When it comes to rubbish, for most people it truly is a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’. But in order to minimise your impact on the environment, waste management needs to be made smarter. And there’s only so much that waste management organisations, engineering and breakthroughs in new technology can do. Good waste management can only be achieved by making sure that the right procedures are being followed from the start — which is where you come in.

With the high volume of waste that materials recovery facilities have to process, it is simply unviable for workers to sort through every item coming through. To ensure that recycled materials are being recycled and that hazardous materials are in no risk of causing a dangerous fire, it is essential to carefully sort through your waste to ensure that all of your waste is going exactly where it should be.

To help guide you, we’ve compiled some handy tips below…

Bin there, done that

Make sure you’ve got all the right bins at home. This may seem like something so simple that it does not even warrant talking about, but a number of households out there have nothing more than a general waste bin — and the same goes for businesses too. It is vital to have recycling and compost bins to ensure that you’re disposing of your waste properly. And for businesses especially, make sure you have recycling bins stationed conveniently all throughout the premises to ensure that employees and customers alike are easily able to dispose of recyclable waste the right way, rather than just simply tossing it away into the nearest bin.

Be considerate with hazardous waste

When hazardous waste ends up in landfills, the potential for an uncontrollable fire to break out is very high. They can cause explosions and the release of toxic fumes into the atmosphere, and even pollute groundwater as well. It is likely that you have a number of items around the house that you never realised were considered ‘hazardous’, with hazardous waste including things such as paints, chemical cleaners, pesticides, weed killers and more. So make sure that you don’t throw out hazardous materials along with your regular garbage, and instead keep it separate and have it collected by the professionals who will know exactly how to handle it.