How Small to Medium Printing Businesses Can Recycle Their Waste
One of the problems with recycling for small to medium printing businesses is that they don’t have the means to collect their waste. If the business doesn’t have enough space to build up a decent amount of recyclable material, it just gets thrown away instead.
In 2019, several Southeast Asian countries have put their foot down on accepting the world’s used plastic for recycling. Businesses today can no longer rely on shipping waste and therefore, must put more effort in the three R’s.
How Recycling Boosts Profits
The effort, however, will be worth the money made in maximized recovered resources from these recyclable materials. Not a lot of small to medium companies have the budget for waste experts that can monitor contracts and markets. However, with the right waste management company, they can maximize the businesses’ recovery rates with tailor-made services.
By reducing waste, small to medium businesses can:
- Reduce the cost of buying materials through recovered or recycled materials.
- Raise profitability by decreasing levels of wasted products.
- Minimize costs on waste treatment and disposal by improved recycling processes.
- Reduce environmental impacts.
- Improve business reputation and employee satisfaction by having an environmentally responsible standing.
- Have a safer and more comfortable work environment such as reduced solvent emissions.
Printing Waste Materials and How They’re Recycled
I. Paper
- The Situation
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists last 2016, the global industry on wood products (pulp and paper included) is one of the major contributors to deforestation.
However, the industry is making an effort to be more environmentally responsible. In the US, 39% of fiber for paper making is made from recycled paper. 36% of paper made came directly from harvested timber. The majority is obtained from lumbar mill residues and wood chopped from defective or slow-growing trees.
- What Can Be Done to Waste
For printer businesses, a lot of paper is taken to the recycling center where it’s shredded, pulped and rinsed. Paper can be recycled six times before it reaches the end of its usable life span. You can look for a Paper Recycling Center here.
- What Has A Less Negative Impact to the Environment
Recycled paper can often return less than quality prints and cause blurry pictures. Businesses can use FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) paper which has nearer quality to normal paper.
II. Electronics
For businesses, they can find certified recyclers for used electronics near them in R2 and e-Stewards. This includes printers and ink printer cartridges.
A. Printers
- The Situation
EPA has estimated that in 2009, US businesses and consumers disposed of 2.37 million tons of electrical appliances (TVs, computers, cellphones, printers, etc.). Only about 25% of e-waste has been recycled while the rest were thrown in landfills where it couldn’t be disassembled and its components couldn’t be directed through appropriate recycling channels.
- What Can Be Done to Waste
You can find a recycling center to dispose of your old printers. Most printer manufacturers have take-back programs but you must check first if they take back the model of your printer. Each link can be directed to their recycling program: Canon, Brother, Epson, HP.
- What Has A Less Negative Impact to the Environment
Fortunately, there are many eco-friendly printers available that are highly efficient in ink use and energy consumption.
B. Ink Printer Cartridges
- The Situation
According to Energy Central, more than 375 million ink and toner cartridges are dumped with a majority of them ending up in landfills. This means that 11 cartridges are thrown out every second. Per day, that would be 1 million cartridges. This news gets grimmer when a print cartridge needs 1,000 years to fully decompose.
When carbon black toner is not properly disposed, it can be harmful as a potential carcinogenic as classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
- What Can Be Done to Waste
Residual ink from cartridges can be recycled through a distillation process. The ink is then filtered and reconditioned into high quality black ink. In energy-from-waste facilities, residual ink can also be used by solidifying them into “cakes” with lime or fly ash.
The payback to treat used solvent and reuse them is immediate. In recycling centers, solvents can also be treated into inert sludge through biodigestion. This can then be safely returned to water courses.
If you’re using brand ink cartridges, they can be returned to the printer manufacturers through their take-back programs. For third party ink cartridges, they can be sent to certified electronic recyclers: R2 and e-Stewards.
- What Has A Less Negative Impact to the Environment
Compatible toner and ink refills are available for specific cartridges. These are 90% cheaper than OEM and can contain refill accessories with detailed instructions.
Vegetable-based ink has 51% more sustainable materials than petroleum-based ink. Vegetable-based ink also releases only 2–15% volatile organic compounds (VOCs) while petroleum-based ink releases higher amounts.
III. Other Wastes
Wooden pallets can be re-manufactured into wood chips and fiberboard. They can also become biomass -a source of renewable energy. Here is a link on how to make money recycling wooden pallets. Aluminum printing plates can be recycled continuously without losing quality. They are often melted and re-purposed by the motor industry or by other plate manufacturers.
Our Environmental Obligation
There are still a lot of waste that that recycling centers have no solution yet. Laminated plastics and label waste has poor recycling potential due to mixed polymers and papers. But the rest of the waste have solutions on how to maximize their re-usability, decrease business costs and improve business reputation for being environmentally responsible.
Small to Medium Businesses may need to invest for waste storage in order to maximize profits and savings from recycling resources.
Businesses consume a lot more resources and dispose of more waste than households. With other countries refusing the import of wastes to recycle, it’s up to us to put more effort in our role to take care of the planet.
