River Valley Paper Company :: Office Recycling Program

Starting a collection/recycling program for your organization involves a few steps and once these are completed your company will be well on its way to collecting paper for recycling purposes.

Initial Research

You will need to find out how much paper and which kinds of paper you have at your organization. You can use a basic formula to determine the amount. The formula is as follows: number of employees multiplied by 0.2 lbs (total equals amount of recyclable paper per day). Multiply amount of recyclable paper per day by 240 (working days per year); divide that number by 12 (months per year). That number will then be divided by 2000 (pounds in one ton) and that equals the total tons of recyclable paper per month.

I have 12 employees in my office and I want to figure out how much paper we use per year. So:

12 (# of Employees) x 0.2 (lbs) = 2.4 pounds of paper per day 2.4 (lbs per day) x 240 (working days) / 12 (months) = 48 pounds 48 (lbs) / 2000 (pounds per one ton) = .024 tons of recyclable paper per month

Then, estimate your potential paper recovery rates, use the tons per month and multiply that by 65 percent (estimated participation rate of your employees:

.024 (tons per month) x .65 (employee participation) = .016 (recovered tons/month)

So with 65% participation in your organization each month, you will have saved .192 tons of paper material from landfill, that's a total of 384 pounds per year. Just imagine what 100% participation would do!

Management Support

Once you have conducted the initial research for your company, you will need to contact management and obtain their support in moving forward with a recycling program. To obtain support of your management team, a recycling team or a program coordinator should be appointed and is willing to work directly with management to get the program up and running.

Program Coordinator or Recycling Team

It is also important to have a program coordinator who is organized and is knowledgeable in the office operations. This person will not only be fundamental in the beginning stages of the program, but they will continue to play a vital role in the ongoing success of the program. The program coordinator will also be the person that provides education of the new recycling program to the employees. Distribute a memo or have an educational meeting on what your recycling program involves. Keep the program simple, if there are too many requirements and regulations there will be less participation. Let everyone know the benefits of the recycling program and keep them updated on a regular basis.

Once these few basic steps have been completed, we would be able to provide your facility with an accurate number of containers to start collecting the waste paper. These containers will be serviced weekly, bi-weekly or monthly based on the individual needs of your organization. This paper is then taken to our plant to be processed. Once the material is processed it will be sent out to various paper mills. If you have any additional questions in regards to starting an office recycling program, please click here.