Solid Waste: Prevention and Recycling
Businesses are always seeking ways to increase competitiveness and boost productivity. One way to cut costs is to use resources more efficiently. Preventing waste and pollution before they are generated makes more than economic sense – recycling and environmental purchasing can boost employee morale, improve worker safety, and reduce liability.
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 Reducing Waste in the Workplace
Waste prevention reduces or eliminates waste before it is generated. Practicing this strategy, a company can reduce its cost of waste management and become more efficient to enhance profit margins. Learn more at www.reduce.org/workplace/
Tools and resources
Resource Management Contracting
With resource management (RM) programs, compensation for waste contractors is derived from their ability to help your organization accomplish its waste reduction goals rather than the traditional volume of waste disposed. As a result, RM aligns the contractor’s incentives with your goals as you work together to identify opportunities for prevention, recycling, and recovery.
Designing a program for waste reduction and recycling
 The most effective waste reduction and recycling programs start with careful planning and a willingness to learn what works best. There is no one right way to develop a program, but the objectives are clear: first reduce as much of your waste as you can, then reuse or recycle.
Source Reduction Now is a manual dedicated to waste prevention, or "source reduction." It gives guidelines on how to implement a successful source reduction program in organizations of all kinds. It describes problems and suggests proven methods to solve those problems.
GreenGuardian.com offers 11 Steps to Developing & Maintaining a Program, a step-by-step guide to help you design a program that is tailored to meet the needs of your business. If your business has already established a program, look here for ideas on how to improve or expand your program.
Your county solid waste and recycling office can help you learn about resources in your community: www.pca.state.mn.us/oea/lc/county.cfm
New  Resource: Environmental Practices Inventory A survey of Minnesota grocers
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency partnered with the Minnesota Grocers Association and the Food Industry Center (University of Minnesota) to conduct a survey of environmental practices among food retailers and grocers in Minnesota.
The report offers both an assessment of environmentally related practices and resources the food retail industry can utilize to further reduce their impact on the environment. It also is a useful reference for service providers that wish to offer assistance to the grocery sector. (Aug. 2009)
Resource: Retail Hardware Best Practices for Waste Management
 Targeted at retail hardware stores, this project demonstrated that reducing waste management and waste disposal costs, improving operating efficiency, and reducing materials cost can save a significant amount of money. Based on pilot projects at four Minnesota Ace Hardware stores, over 40 waste management practices were monitored and documented at the pilot stores for cost and waste savings (in weight and volume).
This Retail Hardware Best Practices for Waste Management ( 500Kb) manual is a management tool, illustrating "best management practices" for waste reduction and pollution prevention. While the manual is specific to the operation of a retail hardware store, many of the lessons learned can be applied to other retail settings. (The Water Foundation, July 1998)
 Reduce shipping waste
Transport packaging—containers for shipping products from manufacturer to purchaser—is a significant portion of waste from the business sector. Companies can dramatically reduce their garbage by reusing or recycling a 40-pound pallet!
Twin Cities businesses generate 510,000 tons of waste cardboard and pallets each year. GreenGuardian.com offers ways to to eliminate unnecessary packaging, utilize reusable transport packaging, recycle transport packaging waste and purchase recycled content packaging.
The Reusable Transport Packaging Directory offers reusable options that will reduce your long-term costs, prevent the creation of unnecessary garbage, and often make your entire supply and distribution chain more efficient.
Assistance programs
Minnesota RETAP offers state businesses assistance that's confidential and non-regulatory in the areasof pollution prevention, waste reduction, and energy-use reduction. Tap the wealth of experience and knowledge of local retired engineers to find cost-saving solutions to environmental challenges.
 Minnesota Waste Wise is a non-profit assistance program of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. They help their member businesses develop effective waste reduction and recycling programs and find new markets for waste materials. Benefits of membership include newsletters, a guidebook, site visits and individualized assistance. Membership starts at $200. For more information, call 651-292-4681 or 800-821-2230 toll free.
 Recycling in Minnesota
Recycling has become a widely adopted waste management practice
in Minnesota. Statewide, businesses and organizations have many opportunities to recycle through public and private collection programs.
Resources
Minnesota Recycling Markets Directory lists companies serving Minnesota that accept commercial quantities of recyclable materials.
Resourceful
Waste Management Guide for the Twin Cities offers Metro Area businesses a smart approach to conserving natural resources. Their step-by-step approach can save you money throughout your workplace. From trimming waste disposal bills to reducing regulatory concerns, we'll help you focus on minimizing costs and improving profits.
MPCA's Recycling Market Development
program helps start-up and expanding businesses in Minnesota develop uses for recycled materials by offering technical, financial and marketing assistance. Minnesota's recycling manufacturing industry is recognized as a national leader. In 2003, the industry supported more than 9,000 jobs and added $2.98 billion to the state's economy.
County recycling offices can offer local assistance to companies interested in getting started with recycling or enhancing an existing program.
 Buy Recycled
Recycling is a good way to keep useful materials from going to waste in landfills or incinerators. Buying recycled-content products ensures that markets for the recovered materials are strong. The Minnesota Recycled Products Directory is a searchable database of quality recycled products made in Minnesota and vendors that carry them.
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