “green”. Slogans like “Go
Green”, “Green or Die” and “Green Action” have slowly been affecting people
around the world. Businesses, small and large, can have a positive
impact using sustainable practices of recycling and/or reusing their
abundance of office materials. Yet, nearly a quarter of office paper is not
recycled but thrown away, according to
www.recycleatwork.com. In
some cases, businesses don’t recycle because they aren’t sure how to start a
recycling program. The goal of this newsletter is to inform businesses
of ways to recycle at the workplace, the benefits of recycling in your
business, and the importance of recycling.
November 2007
Business Recycling
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How
GREEN
are you? |
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Introduction:Top
10 Reasons to Recycle
re generally aware of the three R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle, and that it
is important to recycle to save the Earth, but the National Recycling
Coalition has prepared a “Top 10” list of reasons we should recycle beyond
the basics of what we already know that are of great use to our environment.
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TOP
10 REASONS TO RECYCLE |
| 1 |
Good for our Economy |
6 |
Preserves Landfill Space |
| 2 |
Creates Jobs in Recycling Industry |
7 |
Prevents Global Warming |
| 3 |
Reduces Wastes |
8 |
Reduces Water Pollution |
| 4 |
Good for the Environment |
9 |
Protects Wildlife |
| 5 |
Saves Energy |
10 |
Creates New Demand for more recycled products |
Top of page
Business Resource Guide
 Did
you know that it is in fact a law
to recycle in Mecklenburg County?
To prevent large amounts of garbage coming into the landfill,
business leaders of Mecklenburg County have instituted a recycling ordinance
for
corrugated
cardboard
and
office paper
for businesses that contract for 16 cubic yards or more of waste on a weekly
basis.
Here are just a few aspects to the ordinance
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Businesses are
required to keep corrugated cardboard and office paper
separate from other trash
for the purpose of recycling
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They may either contact a
vendor to pick up recycled supplies
or
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Take them to a recycling
drop-off center
For more information of the business recycling ordinance including
drop-off centers for small businesses in your area, visit
http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/LUESA/Solid+Waste/Business+Recycling/Home.html or
www.wipeoutwaste.com
The
business resource guide contains information
regarding the Mecklenburg County Source Separation Ordinance and the
benefits a Waste Reduction and Recycling Program can provide to your
business, as well as guidelines to either start or enhance your own waste
reduction program. Some of the
sections contain
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Why a business should have a waste or recycling program
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Educating ideas
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How to create and implement a waste reduction program and
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The importance of business recycling
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To obtain the Business Resource Guide in full, please visit:
http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/LUESA/Solid+Waste/Business+Recycling/Resource+Guide.htm
or
www.wipeoutwaste.com
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WASTE ASSESSMENT KIT
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Waste assessments measure three different aspects:
what is recyclable, how much materials can actually be recycled from
your waste, and puts those recycled materials in available markets. If you
are uncertain about where the recyclable materials from your garbage go,
Mecklenburg County offers free waste assessments.
You can
contact Stewart Espey at
Stewart.Espey@MecklenburgCountyNC.Gov
or 704-432-3200.
If
you find that you don’t have enough time to have the waste assessment done,
visit
http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/LUESA/Solid+Waste/Business+Recycling/audits.htm
and click "Do It Yourself Waste Assessment Kit” for a workbook and
instructions on conducting and calculating how much of your waste is
recyclable.
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Top of page
Recycling: Rewarding Experience In Mecklenburg County
Believe
it or not, recycling is a very rewarding task.
So rewarding, in fact, that Mecklenburg County has awarded small
businesses and other organizations for their recycling efforts.
Earlier this year,
Mecklenburg County Solid Waste and Recycling awarded organizations
for their dedication to recycling at
the
annual “Business Recognition Awards” ceremony.
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 Herff
Jones Company
has saved $3,000 in waste hauling fees alone and has reduced paper waste
from 34% of the waste stream to 12%.
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 Lincoln
Harris
renders recycling opportunities for cans and bottles, paper and cardboard to
the six large multi-tenant buildings they manage.
Their education program serves more than 15,000 occupants and has
been successful because they are conducted electronically which reduces
paper usage; last year they recycled 220 tons.
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 Celgard
is a certified Sony Green Partner because they recycle 1.9 tons of material
yearly.
The
current waste management program covers 90 items with procedures for proper
reduction of use, re-use, recycling, and safe disposal.
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To Join the Business Recognition Program go to
http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/LUESA/Solid+Waste/Business+Recycling/busrec.htm
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UNC CHARLOTTE
RECYLES!
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History:
In 1990, students began a
recycling program by collecting cans.
Fifteen years later, the program has grown into 14 employees.
Currently,
they recycle over forty items and service over 500 bin locations on
campus. They also
operate a composting program, construction and demolition recycling
/ re-use program, and offer environmental education on and off
campus. To
date, the department has won over 20 local and national awards.
