How To Achieve Zero Landfill

looking toward a zero landfill future

Environmental concerns have become a greater priority to communities worldwide. By adopting a zero landfill solution, companies can transform their waste into valuable resources and produce fewer waste products, reducing their environmental impact.

Are you interested in joining the fight for a greener Earth? Keep reading to learn the importance of zero waste solutions and the many alternative solutions for waste management.

What Is a Zero Landfill Initiative?

Zero landfill solutions dramatically reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills. To reduce waste production and conserve natural resources, communities and organizations adopt various waste strategies, such as recycling and composting. Companies that adopt a zero landfill initiative see benefits like lowered material disposal costs and enhanced brand value.

Zero landfill doesn’t mean the complete elimination of waste. Not all waste can be turned into energy or a recycled product. The point of committing to a zero landfill initiative is to reduce waste and make effective use of recyclable materials. This is a philosophy that requires consistency, research, and a willingness to constantly assess and maintain your organization’s waste management systems.

The Difference Between Zero Landfill and Zero Waste

A zero landfill strategy has one goal: to divert as much industrial material from landfills as possible. The zero waste mission is to decrease waste production so dramatically that the facility eventually generates no waste at all. It’s a much more significant commitment, requiring a complete evaluation and reinvention of business processes to stop waste creation.

The Benefits of Alternative Solutions for Waste Management

Achieving zero waste is an ambitious undertaking. The goal is to transform the life cycle of waste products as much as possible. As organizations explore alternative solutions for waste management, they gain a better understanding of their waste production and disposal habits, which leads to the discovery of process efficiencies that save time, money, and resources.

By adopting a zero landfill solution and increasing your waste diversion rate, you’ll experience benefits like:

  • Better relationships with local governments
  • Lower material disposal costs
  • Enhanced brand value with communities and other businesses

Compliance

Climate change has become a national issue. Legal bodies have started establishing regulations and enforcing restrictions on processes like waste management. With a zero landfill solution, you ensure your facilities remain compliant with legislation and do your part to help the nation achieve its goal of zero waste.

Environment

The average American produces about 4.4 pounds of landfill waste a day. By introducing waste strategies like recycling and composting to your facility, you reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfills, lower the displacement of animals, and minimize the adverse effects landfills have on marginalized communities.

Marketing

Commerce shouldn’t be your only reason for implementing a zero landfill initiative. However, responsible waste strategies attract customers. Environmental health is a concern for many, and showing that your facility practices responsible waste management is an excellent way to attract like-minded clients.

Need help delivering on your zero landfill commitment? Reach out to Closed Loop Recycling for reusable materials and robust reporting services.

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The Importance of Zero Waste Initiatives and the Waste Hierarchy

Following a zero landfill initiative is a great way to understand the waste hierarchy and the alternative solutions for waste management. The waste hierarchy is a model that illustrates the methods for reducing waste, from the most desirable to the least. It’s the baseline for zero landfill solutions that encourages waste producers to get the most from their waste products.

The waste hierarchy includes the following:

  1. Prevention – The best way to increase your facility’s diversion rate is to not produce waste at all. Prevention involves solutions like rechargeable batteries and environmentally friendly packaging.
  2. Prepare for Reuse – Reusing waste products instead of throwing them away makes waste valuable instead of harmful. Try using plastic bags more than once, for example.
  3. Recycle – Recyclable materials like cardboard, wood, metal, and glass can be transformed and reused many times without losing quality.
  4. Recovery – Raw materials can be converted into energy through anaerobic digestion and incineration, but only once.
  5. Disposal – Waste goes to a landfill or incinerator without generating energy. Disposal yields no new product and leads to pollution like greenhouse gas emissions.

Choose Closed Loop Recycling To Help You Reduce Landfill Waste

Zero landfill is a bold claim. To prove your facility is meeting the requirements, you need official documentation like waste management reports and waste transfer notes. You also need to be consistent. If your waste strategies aren’t maintained properly, your solutions lose their effectiveness and your commitment falters, leading to a poorer waste diversion rate. To make a lasting impact on the environment, you need to stay diligent and flexible.

Closed Loop Recycling supports your zero landfill plan with detailed reporting and innovative landfill solutions. We can provide storage, reusable absorbents and wipers, and recyclable personal protective equipment (PPE). We also offer customized reporting as evidence your company diverts waste from landfills and uses a sustainable solution.

Ready to commit to a zero landfill solution? Reach out today and take your waste management to the next level.