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Guidance for Retail and Wholesale
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Why your Retail or Wholesale organisation should recycle

The Waste Hierarchy in Retail and Wholesale organisations

Estimated reading time: 1 min

Preventing waste in the first place is always the best option, as you can see from the ‘Waste Hierarchy’ below, which ranks waste management options in order of how good they are for the environment. If waste is unavoidable, it should ideally be prepared for re-use, recycled or turned into something else of value (such as energy). Disposal in general waste is the last resort.

Image of the waste hierarchy which reads: Prevention If you can't prevent it, then... Prepare for reuse If you can't prepare for reuse then... Recycling If you can't recycle, then... Recover value If you can't recover value (e.g. energy), then... Disposal landfill if no alternative is available

Your business should aim to ‘move up’ the waste hierarchy in the way you treat your waste, and as we’re about to find out, there might even be a bonus: as well as improving your eco-credentials, it could save you money!

Guidance on how to reduce emissions in your supply chain, improve supply chain efficiency and reduce packaging waste in your business is available at NIBusinessinfo.co.uk.

Here are a few tips to reduce your waste:

  • Donate surplus or unsold stock – donate surplus food to charity or have an employee fridge for products that they can eat or take home free of charge

  • Use paperless marketing methods and offer paper free receipts by emailing them to customers

  • Purchase recycled, refillable or reusable products wherever possible and

  • Provide water fountains for staff.

There may be some costs to making these changes but increasing how much you recycle could reduce your waste disposal costs in the future.