Contracting for Recycling Service

While many homes throughout Will County have curbside recycling; many businesses, apartment buildings, and some schools do not have such service.  The reasons vary but the most common are related to cost, space constraints and inexperience contracting.  These barriers can be overcome.

If a business has limited space for garbage, they often believe they can’t fit recycling containers anywhere. However, there have been several successes overcoming this obstacle when the businesses work together, either pairing up on garbage and recycling service or approaching the landlord to assist in creating a space. 

If you work in an office environment, 75-80% of the material discarded is recyclable.  Offices generate paper.  They discard a lot of it, from envelopes to printed emails, memos and phone messages.  If an office has a six-yard container collected three times a week, they could put in a second six-yard container for recycling, have that serviced twice a week and the garbage picked up once a week. This can save money for the business and resources. For every ton of paper recycled, there is enough energy saved to power a home for six months. That same ton saves 7,000 gallons of water used to make new paper. It saves 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. 

Apartment buildings may face the challenge of educating a diverse and changing clientele but these challenges are overcome with proper signage, graphics and some gentle reminders. Space may also be a concern as adequate parking areas are important. Working with a waste/recycling hauler to place different sized containers may be the solution.

Schools are similar to commercial properties in as much as they have a wide array of “personnel” to serve, from students to faculty to support staff.  Placement of containers is seldom the issue, but the internal collection and number of collection containers may be an obstacle.

Will County has numerous schools with incredibly successful waste reduction, reuse and recycling programs. If your school or business is in need of assistance, please let us know. We offer free, personal assistance over the phone and, when necessary, in person.  Don’t let inexperience or small challenges stop you from recycling.