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Guidance for Transport and Storage
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Why your Transport or Storage business should recycle

The benefits of recycling for the Transport and Storage 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 customers’ Net Zero commitments: as your suppliers and customers commit to net zero emissions, promoting your recycling activities will be increasingly important. Translink’s Climate Positive Strategy sets targets to go beyond net zero by 2050, committing under Priority 3 to develop a zero-waste strategy to reduce waste through employee and customer awareness, assessing supply chain impact and implementing green procurement practices.

  • Accelerating a circular economy: moving away from a linear ‘take-make-dispose’ culture to a ‘design-make-reuse’ approach will radically reduce waste and carbon emissions from everyday products. The circular economy keeps products and materials in use for longer, supports innovation and increases the amount of material reused or recycled, as well as minimising waste and reducing reliance on virgin materials.

  • 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. Lifting the Lid on Waste, Business in the Community 

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

Setting bold public targets and demonstrating good practice in waste management sends a powerful message. It shows that your business assumes responsibility for the resources it uses and the waste it generates, demonstrates leadership and shows your business to be forward-thinking.