Is there anything more worthless than a bag of trash?
A pile of dirt? Maybe gravel? It’s hard to conjure a mental image of something worth less than trash. In fact, things become trash because we no longer value them.
However, there’s hidden value in many of the materials we discard as trash every day.
Most products are sold for a specific purpose. Once the item has been used for that purpose, we often don’t see the value in the components that make up the product itself. However, many materials are still perfectly viable to be reprocessed into other products.
Reusing existing materials requires less energy and resources than producing brand new materials.This is not only sustainable from an environmental standpoint, but it also has the potential to reduce costs for materials that are resource-intensive to extract from the earth.
There is a shift among some organizations in the waste management industry to change the definition of their work from “waste management” to “material recovery.”
The phrase “material recovery” implicitly suggests that materials have value and should be recovered, rather than discarded. It even eliminates the word “waste” entirely, indicating that this industry isn’t handling waste items, but rather materials that simply need to be captured and routed to their next use.
This is a major shift in mindset from how our culture currently thinks about trash. Not every product is currently designed so it can easily be re-processed, but a growing number of products are. Here are two things you can do as an event professional to help recover valuable materials:
1) Choose recyclable and compostable event supplies.
Recycling and composting are two channels of material recovery that are well-established in central Indiana (where I’m based) and many other parts of the country. By using products that are designed to be recycled or composted, and then actually recycling or composting them, you are supporting a circular material life cycle rather than one that ends in a landfill or incinerator.
2) Take advantage of the valuable materials in your waste.
Recycling companies will often pay you for cardboard, cans, paper, or other materials if they are sorted according to certain guidelines. These materials are valuable because there’s existing demand for them from manufacturers. Talk to your local recycling company to see what money-making opportunities may exist for your business.
As creative event professionals, we’re used to seeing possibilities for designs, decorations, and activations where others may not see them. Let’s learn to see the opportunities that lie in discarded materials as well.
We specialize in recycling and composting services for your event. We’ll provide the right bins, communication, and on-site management to recover the maximum amount of materials from your event.