Recycle Smart: A Guide to Sustainable Waste Management
Recycling is an important aspect of waste management that helps to conserve resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and protect the environment. However, with so many materials and formats used in food and beverage packaging, it can be challenging to know what can and cannot be recycled. In this article, we will provide you with practical tips and strategies to recycle smart, connect with your local council or waste services provider, and use the Australasian Recycling Label to ensure that the right packaging ends up in the right bin. Let's get started on our journey towards sustainable waste management!
If you’re new to recycling, a great place to start is by checking your local council or waste services provider, to see what kinds of materials you can and can’t recycle. Then you can train your staff accordingly to help minimize waste in your day-to-day operations.
Food and beverage packaging comes in many materials and formats, and most of them can be recycled to some degree (subject to local conditions). The list below shows typical applications for each material.
- Paper/Cardboard: Fresh produce, outer packs
- Steel: Fruits and vegetables, ready-to-eat meals, sauces
- Glass: Beverages, condiments, produce
- Aluminium: Prepared meals
- Plastic Bottles: Water, beverages
Actions You Can Take
Governments around the world are enacting bans, taxes and laws related to packaging every year, but there are several ways you can be proactive to anticipate these coming issues.
1. Connect with your local council or waste services provider.
2. Learn about what can be recycled locally.
3. Review the current collection system at your facilities and provide separate bins to match the local waste collection system.
4. Encourage suppliers to offer alternatives with reusable packaging or bulk dispensing.
How to Recycle Right
Australians and New Zealanders care about the environment and want to do the right thing. But with hundreds of recycling labels out there, getting recycling right can be confusing.
The Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) takes the confusion out of recycling consumer product packaging by providing easy to understand instructions about how to correctly dispose of all parts of a product’s packaging. By ensuring that the right packaging ends up in the right bin, we can help reduce the contamination in our waste stream and keep valuable recyclable material out of landfill.1
Sources:
1. https://recyclingnearyou.com.au/arl
