Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The Benefits of Office Recycling

By Elisa Rosa


Businesses are the biggest consumers in the American economy. Every year, businesses use millions of pounds of paper, plastic, metal, glass, and electronics. What is their environmental impact? What responsibility do they have to preserve the environment and recycle? What benefits does recycling offer? How can businesses use their purchasing power to promote job creation and environmental conservation? Keep reading to discover the answers to these questions.

Businesses can recycle computers, monitors, printers, copiers, keyboards, televisions, projectors, phones, and many other forms of office equipment. Businesses are also required to recycle batteries. Many recycling companies have programs to remove data from electronics, and can be national certified in doing so. Businesses have no excuse for not recycling their electronics.

Waste processing, sorting, and recycling can't be outsourced in large quantities. Businesses which take advantage of American tax benefits and American-educated workers have a responsibility to keep American jobs. Even if finances require businesses to outsource to another country, they should recycle in order to offset that job loss. It's estimated that recycling has created over one million jobs in the United States, and keeps a quarter trillion dollars in the country's economy. If businesses push for the availability of recycling, they will create additional jobs and reduce environmental waste.

Businesses have a responsibility to cut down on the paper that they use. American society is becoming increasingly technological in all factors. Firms have global offices, and health care facilities are transitioning to electrical systems. More and more commerce is done over the internet and through computers. There's no reason for businesses to generate four million tons of paper.

For businesses to stay competitive, they must switch from wasteful, paper-driven business models to modern, computer-based forms of communication and information storage. Electronics that end up in landfills contribute 75% of the toxins found there, including lead, cadmium, chromium, mercury, and acids. This is a staggering amount of waste that is both harmful to the Earth and her inhabitants.




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