Australia is a spectacularly beautiful country, known for pristine landscapes and stunning environmental scenery. Despite this natural beauty, Australia is facing a waste management crisis; large amounts of waste and increasingly full landfill sites are threatening the Australian environment.
Did you know that the average Australian produces approximately 1.5 metric tonnes of waste each year? Multiply that exponentially, and you can imagine how much waste an average office produces each year. Australian businesses are responsible for depositing an enormous amount of waste into landfill each year, and much of it can actually be recovered for recycling purposes.
Paper and cardboard make up an extremely large percentage of waste that is deposited into Australian landfill sites, with the actual figure estimated at over 50%. The majority of this paper and cardboard waste is suitable for recycling, and usually very easy to separate from general waste.
Recycled paper and cardboard can be reused to make a large number of products, including:
Toilet paper: Recycled toilet paper is becoming more and more commonplace, and functions just as effectively as regular toilet paper. Not only is recycled toilet paper better for the environment, it can be almost indistinguishable from non-recycled paper.
Books: Manufacturers can use recycled materials to construct the entire book components, from recycled paper jackets and pages to cardboard spines.
Magazines: Magazines are created from paper that has been buffed and coated in order to achieve a glossy appearance. This paper does not need to be new; recycled paper works just as effectively to create that shiny magazine finish.
Newspapers: Like magazines and books, newspaper publishing houses are increasingly utilising recycled paper to manufacture their publications. Using recycled paper does not damage the overall appearance of the newspaper.
Office paper: Just over 45% of office paper is recovered for recycling purposes today. Recycled office paper is indistinguishable from non-recycled paper, and correctly sorting waste paper to be recovered for recycling is the easiest way for an office to improve their recycling efforts and reduce their environmental impact.
By simply placing cardboard and paper into a separate bin for recycling, you are saving tonnes of landfill whilst reducing energy and resource expenditure.
Solo Resource Recovery is a locally owned and operated Australian company dedicated to improving the recycling levels of Australian businesses. Solo have multiple environmentally conscious and affordable ways for businesses to increase their recycling whilst reducing environmental impact.
If every Australian business does their part and makes an effort to responsibly recycle waste where possible, as a country we are making a conscious effort to preserve our beautiful country and pristine landscape for future generations. To find out more about how easy it is for your business to correctly recover recyclable materials, contact the professional waste management team at Solo today.
Published: August 15, 2024
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