The first was literally acres of tarps. These are the blue tarps you can buy at any home improvement or hardware store. Thing is, they were huge since they’re meant to wrap trains during transit. We sourced a local home improvement non-profit who was willing to accept the tarps and cut them down to (re)salable sizes. A win-win, but also one with strong local PR and media potential.

How to recycle tarps

The second waste stream was small spools. Purchasing sourced the material at lower cost, but the spools were not recylable nor were they returnable to the supplier. Nor was the disposal cost part of Purchasing’s math. This item made the case for a sustainable or green purchasing practices.

It's smart to source recyclable or returnable spools

What materials at your plant or shop can you recycle with just a little effort and creativity?

Essentially about one-third of landfilled material is recyclable. Tenants, both residential and commercial want to recycle, but the owners have been lagging.

Logistically, buildings have to supply three waste and recycling bins. One each for trash, recyclables and composting.