Paper, Cardboard, Cans, Cartons, Glass, Plastics, Toner Cartridges, Mobile Phones

There is no excuse! All workplaces should be recycling materials for which recycling services are readily available and accessible and which are free or cost-neutral.

In liaison with your building manager, cleaning and waste/recycling contractors you should b able to set up effective recycling systems for:

• Paper (all paper, including white, coloured, newspaper, magazines, confidential paper)
• Cardboard
• Comingled (non-container deposit legislation containers, including glass and plastic containers, aluminium and steel cans, cartons)
• Toner cartridges (printer and photocopier)
• Deposit containers (all beverage containers redeemable in South Australia)*
• Mobile phones

The range of deposit containers has also been expanded - many worksites may wish to collect and manage their own 10c containers and use the funds for drinks, a Christmas party, BBQ or donate it to charity.

Recycling Other Waste

You should also investigate systems to collect materials for which recycling is less readily available or may incur a cost. These include:

• Electronics, including computers and peripherals
• Fluorescent tubes
• Plastics other than containers, including plastic film, packaging
• Food waste (small scale, such as office food waste)
• Food waste (larger scale, such as from operations where large quantities of food waste is generated)

These items are also able to be diverted from landfill and recycled, although they are often a bit trickier to set up management systems for compared to paper, cardboard and plastic containers.

In many cases, there is simply not an environmentally responsible option for managing some wastes, either because there is no economy of scale to make collection and treatment/recycling of the materials feasible, or no suitable technology or process for treating/recycling materials exists. Check Just Ask Zero Waste SA in case your ‘tricky’ waste is listed.