Would you like to make your business more environmentally friendly? Single use plastics, or SUP, are a huge problem for our air, water, land and oceans, but your business can make a difference.
What’s the problem with single use plastic?
Whilst single use plastics are often highly convenient, the reality is that single use plastic is rarely recycled. According to Greenpeace, about 17% currently gets recycled in the UK, with the rest, ‘burned in incinerators, sent to other countries or dumped in landfill.’ Even when plastics are recycled, it quickly degrades, at which point it is exported, incinerated or sent to landfill.
Plastic that does go through the recycling process ‘releases microplastics into our air and water.’ The plastic that is burned in incinerators (58% of the plastic thrown away), releases toxic gases that pollute the air we breathe. What’s more, they are three times more likely to be built in deprived neighbourhoods, where residents are disproportionately people of colour.’
Ultimately the amount of plastic being produced is too great for our current recycling and disposal systems to support, and single use plastic is a huge part of this problem.
What can businesses do?
Businesses are in a unique position to make a difference by changing the way that they use single use plastic, and the purchases of single use plastic that they make.
-
Do a Waste Audit
To start, think about carrying out a waste audit. This is a review of all the waste your organisation is generating across the whole of the business; what is being thrown away by employees, customers and management. Not only does this help you identify where you might be wasting resources and losing money, it can also identify what facilities are being used, and how you can increase your recycling. There are a number of organisations that offer waste audits, just search for a provider in your local area. -
Think about your supply chain
If you’re receiving products or parts from suppliers, try to notice the amount of single use plastic that this is generating. Are they packaging your orders using cardboard, or single use plastic? Are there alternative suppliers that do things differently? Getting in touch with, and putting pressure on your suppliers can encourage them to reflect on their own plastic usage, the waste that they are generating, and whether there are changes that they can make to their operations. Where possible, request that no single use plastics are used to pack your orders. -
Reduce and Replace
Finally, you can think about the changes that you can make immediately to the single use plastics in your business. This can include everything from removing disposable cups and cutlery and replacing them with reusable alternatives, to improving recycling points for your employees, to changing the way that you package and send out your products. It isn’t possible to change everything; however you might be surprised by the changes you can make to the way your organisation operates.
Every little helps
Whilst making these changes might feel like a great deal of work, these little changes make a difference to the sustainability and culture within your business. By making something that often goes by unnoticed more visible, you can raise awareness for your employees and your customers. Ditching single use plastic means that businesses can make a positive environmental change, and a cultural change too.
