Businesses are always looking for 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 sense economically and environmentally.
Buy recycled and "close the loop"
Putting paper in your recycling bin is only the first step. For it to be truly recycled, it needs to be made into another product. Buying printer and other paper with recycled content is a great way for your place of work to close the recycling loop.
This toolkit provides information so that an employee of a county, city, township, or business can educate their leadership on the importance of buying recycled paper (and hopefully they will start/continue to buy it).
Environmental management systems
An environmental management system (EMS) is a continual cycle of planning, implementing, reviewing and improving an organization's environmental practices to meet sustainability goals and regulatory requirements. Companies using EMS tackle a broad range of issues beyond basic compliance such as energy and water use, transportation, packaging, and even the performance of suppliers. Using an EMS can improve a company's efficiency and profitability, public image, worker health and safety, insurance costs, and more.
ISO 14001 is the most widely accepted EMS. Because of its broad use and reliable system, customers, agencies, and community stakeholders are most likely to accept an audited ISO 14001 EMS as evidence of high-performance environmental management.
MPCA encourages the use of high-quality EMS as tools for environmental improvement and as a means for reducing the cost — to the EMS user and to the state — of maintaining compliance with environmental regulations.
EMS resources
MPCA provides these links solely as a service; no endorsement of any particular site’s content is intended or implied.