Environmental Impact:
In FY 2006 – 2007, UNC Charlotte recycled 1,220,351 pounds of
materials. Some sample
weights are as follows:
422,539 pounds of office and news blend paper, 320,358 pounds of
cardboard, 159,270 pounds of scrap metal, and 109,920 pounds of yard
waste.
Composting:
Along with the recycling program, UNC Charlotte also has a
composting program with “Earth Tubs” that are located at the
Crossroads Café on campus.
Composting biodegrades organic waste such as food waste,
manure, leaves, grass trimmings, paper, wood, feathers, crop residue
etc; and converts it into a valuable organic fertilizer which is
used on campus. Another
waste reducer, sawdust is donated from the Architecture Department
to mix with food waste.
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Top of page
Top 10 Products to recycle
Along with the Top 10 Reasons to recycle, the National
Recycling Coalition has also provided the top 10 products to recycle within
your home and business.
TOP 10 PRODUCTS TO RECYCLE
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| 1 |
Aluminum |
6 |
HDPE Plastic Bottles |
| 2 |
PET Plastic Bottles |
7 |
Glass Containers |
| 3 |
Newspaper |
8 |
Magazines |
| 4 |
Corrugated Cardboard |
9 |
Mixed Papers |
| 5 |
Steel Cans
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10 |
Computers |
Recycling paper is one way to minimize waste going into landfills and
preserves our natural sources.
We all know that recycled paper can be reused to saves trees, but you’ll be
surprised at the other benefits of
recycling paper.
Air quality is reduced through recycling paper.
As a matter of fact, 437,000 tons of paper reduces air emissions
comparable to air emissions produced by 200,238 cars driving in one year.
The benefit of recycling paper through air quality is equal to
removing 24 million cars off the road in just one year.
Another benefit for recycling paper is
water savings, which is currently
of great benefit and concern to the inhabitants of North Carolina.
The benefit for recycling all U.S. paper is equivalent to saving 114
billion gallons of water per year.
The production of recycling paper uses about 60% of
energy to make paper from virgin
wood pulp. Manufacturing one ton
of office and computer paper with recycled paper, for instance, would save
3,000-4,000 kilowatt-hours over the same ton of paper using virgin wood
products.
Top of page
Environmentally
Preferable Procurement
SOURCE: http://www.p2pays.org/epp/
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Recycling
involves more than just putting materials into corresponding bins.
A company that is serious about recycling buys products made of
recycled material. The North
Carolina Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance
defines environmentally preferable procurement (EPP) to involve purchasing
products or services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health
and the environment when compared with competing products or services that
serve the same purpose. The
Ecomall website suggests that you always look
at the level of post-consumer
recycled content in a product. A
post-consumer is the material that has been collected from consumers and
reprocessed. Manufacturers often include pre-consumer material in their
total recycled content calculation. This
material includes manufacturing scraps, and other by-products that are never
used in the consumer market. For
a complete list of recycled products to purchase and companies that purchase
remanufactured materials,visit
http://www.ecomall.com/homepage.htm
Now that we have informed you of the importance of
recycling in your company, it’s time to spread the word to your employees.
There are several ways to promote recycling within your business like
making sure that all your employees are prone to take part in your newly
instituted program.
Waste Aware Business lists other
ways to raise the awareness amongst your staff to recycling so be sure to
visit there website at
http://www.wasteawarebusiness.org.uk/. |
Top of page
Environmental Assistance Office (EAO) for
Small Business
The Environmental Assistance
Office for Small Business provides non-regulatory, client-confidential
pollution prevention assistance to small businesses in the greater Charlotte
region. The EAO is designed to assist regional businesses in their efforts
to voluntarily prevent pollution. The EAO staff can provide timely
assistance for pollution prevention planning, including information about
industry-specific case studies, waste-specific case studies, and new
technologies. The office provides links of resources to needs between the
region's business community, government, municipality, and university. If
there is a particular issue or question you would like to see in an upcoming
edition, please send an e-mail to
EAOforSB@email.uncc.edu
Contact Information:
Environmental Assistance Office for Small Business:
9201
University City Blvd. 258 Cameron Building, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
28233-0001
Phone
number: 704-687-3968 Fax number: 704-687-3115
Email:
EAOforSB@email.uncc.edu
Services:
ˇ
Assistance with Air Permits - Assistance
for small businesses in completing paperwork for EPA air permits.
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Educational Materials - Educational
pamphlet, brochures, flyers, and other materials to relate facts on
pollution prevention.
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Educational Outreach - Develop educational
outreach campaigns and presentations for the public or employee training.
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University Resources - Library
information, faculty expertise, student projects and research at both
graduate and undergraduate levels.
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