Everywhere you go it seems more and more people are recycling. While there may be some truth to that statement overall the United States landfills or incinerates vastly more that it recycles in the following categories: rubber, textiles, iron/steel, nickel, aluminum, glass, plastic, wood and food scrap. Only paper and yard trimmings have recently shown progress of being recycled as much as they are being discarded in landfills.
So why haven't we been making much progress given that it appears "everyone is doing it?" I remember that after buying my first hybrid car it seemed like everyone had a hybrid (If you don't live in Boulder, Colo. it should be stated that the car of choice is the hybrid Toyota Prius). Since a car is a big purchase it was on my mind and therefore I was thinking about cars more than usual and consequently seeing more hybrids. Just because it felt like everyone owned a hybrid the statistics of even one of the most hybrid-friendly cities would tell you otherwise.
It would be interesting to survey all businesses and find out how many businesses offer recycling at work. It would also be interesting to find out how many businesses have trained employees on trash diversion, but to get a more accurate picture a sample would be the most revealing. What do you think you would find if you were to take a sample of 100 businesses in your area by going through their actual trash? My guess is that less than half recycle and of those who do recycle they are throwing away recycled materials. Most companies that do only recycle a few types of materials including paper, metal, glass and plastic - forget about food scraps, yard trimming, hard-to-recycle plastics and electronics.
If you really want to get a deeper understanding of how you are doing first you will have to understand what is possible. It is possible to divert 90% of the waste material your office produces! So for every one bag of trash there should be nine bags of recycling, composting and hazardous waste. That bag should only contain materials such as unrecyclable plastics of the wrong shape or number (yes shape matters - I will explain that in a future post), cardboard boxes that are used to store frozen food, plastic lids, plastic wrappers, envelopes used for overnight shipping and chemicals. Each recycling company has its own nuances so for a complete list please check with your local trash hauler.
Now that you are aware of what is possible it may feel like NOBODY is recycling. Sorry about that, but there is always more that can be done!