Work smart with waste – business managing waste better
The business community have a wider range of needs for waste reduction and disposal.
Commercial waste disposal options are:
1. Council rated kerbside collection services for waste and recycling, or
2. Commercial waste collection contractors with bulk skip bins for general waste, and separated or comingled recyclable waste.
Business may currently be recycling some of their waste e.g. cardboard packaging waste, but there are
opportunities to make savings by recycling, reducing and recovering the various types of waste produced
in the daily operations.
Commercial operators within the Moreton Bay region are encouraged to implement sustainable practices
to reduce and recycle their waste from the office, workshop, food and beverage business, or other
operation. Council can assist with advice on alternate waste disposal methods and further referrals to
various programs currently available for the business community.
The Waste Hierarchy is a simple and effective model for businesses to make smarter decisions about
managing the waste generated by their organisation.
Tip: Develop a waste management plan for your business to identify areas where wasteful consumption
or disposal is currently happening and set policy and procedures in areas where savings and reductions
can be made in the waste disposal from your business.
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Be a sustainable purchaser - choose recyclable or
reusable items over using virgin resources or nonrecyclable items.
Sort your waste into recyclable items, nonrecyclable, and organic food and garden waste.
Choose a paperless system – a communication and
finance system with electronic banking, invoicing
and distribution of information to staff and clients.
Duplex printing default - Set your computer
programs to print on both sides of the page.
Take home food waste - in small amounts can be
The waste and resource management hierarchy
http://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/waste/qld-waste-strategy.html
used to feed the chooks and pets at home or added
to the compost bin. Large amounts of food and
garden waste requires some research on businesses in the local area that need your organic
waste for their programs and processes. Refer to the Planet Ark Business Recycling information
below.
Garden branches & leaves can make ideal mulch for gardens.
Mulched green waste with lawn clippings, shredded paper, food waste and livestock manure can
produce compost, rich in nutrients and micro-organisms, for growing healthy plants.
Not only does recycling and reprocessing scrap metal to make new metal products reduce the
amount of raw mineral resources needed, it is also less expensive than using the raw mined
minerals to produce these products. Metal products should never be disposed of in landfill, they
should be sorted and either sold for scrap or taken to an organisation that will recycle them.
Hazardous waste, including Asbestos Containing Materials, chemicals, tyres etc; can not be
disposed of with other acceptable general waste in general waste bins and they may not be able to
be disposed of in a landfill. Refer to the Hazardous ands Regulated Waste fact sheet.
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Business support programs
reThink Business Waste program
This is the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP)
waste reform program. This program aims to assist business applicants
to:
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Reduce the possible impact of the waste levy, and
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Reduce disposal costs through helping them to identify alternative options for the diversion of
materials away from landfill
The program requires applicants to review their waste management activities, develop a simple waste
management plan and to commit to a new resource recovery service, or vary an existing resource
recovery service arrangement. Documents are available as templates and information sessions were
provided across Queensland.
Visit the rethink Business Waste website by searching by the program name or visiting the link below:
http://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/waste.
ecoBiz program
The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection’s eco-efficiency partnership
program assists business to implement waste reduction and sustainable practices.
ecoBiz provides a structured program to help your business make environmental and
financial savings by implementing eco-efficient business practices.
Contact the Queensland government customer referral centre:
Phone: 13 QGOV (13 74 68)
Fax: (07) 3330 5515
Business Recycling
The national organisation Planet Ark has created a Business Recycling
website, designed for commercial operators and businesses to search for
recognised waste items produced in the local area, as well as operators /
facilities where disposal of waste is accepted. This exchange network of waste
to recovered resources is the recommended way of reducing costs of waste
disposal and production to your business and become more sustainable in
your daily operations.
Register your business and waste products on the Business Recycling website
http://businessrecycling.com.au/ to access reusable products and to promote your waste products to
other businesses. The website and hotline have been set up to make the job that much easier. Whether
you run a café, a garage, a factory or an office block, you will be able to find reuse or recycling options
for much of the waste generated by your business.
Recycle@Work
The partnership with council, Amcor and the Packaging Stewardship Forum was established in 2007, to
assist small to medium enterprises across the many industrial estates in this area, to implement
affordable co-mingled recycling programs.
Contact council on (07) 3205 0555 to discuss recycling options with our Waste Minimisation Officer.
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February 16