Recycling: the key to sustainability

Although Australian businesses are still not required by law to have a sustainability program in place, an increasing number of companies are successfully manufacturing new and useful products out of recycled content.

Recycled content product (RCP) lobby organisation, the Buy Recycled Business Alliance (BRBA) believes that both recycling and buying recycled should form a key component of a company's sustainability strategy.

Executive director at the BRBA, Lara Barclay told Waste Streams that while Australian businesses are not required by law to have a sustainability program, they are increasingly required to comply with different environmental regulations.

"There is a growing expectation among the community that companies will meet certain standards of corporate social and environmental responsibility," she says.

"There are also more and more government policies and voluntary industry initiatives that drive companies to continually improve their performance, such as EPR, NPC, and Social and Environmental Reporting."

In fact, the BRBA advocates recycling as more than just a way to reduce waste.

"Recycling also reduces greenhouse gas emissions caused by the breakdown of waste in landfill. In addition, manufacturing RCPs from secondary resources generally requires less water and energy," Barclay said.

Success stories

It's normally the bad news that earns top spot in the headlines, so it's good to know that there are many success stories of companies that are already integrating a significant number of RCPs into their manufacturing processes.

Sulo MGB Australia recently announced details of its campaign to purchase back old mobile garbage bins (MGBs) to be remanufactured into a variety of new products, including new MGBs.

"One of our main objectives at the moment is to purchase back as many old MGBs as possible so that we can keep producing bins out of recycled content material," national sales and marketing manager at Sulo MGB, John Kernahan said.

"For example, we will be purchasing up to 50,000 garbage bins that have come from a Sydney council, which would represent about 300 tonnes of material being reprocessed."

Sulo was a founding member of the BRBA in 1999, as it had already been producing and using large numbers of RCPs for over two years.

Kernahan sees the organisation as much more than an advocacy group. "We have been able to network with other business members and compare our processes so as to learn and improve our techniques.

As well as lobbying the government to promote the use of RCPs, the Alliance also promotes itself and its members very well through its website and publications. This makes it easier for members of the public to make choices based on a company's environmental policies.

Build a foundation

Packaging giant, Amcor is another founding member of the BRBA. David Brookes, general manager of public affairs and director at the BRBA, said the founding of the group helped Amcor to fulfil its commitment to environmental responsibility.

"In line with the BRBA's objectives, Amcor has worked for many years to increase the number of RCPs in its packaging products," Brookes said. "Many of our products have 100% recycled content."

Brookes agrees with Kernahan that the group is a great forum for the sharing of information with other member businesses. He said it provides the opportunity to learn and hear what initiatives are being implemented by other companies in relation to buying recycled.

And the group is always looking at increasing its membership, and therefore the uptake and use of recycled content. A new initiative is a national database of RCPs that is hoped will facilitate a wider uptake and provide specific information on the products.

Above all, the BRBA realises that every business is different and will require a unique strategy to achieve sustainability.

"The actual implementation of actions through a clear strategy or business plan is what is most important. There is no 'one-size-fits-all' across all businesses," Barclay said.