Reuse Opportunities

Some Commonly Overlooked Reuse Opportunities

You may think that you’ve already found all the reuse opportunities that your current corporate or manufacturing line has to offer. However, in hundreds of waste audits over the years, we have often found that there are simple opportunities that are overlooked. Consider the following reuse opportunities:

1. Cardboard Boxes: The easiest items to reuse in any company is almost always cardboard. We can offer suggestions for identifying reusable cardboard box opportunities. We buy and sell used cardboard boxes nationwide.
2. Plastic Pellets: Often with some basic toll processing, you can reuse plastic scraps that are currently being swept up as waste. Don’t contribute your product to a landfill – reuse it!
3. Totes: Totes are an easy candidate for reuse…
4. Crates: … as are crates …
5. Drums & Barrels: … and any drums and barrels (sometimes with some cleaning or rinsing needed, but usually worth the expense). We buy and sell fiber, plastic, and steel drums and barrels.
6. Plastic Corner Board and Other Packaging Items: Your receiving department is often throwing away materials without you even being aware. A proper waste audit can determine if you can reuse this packaging, if it can be returned to the sender for reuse, or if a recycling company can pick it up at no expense and offer it to another user, thus saving you transportation and landfill fees.
7. Repurpose Items: On the consumer site, this is akin to using a coffee can as a plant holder. Our commercial recyclers often find that they can take scrap waste, process it lightly, and use it in a different product.
8. Buy Used: Greenpath buys and sells used recycling equipment and material handling items. Buying used as part of an industrial recycling program can not only save money but also help save the environment from unnecessary waste. Buy used, making your new purchase a reuse, the moment you get it.
9. Buy Reusable: Consider paying slightly more for packing or products that are reusable. Ultimately, even if that product is 50% more expensive but you use it twice, you are saving money – plus the money saved in procurement, transportation (to and from you), and disposal.
10. Less Packaging: Demand more efficient packaging from your primary vendors, and work with them to group bulk shipments in less packaging. You might also be able to negotiate discounts from them as they have less packaging expenses on their end.
11. Trade: Sometimes we see needs from one customer and excess goods from another. A good recycler will try and match products when the reuse opportunity exists.
12. Donation: When all else fails, donate your unused goods. You’re not just helping your community, but you’re keeping waste from a landfill and improving your corporate citizenship.

If your organization is large, Greenpath Enterprises recommends a waste audit to find any and all opportunities to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste as part of an industrial recycling program. From an analysis of your specific needs, we create a customized recycling program that can help increase efficiencies, improve operations, and help meet a range of regulatory requirements – all while helping minimize your environmental footprint.

Even if there isn’t an internal reuse opportunity for you, Greenpath can utilize its extensive nationwide supplier and customer base search for new applications or markets for one of your waste items –- all without having to incur additional costs and without using additional resources. The reuse of your manufacturing byproducts benefits both the industrial manufacturer and the user while creating a sustainable solution. Our team of industrial recycling professionals can review your current operation to identify and review reuse opportunities.

Greenpath Enterprises is a full-service recycler, processor, and manufacturer. We are vertically integrated with over 25 years of experience in commercial recycling. Whether we help you find reuse opportunities for your materials, or we recycle them, we will keep your commercial recycling in-house, domestic, and creating US jobs – all while supporting not just your corporate sustainability goals, but also your profitability.