The key to an effective curbside recycling program is the right type of recycling containers. Recycling bins make all of the difference in multi-stream programs that require pre-sorting by households before the waste can be properly picked up. Even if residents take their waste to a local recycling and disposal center, recycling bins will help homeowners save time sorting their waste.

Waste Wise Products offers a wide range of recycling containers for residential and commercial use with units of varying design and size. In order to make your life easier, we offer this brief guide to assist in making the right purchase.

Covering The Basics Of Recycling Bins

The first factor to consider when choosing recycling containers is the overall amount of waste that will be hauled every week. This is done in order to determine what size containers will be necessary. For the average home, each member produces about 10 to 20 pounds of garbage in total. Roughly half of that total is in material that could be recycled. Every family has a different situation, but for a family of four, you could expect enough recyclable garbage to fill one 30 gallon container.

For office use, the math changes a little bit. Many commercial users dispose of more paper and plastic than the average residential household. For larger companies, smaller 10-gallon recycling containers are distributed throughout the office building and then they are collected and deposited into central 95 gallon recycling bins for final pickup.

Multi-Stream Programs

Multi-stream programs require recyclables to be sorted out beforehand. This means that single recycling bins are insufficient for a curbside or haul it yourself program. Thankfully, Waste Wide Products is here to help.

There are a number of solutions for having recycling containers available for residential use. Duo recycling containers consist of two compartments with a slip top to separate two different streams, like paper and plastic. Small, plastic riders can be clipped to the side of a larger garbage bin to promote separation right from the beginning. For organizing waste for the curb, one of the best options is a set of four 10-gallon slim recycling containers that can snap together, stack inside each other when empty, and can be labeled for 4-stream programs.

Business setups are similar to residential programs, but usually on a larger scale. Small bin riders and under the desk duo recycling bins are perfect for individual offices. For larger areas, fiberglass recycling bins can be built with internal divisions for easy sorting and can feature the company logo printed on the front. For high traffic areas, like a company cafeteria, there are 90 gallon all-in-one recycling bins that can hold a high volume of trash while having multiple compartments for convenient, instant sorting at the source.

In the end, the right choice in recycling containers will help make any curbside program more convenient and allow for greater participation at both home and at the office.

Wastewise Products has recently expanded our product line to include Soapopular Hand Sanitizer. We place a high priority on quality, customer satisfaction and convenience. With the rising importance of keeping hands clean and sanitary, we now carry it in a variety of sizes and styles. Here, we will highlight our wall-mounted hand sanitizer unit so you can learn a little bit more about it.

It is our hope that people who use it will find the product a convenient alternative to walking around with dirty hands. The hypoallergenic formula does not dry out the skin while it provides an antiseptic, non-flammable and non-toxic answer to the dilemma of how to stay healthy in a crowd.

Our 1,000 milliliter and 1.5 liter wall mounted units are designed for high traffic areas with multiple users. Places like schools, stores, public restrooms and the workplace are ideal locations to reduce the spread of germs where many people come in contact with each other every day. Using Soapopular will help reduce the amount of germs spread and the number of infections caused by hand-to-hand contact. The wall-mounted unit is ideal for simply walking by and putting a small amount in the palm of your hand. At this point, you can keep on walking as you rub your hands thoroughly until they are dry. If there are children with you, this is a great time to teach them about cleanliness. Make sure they are supervised about how much to use and how to rub the product over every part of their hands.

The alcohol free hand sanitizer is ideal for places with small or large crowds of people on the move. No water or paper towels are needed. The dispenser has enough antibacterial hand sanitizer for more than 3,000 applications. Our 4 liter refill jug makes it easy and convenient to replenish the dispenser. It also has an anti-clogging feature so there will be no mess.

Many people don’t realize the long list of benefits that recycling programs have at the local, state, national, and global level.

Here, we’ll take a look at how recycling containers and community programs help people and the environment at all levels, and how we can utilize recycling bins from Waste Wise Products to maximize the impact of these programs.

Benefits of Recycling Programs To Our Economy And Environment

It is a common myth that recycling programs cost more money than regular trash disposal services. Overall, recycling programs save taxpayer money, reduce energy usage, and create jobs and business opportunities. As time goes by and more cities implement green initiatives, the cost of recycling goes down across the board.

Recycling programs create a multitude of job opportunities. There are an estimated 1.1 million jobs created every year. For each one of these jobs created, another 26 people are hired to process recycled materials into new products. On the whole, recycling creates four new jobs in the place of every one job created in the standard waste disposal industry.

These programs also save money; recycling costs less than land filling and incineration. With lowered costs and pay-as-you-throw options, a family can see lowered local taxes. By repurposing waste into new products, we can reduce our dependence on oil while lowering our energy usage.

