GO GREEN AND SAVE MONEY WITH BIZRECYCLING
Since January 2016 , Minnesota state law has required businesses and organizations to recycle at least three types of materials – including , but not limited to : paper , plastic and aluminum . The Minnesota Legislature has adopted a 75 percent recycling goal .
As a business owner , you should ask yourself these questions : Does your business have a recycling program ? Are you sure you ’ re recycling all you can ? or , Perhaps your business is interested in building a recycling or organics program , but you need help getting started ?
When it comes to starting a successful recycling or organics program , it can be hard to get the ball rolling if you ’ ve never done it before . The experts at Ramsey / Washington Recycling Energy Board can help teach you about what it takes to start a program and help you figure out what will work best for your business . If you ’ re in need of financial aid , BizRecycling offers grants to help fund new programs and changes to improve old programs .
Vadnais Heights Economic Development Director Ling Becker says , “ The VHEDC is a proud partner of the BizRecycling program – an excellent incentive for businesses interested in saving money while also doing something to help the environment . Our local businesses have found the grant money is easy to access and covers a wide range of initiatives . Many are using the program as a way to start and engage ‘ Green Teams ’ among their employees and serve as a tool for employee engagement .”
Saving money is one of the top reasons businesses decide to recycle , despite some of the upfront challenges that go along with getting started . For most businesses , adopting better recycling habits can significantly cut costs in the long run . In Ramsey County , there ’ s a 70 percent county and state tax on trash , but there ’ s no tax on recycling or organics recycling , which means that there ’ s a big opportunity to save money by putting less in the trash .
“ Going Green ” can improve the overall efficiency of a business . For example , reducing unnecessary waste can trim operating costs . Printing less cuts down on paper usage , and can lower the budget spent on printing materials . Refilling ink cartridges instead of throwing them away is another money-saving practice , since it saves money on the purchase of
new cartridges , and it also reduces the amount of plastic thrown away from the cartridge and packaging .
Children ’ s Discovery Academy ( CDA ), Vadnais Heights , saved approximately $ 6,300 and became compliant with the new state law by gaining efficiencies in business operations . Administrators at CDA contacted BizRecycling , then a representative from the Minnesota Waste Wise Foundation , which offers environmental sustainability consulting to Minnesota businesses and organizations , helped CDA identify some key challenges ; it was found that CDA was using more than 15,000 disposable paper products a month , generating lots of waste .
Waste Wise worked with CDA to apply for a BizRecycling grant , which covered the cost of a new dishwasher
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