“There’s a perception that
increasing recycling activity leads to
increased costs that deters businesses from going further.”
A year of disruption
Paul Jakeway, Head of Marketing at Rubbermaid Commercial Products EMEA, on commercial recycling in a year dominated by the Coronavirus.
Rubbermaid Commercial Products’ (RCP) Love Recycling Research Project was launched at the start of 2020.
The need to research commercial recycling in Europe stemmed from two areas. Firstly, waste, to one degree or another, is produced by all businesses. Consumers in all sectors are becoming more insistent on commercial sustainability, preferring brands that match their ecological ideals. Therefore, the proper management of waste streams and recycling is an important topic for businesses.
Secondly, easily accessible, multi-level data (continental, national, sector specific) on commercial waste and recycling can be difficult to find. Institutional research naturally looks at specific types of waste and processes while industry bodies have varying methodologies and report on a narrow part of the picture.
As businesses are increasingly aiming to improve the sustainability of their operations, they need this type of encompassing data and information to guide them. The best decisions are made when more information is available.
The purpose of the Love Recycling research project is to provide businesses with data and findings that help them understand the part they play in the bigger recycling picture, but also how they compare with other businesses, and what they can learn from businesses like theirs.
Commercial recycling in Europe
Love Recycling has seen RCP work with over 1000 European businesses to understand waste management and recycling activities and challenges. Business of all sizes, from multiple sectors based across Europe, have taken part in the research.
The results that stemmed from the first part of the project were released in March on
loverecyling.com This was a
40 | WASTE MANAGEMENT
series of reports containing findings for a variety of sectors and countries, alongside a continental report that took in the entire recycling landscape.
One issue prevalent across all these reports was that businesses face challenges with increasing their recycling activities. There’s a perception that increasing recycling activity leads to increased costs that deters businesses from going further. Additionally, 90% are looking towards local and national Government to provide more support for commercial recycling through incentives, information and education.
The issue of commercial recycling and waste management was given greater prominence by the release of these reports. RCP began a series of engagements, including a Sustainability and Innovation open day, to continue to drive the conversation and engage businesses in talking about their waste management challenges.
All of which had to come to an abrupt halt.
Pandemic impact In March and April, much of the EU went into lockdown, with businesses closing and public spaces emptying. Those businesses that were able to remain open faced waste management challenges.
Waste collection agencies and recycling plants faced reduced workforces, limiting what they could collect and dispose of. Meanwhile, healthcare facilities saw a spike in personal protective equipment (PPE) waste. The NHS alone was consuming 14 million items of PPE each day, waste that could not be recycled and instead had to be incinerated.
It was clear that the pandemic was going to have an impact on waste management across all sectors. As recycling is a continually improving process, disruption can impede or even halt progress.
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