These energy savings are significant — it takes 95% less energy to recycle aluminum than it does to make it from raw materials, while recycled steel saves 60%, recycled newspaper 40%, recycled plastics 70%, and recycled glass 40%.

How Good Recycling Bins Makes A Difference

The type of recycling containers used in homes, offices, and in public spaces really determines how cost effective a recycling program will be.

Using recycling bins with multiple compartments is an excellent way to help pre-sort different materials and aid in collection and processing. All-in-one recycling containers come in many sizes to be used within a home, office, or placed in public areas. Waste Wise carries recycling containers that can also be snapped together or attached to one another for multi-stream usage without having one large container. For businesses, fiberglass recycling containers can be customized with a business logo or corporate slogan.

For industrial work, roll out cart and utility recycling bins are the best bet due to their rugged construction. They are designed for both heavy duty work and for garbage hauling. Steel recycling containers can offer both a sturdy solution with a modern look, perfect for the office setting. Attractive ashtray containers can be placed in any lobby, break room, or designated smoking area.

Having the right recycling bins for the right job help people to be comfortable when new programs are initiated. They also help keep costs low and make material separation easier. Does your home, office, and community have a recycling program? Is it working as well as it could? Contact us to learn about how you can implement recycling bins in your home, work place, or neighborhood and create a positive impact on the environment and the community.

Recycling programs have been implemented in many cities, towns, offices, homes, and job sites, and that number increases every year. In order to meet the demands of varying site requirements and plan specifics, Waste Wise Products offers a full line of bins for recycling. Every location requires different size, shape, and materials for effective recycling bins, while each city’s waste stream specifics dictate how much separation and sorting is required prior to disposal.

With these needs in minds, recycling bins are being constructed from many materials, including fiberglass, plastic, recycled plastic lumber, and steel and are in use for single stream, multi-stream, and utility programs. Let’s take a look at how the right pairing between container and program makes waste management easier and more effective.

Individual Offices And Homes

There are many available recycling bins to fit small scale programs or many small capacity locations, such as individual offices. There are a number of both plastic and fiberglass solutions that offer light weight and durable recycling containers to fit in under desks or behind doors.

Desksiders are the single stream, blue plastic containers that are common in many offices. A smaller easy sorter bin can be attached to the lip of the larger basket to separate two different recyclables. Duo recyclers are two compartment, low profile bins perfect for under the desk placement. Larger fiberglass multi compartment containers with custom lids can be used in conference rooms or shared offices.

Large Scale, Multi-Stream Applications

On the other end of the spectrum, large collection points and city-wide programs require larger and more durable containers that can be used both indoors and outdoors. Typically, all-in-one collection units are preferred to convenience.

These units come in fiberglass, plastic, and steel. All three types offer rugged designs for high traffic and high volume use. The largest fiberglass bins for recycling come in at 92 gallons with up to 4 internal compartments to handle a high degree of separation and volume. Plastic bins are also manufactured in all-in-one units as well as sets of single stream containers. Steel designs usually focus on multiple single stream containers that come together in a set. There are also larger multipurpose units that are best suited for large municipal projects.

Industrial Programs

Bins for recycling utilized in industrial and large commercial or hospitality waste management programs, many of the above designs can work. However, there are specially made solutions for heavy duty work.

Roll out carts are a good choice for such a project. The carts are made from high strength injection molded plastics and come built with attached dollies and grips. They are ideal for collection and storage along with transportation. All-in-one units constructed from steel will also meet the requirements of large scale programs where their size, weight, and capacity are beneficial.

Waste Wise Products offers a wide variety in recycling bins in order to make implementing waste management programs easier. Participants will be more invested in a recycling program that is convenient and purpose built.

Your home recycling program provides a perfect opportunity to introduce your children to the concepts of business, finance, and the environment. With families, communities, and businesses working hard to cut costs and protect the environment, recycling projects are finally becoming recognized for the financial and environmental benefits they can provide.

Children love to participate in family projects. Starting a home recycling project opens a world of opportunity to teach about different materials used to make products, which ones are recyclable and which ones are not, and the effects on the environment. You can also use recycling to teach basic family finances and business terminology. Once you have contacted your local trash and/or recycling service, you can educate your children about the financial and environmental benefits of using recycling containers.

A Picture Paints A Thousand Words

Start discussing your project with pictures and examples of various food and household packages, both recyclable and non-recyclable. Plastic drink bottles and packaging, glass jars, plastic shopping bags, soda and food cans, paper and cardboard are all simple examples of recyclable materials. Cellophane, mixed media (such as food jar lids), and hazardous materials can be used to illustrate what items are not recyclable.

