Planet Ark is releasing a free, essential guide for businesses to manage their waste better.

Whether they’re a brickie or a barista everyone wants to do the right thing, but for small business owners it can be hard to find the time and money. That’s why in 2018, to mark its annual Business Recycling campaign, Planet Ark is launching a free War on Waste Toolkit for Business.

The kit contains 10 tools such as the recycling no-brainer checklist, the set of questions to ask a prospective recycler and new brain science inspired signage. It also fills in office managers and purchasers on recycled options for products such as paper and stationery, enabling them to help close the loop and build a circular economy.

Planet Ark has been inspired to put together the new toolkit after 3.7 million Australians watched the ABC’s television program War on Waste in 2017, prompting an unprecedented amount of inquiries on recycling and discussions of how businesses could do their part.

As a result, Planet Ark – along with its foundation partner, the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (NSW EPA) – has found financially beneficial and effective ways for staff and employers from businesses of all sizes to reduce waste and recycle more.

Planet Ark’s recycling programs manager Ryan Collins says it will be an essential resource as Australia’s business waste grows.

“A 2016 report found that the average business produces 849 kg of waste per person each year. That’s where the toolkit comes in. It gives employees and business owners free advice on how to turn their waste into valuable resources,” Collins says.

The toolkit encourages co-workers to get in on the act of reducing waste by suggesting reusable alternatives to single-use items like coffee cups, water bottles and shopping bags.

Another bonus for small businesses is that it’s easy to get started for free. Services like Cartridges 4 Planet Ark and MobileMuster recycle workplace printer cartridges, mobile phones and accessories at no cost, while the National TV and Computer Recycling Scheme are also ideal for small businesses on a budget.

Better still, some business waste materials get recycled into things that offices can buy, including pens made from recycled printer cartridges and office paper such as Planet Ark Paper, which remains high quality even when made from 100 percent recycled material. And in truly circular fashion, once used, those pens and paper be recycled again.

It’s not just traditional offices that can recycle either, services like construction and demolition processing mean that tradesmen and builders can both recycle and use products made from recycled materials. For those businesses with high volume waste materials, there is the Small Scale Recycling Equipment Catalogue, which matches them up with suppliers of equipment including compactors and balers to reduce costs and save time and space.

The new Business Recycling Toolkit also points businesses to Bin Trim, a resource developed by the NSW EPA for businesses which helps them to profile their current waste and recycling habits, and create a work plan to reduce both waste and costs. NSW businesses can also have a free assessment conducted by an EPA-funded Bin Trim Assessor after May 2018.

For more information visit businessrecycling.com.au or planetark.org.

Images courtesy of Planet Ark.