Most print jobs produce waste, so understanding how to recycle printer’s waste is a key part of the job.
In early copies, the colour registration or mixture may be incorrect, or there can be spoiled copies when the printer jams. All of this will need recycling, as will offcuts of paper and card.
Choosing the right way to recycle printer’s waste will have an important impact on the costs your business faces.
Want to recycle your printer’s waste in the most cost-effective way? Here’s what you’ll need to do…
1. Shred your confidential waste
Many items printed are covered by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which has strict rules about how confidential information should be handled.
Staff directories could contain names, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers, or staff passes could contain barcodes that have personal information and could give people access to secure sites, for example.
Printers also deal with potentially sensitive or valuable items such as election material, vouchers, and stamps.
You may want to consider confidential paper disposal rather than shredding your own printer’s may not be cost-effective for your business.
You’ll have to weigh up the cost of your staff time it takes against the amount of work they could be delivering for your customers. Outsourcing it may be a better option for you.
2. Ensure your waste paper and card is stored correctly
Confidential and sensitive waste should be stored securely until it is shredded. This could be in a room where only trusted staff have access, or in lockable consoles.
Once it is shredded, it can be stored with your other paper and card waste. Ensure paper and card waste are kept separately from other recyclables such as plastic and glass because each is recycled in a different fashion. So, if you mix it up and it needs to be sorted at a recycling site, it could cost you more in the long run to recycle it.
Getting the right size of wheelie bins for your business is also vital.
You need to keep your site clean and safe, without paper and card waste cluttering it up and causing a potential health and safety hazard. You also need to ensure your costs are kept to a minimum.
3. Choose the right waste recycling company
Your waste transfer company should have the correct licenses and be experienced in dealing with large volumes of paper and card waste, as we are here at Inspire Waste Management.
Ensure your company has a no-landfill policy. Shredded waste paper can be recycled to produce many items such as toilet roll, newspaper, and notepads. So, sending it to landfill not only takes up scarce landfill space and affects the environment, it is a costly business because of landfill site gate charges and landfill tax.
Recycling this waste helps keep your costs to a minimum.
Look at the company’s accreditations dealing with the quality of service and the environment and look for past client testimonials. A company that oversees all the steps of the process, as we do, will help make recycling your printer’s waste easy.
4. Get the best deal for your bulk waste
If you produce a large amount of card and paper waste, as many printers do, you could be earning some money back for your printing business.
Our expert waste consultants help clients get better than market values for their bulk waste.
We also offer balers and accessories to help businesses reduce the cost of transporting this waste by compacting it and reducing its volume.
