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The Business of Recycling Northern Ireland. WRAP Northern Ireland
Guidance for Hospitality
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Why your Hospitality business should recycle

The benefits of recycling for the Hospitality sector

Estimated reading time: 3 min

There are lots of great business reasons to recycle, including:

  • Helping to tackle climate change: According to RecycleNow current UK recycling is estimated to save more than 10-15 million tonnes of CO2 a year – the equivalent to taking 3.5 million cars off the road.

  • Reducing costs for your business: recycling is often cheaper than disposal, and larger organisations could save £400-£1,000 a year per employee WRAP Business Resource Efficiency Guide: Green office guide. Use our business waste calculator to find out how much you could save. 

  • Helping fulfil your and your customers’ Net Zero commitments: as your suppliers and customers commit to net zero emissions, promoting your recycling activities will be increasingly important.

  • Improving process performance: eliminating and reducing waste will improve the performance of your processes by making them more efficient.

  • Attracting, motivating and retaining staff: a successful waste reduction and recycling programme depends on staff involvement and team-working, and people who feel part of an organisation and are asked to be involved with projects are more likely to feel valued by their employer.

80% of young people (aged 18-22) entering the workforce ranked tackling single use plastics as important for employers, ahead of reducing electricity and water consumption. 37% said that they would consider a potential employer’s environmental responsibility when looking for a job. – Business in the Community, Lifting the Lid on Waste

It’s also worth acknowledging that employees, customers and investors increasingly scrutinise how companies operate. 

Setting bold public targets and demonstrating good practice in waste management sends a powerful message nationally and internationally whilst acquiring a reputation in NI as good locations for tourism, conferences or even as part of big film productions. It shows that your business or organisation assumes responsibility for the resources it uses and the waste it generates, demonstrates leadership and shows your organisation to be forward-thinking in terms of sustainability commitments towards net zero.