In recent years, consumers and corporate partners alike have been pushing for everyone to be socially conscious and monitor how much material is being used, as well as how much is being recycled and converted into clean energy.
What Is The Zero Landfill Initiative?
Essentially, the zero landfill initiative focuses on recycling, reusing, or converting the materials various companies and homes produce in order to keep them out of landfills. By doing this, companies can reduce their carbon footprints, which in turn contributes to sustainability goals. The zero landfill initiative is a small facet of the overall goal of zero waste. Though zero waste is not something that is possible at this point in time, it is something that should be pushed for in the future.
For the zero landfill initiative, LJP has been one of the industry leaders. We believe in zero landfill and do everything we can to help our customers reach that goal. For several years, we have been creating strategies and plans to help our customers hit their goals and send zero materials to the landfill.
At LJP, we focus on how to divert waste, so it does not end up in landfills. We do this by recycling, reusing, converting, and upcycling different materials, especially uncommon materials, like metal barrels, shrink wrap, several plastic grades, and more.
After your materials have been transported to our facility, we will recycle them through various partners, ship them to be reused to different companies, or we will take them to our Xcel Energy-run power plant to be converted to Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF). This is a clean fuel that requires less energy to use, which helps with sustainability goals.
What Is The Zero Waste Initiative?
The zero waste initiative is an overarching goal that is not possible at this time, but it is something many companies are trying to achieve. Essentially, the zero waste initiative is the end-all, be-all of sustainability efforts that will, at some point in time, eradicate waste as a whole.
To achieve this goal, every single company has to change the way they manufacture products. By creating products out of materials that will deteriorate on their own and not harm the environment, zero waste would be possible.
While many companies are a long way from this point, the zero landfill initiative is a great starting place. By fully switching your company to a zero landfill initiative to help you reach unprecedented sustainability levels, which will not only help the environment but will appease your customers and employees.
Helpful Ways to Start Incorporating Zero Waste
Zero waste is an increasingly hot topic, and as more people understand the practices, the easier it becomes. There are many different ways this can be incorporated into a regular schedule for your company.
Look for alternative options for single plastic uses.
Replacing items like straws can help reduce the number of single-use plastics consumed that eventually end up in landfills or the ocean. In addition, finding ways to help incentivize your employees to reduce plastic items, or incorporate options like silverware and glass coffee cups can be highly beneficial.
Provide reusable water bottles for staff.
Replacing plastic bottles with reusable ones leads to less waste. And because most disposable plastic bottles are typically made from plastic that can leach into the water, this is a health concern.
Reduce the number of materials used for packing and shipping.
This also means less natural energy will be required to manufacture the materials, resulting in fewer carbon emissions from transportation due to less weight.
Keep track of your current waste by having a monitoring system in place to reduce levels and implement new strategies.
Start a break area composter.
Have a composting option in the employee cafeteria. Because turning waste into compost means less trash going into landfills, it helps renew the ground making the soil a richer space for growing items.
How Can LJP Help You Move Forward?
At LJP, we started introducing sustainability measures before they had taken hold anywhere else. We saw a way to help ease the strain on the environment, while also enhancing the overall system's functionality for our customers.
When you contact our team, we will come to your facility to investigate your current waste processing system. While there, we will pinpoint areas that could be improved in order to enhance your efficiency.
From there, we will create a full system design that will help you operate smoothly, while also educating you on how to process the materials you produce, and teaching you about all the materials we can recycle, reuse, or convert. We are able to handle over 50 uncommon materials with ease, and this sets us apart from the rest more than anything else.
Some of the materials we can process, convert, and recycle include:
● Metal Barrels
● Plastic Sheets
● Colored Shrink Wrap
● And more
In addition to our waste processing and system solutions we offer, we are also able to sell and rent you various pieces of equipment that will allow you to operate more efficiently. These pieces of equipment, which range from compactors to shredders, will condense your materials, which allows you to ship more to us.
As soon as we have received your materials, we weigh them, sort them into like categories, then further categorize them by material type and what can and cannot be recycled or converted to fuel. From there, we provide you reports that detail how much energy you saved, as well as how gallons of water and other units you were able to save from landfills.
LJP provides you with these reports so you can see the progress you are making, as well as so you can share them with customers and investors, so they can see how dedicated you are to sustainability.
Zero Landfill Ideas to Consider
Zero landfill initiatives can look different for every company, and here are a few starting ideas to consider:
● Only investing in businesses that are sustainably and zero waste minded for products
● Reusing items like construction materials for other projects
● Having a recycling system that's easy to use and understand in place
● Recycle or donate any old or broken electronics
● Having a recycling system that's easy to use and understand in place
● Send announcements and invitations via e-mail instead of on paper
● Get your staff engaged in the process, so it's implemented more effectively
Contact LJP Waste Solutions Today
If you are in Southern Minnesota or surrounding states and searching for a team to help you effectively manage your waste system process so you can operate as efficiently as possible, contact our team at LJP Waste Solutions today. When you come to our team, we will run a full diagnostic test to evaluate areas you could improve upon, before creating a new process specifically for you.
To learn more about our process or to request a consultation, give us a call at 507-625-1968 or message us on our contact page today.