Benefits of buying recyclable materials for your business

Benefits of buying recyclable materials for your business

How Does Recycling Benefit Business?

With new legislation going into play in several countries, businesses are being forced to incorporate more recycled plastic into their products. Tonnes of plastic have been accumulating in the environment and as environmental awareness and concern over plastic pollution have increased, innovation has been incentivized to find ways of using technology to reduce waste. The benefits of recycling don’t solely apply to the environment but also to business revenue. Using recycled materials and keeping recyclability in mind when designing a product made from plastic and thinking about its end of life, must become the norm to follow in the steps of large corporations and their sustainability targets. Large companies like Coca Cola, Estee Lauder, Subaru, Microsoft, Unilever, and Aramark have been recognized as holding a majority of the responsibility for plastic pollution. They have also been the ones leading the way in making public commitments (although some are quite vague) to reducing their plastic waste. Nevertheless, they are putting themselves in a position to be held accountable and working with governemetns to set up more of the necessary infrastructure. An increasing number of consumers are demanding products that are more recyclable and that companies take responsibility for the environmental impact they have. It is in businesses best interest to address these concerns and improve their environmental footprint. A plastic recycling company like MikaCycle can help companies understand where they can incorporate more recyclables and connect recycled plastic buyers with trustworthy sellers of PET, HDPE, ABS, and PS among other polymers.

How Recycled Materials Improve the Ecology

Most plastic waste ends up in landfills or is shipped to countries with limited or nonexistent waste management systems. It is then more likely to end up polluting waterways and ending up in the ocean. There is so much litter in the sea that the crisis of plastic in the ocean is one of the most obvious examples of how we have caused serious damage to a variety ecosystems. It is imperative we reduce waste and address the pollution problem with plastic bags, among many other plastic products that end up in the ocean. The term “ocean-bound plastic” refers to mismanaged plastic waste that is generated in coastal regions within 50 km of the coastline and is at risk of ending up in the ocean. Of this plastic waste, 31.9 million metric tons of it are mismanaged and end up in the ocean. Of all primary plastics that end up in the ocean, the IUCN estimates that 35% come from textiles, making it the largest source of microplastics followed by those from the degradation of tires, which accounts for 28%. Plastic pollution in the ocean is a challenge that is far from being solved and requires a joint effort on the individual, intergovernmental, business, and industry-wide level, as well as a big change to consumer habits. Additionally, ocean-bound and ocean-recovered plastic is only a fraction of the problem, and though projects focused on it have been successful in garnering support and making people more aware of the issue, it leaves a lot of plastic waste out of the picture. One of the main advantages to recycling is how it reduces the impact of plastic waste on ecosystem health and cuts back on greenhouse gas emissions. It requires less energy to reuse and recycle products than to produce new materials from scratch. Recycling additionally diverts a significant amount of plastic waste from landfills were it will sit for centuries. About 18% of waste in every landfill is made up of plastic, if you add that up it is not only a huge amount of waste but also a significant amount of material with value and potential being wasted.  

The Positive Impact of Caring for the Environment on Business Development

Plastic recycling poses various benefits to business development from brand support, eligibility for certifications, increased sustainability, and cost avoidance. Implementing a recycling program can cut back on cleaning staff costs and save up to $100/employee annually. Another one of the benefits of recycling is that it provides businesses the opportunity to make back money by through single use plastic recycling of materials such as PET bottles or PVC to suppliers, pvc recyclers, and alternative uses. Fortunately, companies have realized the benefits of positively impacting the environment and setting sustainability at the forefront of their vision moving forward, For example, Unilever has committed to reducing its use of virgin plastic by 50% and majorly increase its use of recycled plastic by 2025. Additionally, they have stated they will help collect and process more plastic packaging than what they sell — which would amount to an estimated 600,000 tonnes per year. Accenture has found that environmentally aware consumers losing trust in global brands cost brands $2.5 trillion in 2019 due to lost business.

Create A Circle Of Like-Minded People In Your Company

In addition to improving the bottom line through single use plastic recycling, it can also improve employee retention. Millennials now make up 77% of the workforce and a recent survey conducted by LightSpeed found that 90% of millennials consider a company’s sustainability to be important, with 80% stating they believed it was the employers’ responsibility to provide a recycling system or work with a plastic recycling company to improve their plastic waste management. The demand for sustainable action and quality, transparent, and sustainable recycled plastic is growing and will soon become a norm in a number of industries. This opens the space for investment to go into improving the infrastructure and for companies like MikaCycle to help lead the way towards an efficient, transparent, and reliable supply chain and circular economy. However, if companies aren’t already doing so, it is up to employees and consumers to establish that pressure and incentivize these changes.

Where Can You Sell Or Buy Recyclable Materials?

MikaCycle processes a variety of recyclable materials and services and strives to be the ultimate tool for sourcing quality, sustainable, and reliable recycled plastic. We aim to increase single use plastic recycling by connecting plastic packaging manufacturers with reliable recycled plastic suppliers. We also support the scaling of plastic recycling through our consultancy as an additional service of our marketplace. Through this consultancy, businesses can learn about incorporating more recycled content in their products or general recycling knowledge, whether it be acrylic recycling, recycling hdpe from their business, or how to comply with certifications or meet sustainability goals. We assist you in purchasing the right recycled materials, in out-sourcing the right manufacturer, in partnering up to design the best items, in conceiving the strategy to increase your customers' loyalty, and measuring your impact. Our marketplace allows buyers and sellers to negotiate directly on pricing and shipping terms while MikaCycle takes care of the transaction process with a payment and shipment guarantee. It is the premium option for purchasing recycled plastic that is of reliable quality and origin. We believe technology plays a key role in shaping the future of a more circular economy and want to change the way the plastic recycling industry works.