Ahead of Recycle Week, the company has carried out a survey – ‘Green Business Survey for Beds, Herts and Bucks’ – in relation to the recycling practices of local businesses.
The company said it found a “huge appetite among our local business community to do the right thing, recycle more, and protect the environment. However, the research has also unveiled the areas in which organisations struggle to recycle, such as food waste.”
When asked which type of recycling is collected most effectively in their organisation, over 60% of respondents cited paper and card as those items that were most easy to collect and separate. However, only relatively few businesses, 18%, felt that they were collecting and segregating food waste effectively for recycling, Cawleys reported.
Coffee cups
Even fewer, 10%, said they were collecting coffee cups and coffee grounds successfully. Electrical waste also appeared to be achallenge with only 23% of companies citing this waste stream as most effectively collected.
On the bright side, said Cawleys, “a whopping 79% of companies are confident that they are currently recycling paper and card effectively and over 53% are happily recycling both their plastic and glass.”
Nicky Severn, Cawleys marketing manager, explained that the research revealed a healthy appetite to uplift current recycling rates. “Over 50% of respondents want to recycle more paper, card and plastic, 39% want to recycle more glass, and a significant number, 36%, would like an avenue to recycle more PPE. There was also an appetite to recycle more food and coffee waste with 34% wanting to recycle more food, 24% wanting to recycle more coffee / hot drinks cups, and 18% wanting to recycle an increased volume of coffee grounds.”
Encouraging
Describing the survey results as ‘encouraging’, Ms Severn continued: “The results from our survey are hugely encouraging and show that businesses in our local community are actively doing all they can to play their part in the war on waste and recycle as effectively as they can. Indeed, there is still a long way to go but we are on the right path and certain waste items are naturally more difficult to collect and segregate than others.”
Shed added: “Our local area is a hub of business activity and many of our local towns are leading the way in environmental change. Now, more than ever, it’s time to help companies find uncomplicated ways to maximise their recycling rates and Cawleys are keen to visit local businesses and help them find a way to recycle as much of their waste as possible, including items such as food, coffee and electricals.”
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