You can tape magazine pictures of recyclable materials to your recycling bins to help younger children understand what goes in the recycling container and what does not. This is also a perfect time to start composting. Kitchen food waste can be added to an outdoor compost pile or simply buried in your yard. In no time at all, your yard will exhibit the benefits of healthier soil without the use of chemical fertilizers that are toxic to humans.

The Buck Stops Here

The next step is to show your children the financial benefits of using recycling containers. Explain to your children how much money the family spends on trash collection. You can also explain how trash must be stored, collected, transported and disposed of, all of which costs the community money which is paid in the form of taxes.

You can show your children how spending less money on garbage disposal helps the family financially. You can bring this message home by taking some of the savings and passing it on to your children in exchange for managing the recycling bins. Depending upon your children’s ages, you can offer payment for things such as monitoring the recycling bins, emptying the recycling containers, and rinsing out the bins for recycling.

The Business Of Recycling

Your children can learn basic business terminology by collecting and returning cans for the deposit or selling the aluminum, depending upon your state’s policies. All business finances are recorded in one of four areas: assets, liabilities, income and expenses. You can explain to your children that the tools of their “business”, such as the recycling bins, little red wagon, and trash cans, are their assets. If they have to borrow money from the family to purchase any of those assets, that debt is a liability. Liabilities are subtracted from assets for a net worth figure.

The cost of trash bags, garbage disposal, and recycling services are their expenses. Allowances, sale of aluminum, and can deposit earnings are their income. Expenses are subtracted from income for a net profit figure.

While it is difficult to place a monetary value on a safe and healthy environment, your children and their children are sure to benefit from using recycling bins.

Bottom lines are getting harder and harder to meet in the current economic climate. Regular clients back out of their traditional patterns, new clients are nowhere to found and expenses keep increasing. As difficult as making a profit is these days, too many businesses are literally throwing their profits into the garbage by not recycling.

Business recycling programs allow you to cash in on valuable resources that have, until now, been an expense to dispose of. As any business owner knows, collecting, transporting and disposing of garbage is expensive. As the land available for land fills disappears, those costs can only increase. Instead of adding to your list expenses, recycling provides you with an additional source of income.

Manage The Manufacturing Process More Efficiently

The manufacturing process is notoriously wasteful. Damaged goods, improperly printed labels, and countless other discards build up rapidly in the manufacturing sector and must be disposed of in one way or another. Traditionally, this meant renting garbage dumpsters and then paying a garbage service to empty them.

Instead of paying for this disposal service, you can strategically place recycling bins for paper, plastic and metal discards throughout your place of business and sell these valuable resources. Not only will you reduce the landfill problem, but you will also increase your own profits.

Paper Waste Is A Waste Of Money

Offices, printers, secretaries and many other aspects of business use an extraordinary amount of paper to maintain in-house communication, as well as billing, advertising, and invoicing. Paper thrown in the garbage is money lost. Instead, recycling bins can be used to collect these natural resources, allowing them to reduce your garbage expense and increase your net income.

While designing more efficient methods of conducting business often seem as though they are more trouble than they are worth, recycling containers do not fall into this category. Recycling services are often tied to your normal trash service, or you can find a new provider online that will supply you with attractive, customized recycling bins that feature your company logo.

Get Employees In On The Action

You can easily get your employees to participate by contributing beverage and food containers, as well as paper products, by conveniently locating recycling bins in and around employee break rooms, cafeterias and smoking areas. Each and every recyclable item that is placed in a recycling bin is one less piece of garbage that you must pay to have disposed.

Bins for recycling are no longer the cumbersome and unattractive beasts they once were. Recycling bins now come in a variety of designer colors, a range of shapes and sizes and you can even order customized recycling bins to suit your place of business or industry.

When customers and clients see you using recycling bins, your goodwill account will skyrocket. They will be pleased to continue giving you their business, recognizing your concern about waste and pollution. They will assume, rightfully so, that your concern reaches them and the products they buy from you. You can be sure that they will tell others, leading to increased sales, as well as better profits.

A great video on recycling from Napcor.

Please be sure to view our selection recycling bins and contact us if you have any questions.

Colleges have quickly learned the benefits of reducing their garbage bill by using recycling bins. Communities and businesses are trying to find their own ways to cut down on the amount of waste generated due to the high cost of collecting, transporting and disposing of garbage. There are several ways you can cut down on the amount of garbage thrown out at home and at work with the simple and effective use of recycling bins. The first step however is to determine just how much of your garbage is actually trash and how much of it is recyclable materials.

