Contracts for recycling

Some institutions may already have a waste contract in place with a contractor who is not able to recycle all or some of your materials. In such a situation, you will need to use additional recycling contractors able to collect this material.

A contract should be drawn up to include the issues specific to recycling listed below:

It is essential to question the reliability of the contractor. Numerous recycling schemes have failed when the recycler decided, often with no warning, to stop collecting, leaving the material to pile up in the institution; or started to charge for the uplift of the material. Ensure that such a situation is covered in the contract. It may be useful to have fall-back plans should such an eventuality occur.
Ask for references from other organisations who use the contractor. This will give some indication of reliability.
It should be remembered that materials for recycling are legally still waste. Recycling contractors need to comply with the relevant legislation - link legislation Duty of care.
Make sure that details of weights being recycled are accurately recorded for you.
Be aware that the price paid for recyclables can fluctuate with their markets.
You could decide that any income generated is used to offset overall waste management charges, or you could arrange for the contractor to fund all collection receptacles with no revenue being passed on to you.
Determine what ‘value added’ you require e.g. provision of recycling containers, assistance with training/awareness raising

Valuable materials, such as aluminium drinks cans and plastic toner cartridges, can generate income for the institution. This income could be used to maintain and further develop the recycling initiative. For example it could be used to buy prizes, purchase recycling receptacles, used for appropriate environmental projects on campus or given to charity. It is important to remember that people who contribute cans etc. usually say they would prefer to see the revenue used for one of the aforementioned purposes rather than feel it was “lost” in the institution’s finance office!

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Contracts for recycling

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