Engagement - Key to Recycling Growth - Sustainability: business, life, environment

According to GreenBiz’s annual State of Green Business Report, recycling paper products is gradually becoming the norm in the United States. In fact, the amount of paper recycled every year continues to climb. In 2008, 50 percent of domestic paper consumption was recycled. With the American Forest & Paper Association on a mission to increase that volume to a 60 percent recovery by 2012, the key will be the ability to engage the other 50 percent of paper product users in recycling programs.

The growth of recycling is going to take the engagement in multiple areas. Business and individuals efforts will be needed. The AF&PA offers resources to build recycling programs at work, at home, and other areas of daily life.

Business Engagement: In our professional consulting, we often work with clients stuck in implementation. We can’t overemphasize the importance of stakeholder engagement in the development and implementation of business sustainability programs. In a case study at Giant Eagle, the large supermarket chain stressed the engagement of their employees (through education and training) was key to the success of their recycling program.

Personal Engagement: With average American throwing out 550 pounds of paper per year, recycling needs to continue to grow in the home. As a green living consultant to individuals, we work with clients on ways to incorporate the sustainability concept of recycling into daily living. In a recent post, 19 Tips to Go Paperless at Home, we discuss some easy ways to make recycling part of an everyday routine.

At Taiga Company, we are very encouraged by the growth of recycling around the world. Our sustainability consulting continuously communicates the value in integrating sustainability concepts into daily living and business processes. Our approach emphasizes personal engagement as a critical success factor.

Once you have engaged and raised eco awareness in one area of waste reduction, it is easy to find new ways of reducing waste in others.