Time For A Trash Audit

A trash audit is a simple act that you can do at home. Basically, it consists of sorting through your trash to see how much recyclable materials you are currently throwing into your neighborhood landfill. Most people are stunned when they realize the extent of their past wastefulness. As garbage rates continue to rise, it becomes even more cost effective to recycle whatever you can. Simply placing recycling containers next to trash cans and educating family members may be all the effort that is required to create a successful recycling program in your home.

Businesses can use their local recycling service to conduct a trash audit. Offices, manufacturers and service companies produce volumes of recyclable materials that have been historically thrown into landfills, resulting in toxic air, soil, and water supplies. A trash audit provides business owners and managers with the financial numbers they need to make effective decisions about how many bins for recycling they will need for their facility.

Special Tips For Reducing Waste

At home, you can reduce much of your paper waste by cancelling unwanted subscriptions and reusing the backs of documents for things like shopping lists and to-do notes. When shopping, opt for minimal packaging and bigger quantities of frequently purchased items. Placing recycling bins where they are most needed, such as next to a desk and in the kitchen can increase their likelihood of being used.

Businesses can use the same basic rational by placing bins for recycling where they are most needed: in employee break rooms, near printers, under desks, near vending machines and near any manufacturing processes that generate recyclable materials. These simple steps can turn into a landslide of savings, both financial and environmental.

Back In The Black

In today’s troubled economy, homes and businesses are operating on the brink of financial disaster. Every area where money can be saved is worth consideration. Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle installed recycling bins and was then delighted to discover that they were able to reduce their contribution to the landfill by 80% and that they saved themselves over $170,000 in the first year of the program. Those are some substantial numbers.

Today’s recycling bins are clearly labeled with which recyclables go where, or if it is a single stream service, all types of recyclable materials can be deposited into the same container. Recycling today makes sense, and best of all saves a lot of money.

There isn’t an industry in the world that isn’t being negatively impacted by the current economic difficulties. Revenues are down, costs are up, and everyone is trying to find ways to save. Single stream recycling containers may be just what your business has been looking for, as a way to cut costs and build a better public image.

Single stream recycling allows recyclers to throw all of their recyclable materials into the same recycling bin, increasing the likelihood of the recycling containers being used, reducing the amount of actual garbage that must be collected, transported, and disposed. The reduction in garbage expense alone can make the use of recycling bins worthwhile for an office, factory, or warehouse.

Cut Costs With Single Stream Recycling Containers

Instead of paying to have every bit of garbage collected, transported, and removed from your place of business, you can enlist the support of your local single stream recycling service to come and evaluate your current garbage flow. This evaluation will provide reliable predictions about how much money you can expect to save by installing and using recycling bins. Business managers and accountants know all too well just how expensive trash disposal has become. Single stream recycling containers can cut those costs significantly.

Recently, in Seattle, Virginia Mason Hospital implemented a major recycling effort in their facility. Within the first year, it was discovered that they had reduced their landfill contribution by 80%, at a cost savings of over $170,000. Those numbers are significant for any sized business. Instead of contributing to the problems caused by toxins in our soil and water supply, businesses that implement single stream recycling containers at their place of business are able to help themselves financially, while helping the world environmentally. Clearly, it is a win-win situation.

What Makes Single Stream Recycling Bins Better?

The biggest problem with recycling programs in the past has been insufficient participation and contamination. Single stream recycling bins increase the level of convenience by allowing participants to use a single recycling container for all of their recyclable materials. Instead of making room for separate recycling containers for glass, paper, plastic and metal, only a single container is needed, thereby increasing participation rates and reducing garbage expenses.

In addition to the added convenience, modern recycling service companies are able to provide your business with recycling containers that are specifically designed for your location in a variety of colors and sizes. Company logos can be added to your recycling containers, reminding customers of your civic-mindedness.

Healthy, Wealthy And Wise

Implementing single stream recycling containers at your pace of business is a great way to improve the health of our planet, to cut your garbage disposal costs significantly and to portray your firm as caring and conscientious to customers and potential customers alike. Your bottom line will improve as a result of increased goodwill and reduced costs, providing a wider profit margin in a day and age when many firms are struggling to stay afloat.

Today, The Collegian Online reported that CSU Fresno will remove more than 60 recycling bins from it’s campus due to a lack of funding. The problem we see with this is that recycling actually produces a significant net savings over traditional waste disposal. Yes, the recycling bins do cost money, but there are many affordable recycling containers available.

CSU Fresno plans to sort the recyclables from waste, although they admit it is not the most effective method. A recent recycling program implemented by Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle produced a significant cost savings simply by recycling half of their waste. For them, recycling costs $20 per ton versus $165 per ton for waste disposal.

Our blog post from yesterday discusses other ways to cash in on a recycling program.

What are your thoughts? Will CSU Fresno save money by removing recycling bins? Will the environmental impact outweigh any potential cost savings?