Host an Office Fling Paper is the largest contributor to solid waste generated by businesses and although paper has a high recycling rate there are literally thousands of tonnes of paper stored in folders, files and draws that will never be used again. Hosting a Friday File Fling on 14th November during Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week is an easy-to-organise and positive way to engage staff, de-clutter your office and get good quality paper back into circulation. It's as easy as registering your Fling with Planet Ark and setting some time aside to go through and recycle your old files. You could add another environmental activity to the Fling or make it a social event with morning or afternoon tea or drinks. This year, the first 1,000 registrants will receive a free ream of Reflex White 100% Recycled paper. After your Fling, make sure you finish the recycling job by buying Australian made high-recycled content office paper. Planet Ark provides a downloadable Step By Step Guide for hosting, as well as promotional resources to help you promote your Fling. Find out more...
10 - 16 November 2014
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Friday File Fling Friday 14 November
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Be A Business Recycling Star Research shows 71% of workers that have access to recycling facilities in the workplace feel that they are working for a responsible employer*.
We’re a business recycling star
We recycle...
This year the Australian Packaging Covenant is the Major Sponsor of Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week (10-16 November) so it’s a great opportunity for you to get involved and engage your colleagues about recycling and environmental sustainability. Planet Ark provides activity ideas and links to resources for workplaces in a free, simple-touse, downloadable guide, making it easy for you to get involved. The specially developed Workplace Activity Guide provides you with simple positive ideas as well as things to consider for organizing an activity. Getting involved can result in waste reduction and improved resource use (and the associated cost savings this can afford), increased staff morale, better resource use, and PR and media opportunities. Some suggestions include: •
Sign up to a new – and free – program like MobileMuster for old mobiles or ‘Cartridges 4 Planet Ark’ for all print consumables and then use Recycling Week to launch or promote your participation.
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Use Recycling Week to let colleagues know about the successes of an existing recycling or sustainability scheme or to reinvigorate one. Visit Planet Ark’s BusinessRecycling website for articles on creating positive behaviour change and for free resources like recycling signage.
Get Involved For more ideas and links to all the free resources, download Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week Workplace Activity Guide. * Parry-Husbands, H., Villani, C. 2013. Green Pulse Report – September 2013 (Wave 23). Prepared for Planet Ark. Sydney, Australia: Pollinate.
Onsite Recovery Made Easy Technologies, global commodity prices and products are forever changing. As are the waste management activities of an organisation’s distribution and production processes. What wasn’t recyclable in the past may be now. For ACP signatories, there is an easy way to ensure you are getting the best out of your waste collection services. The APC has partnered with the Waste Contractors and Recyclers Association of NSW (WCRA) to develop a pilot Waste Collection Inquiry Service. Signatories simply complete the online form and WCRA will respond with the details of any suitable waste collection contractors. If needed, WCRA will make contact directly to discuss your options. As a signatory your organisation has committed to implementing onsite recovery systems and this pilot tool was designed to ease the process. Find out more about the Waste Collection Inquiry Service
Help “Close the Loop” – Buy Recycled As the saying goes, unless you’re buying recycled, you’re not really recycling which is why the APC and ECO-Buy have developed a series of guides to help signatories buy recycled content products and meet their commitments.
The benefits of recycled material Recycling recovers material that would otherwise go to waste, much of which would be locked up in landfills. Landfilling represents a significant waste of resources as well as a wide range of potential environmental impacts. Using recycled materials in production helps create a continuous loop of reuse. This loop reduces the impact of material extraction on the environment and also means limited resources can go further. The signatory commitment to “have a formal, documented policy of buying recycled products or materials” creates the all-important demand for these materials.
Getting started As a signatory you can access the Sustainable Procurement Series of guides. Developed by APC and EcoBuy, the guides include information on the stages you can implement, from getting started to reporting, that will assist in including recycled material in your processes. See the links below for each of the stages. •
Getting started in recycled content purchasing
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Introduction to recycled content materials
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Purchasing opportunities for recycled content products
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Engaging your suppliers
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Tracking and reporting of recycled content purchases
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Recycled content purchasing and reporting spreadsheet
Finding recycled material To help you locate products made from recycled materials, EcoBuy provides the EcoFind database. The Recycled Content section of EcoFind allows a search over a range of categories from over 60 suppliers who provided products that contain recycled materials. The Sustainable Procurement Series and the EcoFind database are two great resources to help you close the loop by buying recycled materials.