Recycling is one of those initiatives everyone agrees is wants to do, yet few fail to follow through. They believe it takes too much effort and, in some cases, costs more than it is worth to do. This is a wrong assumption. While no one can argue about the benefits of recycling to the environment, its benefits to the business bottom line are equally convincing.
Majority of large corporations have adopted recycling. After all, they have many resources available to do this. Small businesses, on the other hand, have been somewhat reluctant due to apparent lack of resources and perceived high cost. While the will has always been strong among small business owners, many have been unable to make a commitment to recycling for these reasons. But as I will show below this does not have to be the case. Here are few compelling benefits recycling provides to businesses, large and small.
Community Goodwill
Small businesses that implement recycling program tend to be viewed as good corporate citizens. Consumers understand that businesses do not HAVE TO implement recycling. They also know that in many cases it costs a lot to adopt recycling. The businesses that do this out of their own will are viewed favorably and typically get more business compared to those businesses that do not have recycling. They also appeal to a wider consumer demographic.
Disposition of Sensitive Data
Many small businesses collect significant amount of sensitive customer data in paper as well as electronic form. It is their responsibility to guard this data in a responsible manner and dispose it off at the end of their life. Recycling helps achieve this by making sure the data is destroyed properly. There are number of service providers who can help do this. Companies such as Data Shred provide services to safely remove sensitive consumer information from your premises in a manner that complies with modern environmental demands.
Compliance with Regulations
Many communities and countries have put in place laws that require their residents and businesses to adopt recycling program. By doing this in a proactive manner not only are you able to comply with these laws, but you do so in a systematic fashion rather than having to scramble at the last minute.
Reduction in Operational Costs
Contrary to popular belief many recycling programs can actually reduce the operational cost for businesses. For example, if your business uses large amount of packaging, recycling affords you an opportunity to reduce the amount of packaging required as well as reuse it multiple times thus reducing the cost of buying packaging material. When you look at the amount of waste that is being generated by some businesses on a daily basis implementing recycling program can make significant contribution to their bottom line.
What do you think? Have you benefited from implementing recycling programs at your businesses?
