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The word ''recycling'' is often used to mean the return of materials to be recycled, via bottle banks, waste paper collections etc. However, this is only the first stage of the process. The collected materials have to be sorted and cleaned, then reprocessed and, finally, manufactured into new items which can be sold.
Recycling, therefore, involves all four stages - collection, sorting, manufacturing and purchasing.
Unless all four stages take place, recycling will not work. If markets do not exist for the collected material, it piles up, often at great expense, and cannot be used. The final stage, purchasing of recycled products, is vital for recycling to be economic and for recycling schemes, including those from offices, to be successful. By 'closing the loop' through purchasing office products made partially or wholly from reclaimed materials, we can ensure that the market for waste materials from offices remains strong and office recycling schemes will flourish.
What is a Recycled Product?
One of the problems of buying recycled products is the lack of consistency in the definitions used.
''Recycled'' does not necessarily mean that a product has been made from 100% recovered materials.
However, there are many terms connected with recycled products which it is helpful to know, and which will enable purchasing specifications to be drawn up with a fair degree of accuracy. Recycled means that the product contains some materials which have been recovered, or previously manufactured.
Recovered materials may include both pre- and post- consumer use materials. Post-consumer materials are items that have been used, such as corrugated containers, office paper, pallets, drums, bottles and printed papers, and which are collected through office, commercial and household recycling schemes.
Pre-consumer materials are those that result from waste produced during the manufacturing process, such as trimmings, off-cuts and damaged produce. These may also be referred to as 'post-industrial' waste. So a ''recycled'' product could be made from 100% post-consumer waste, but, equally it might contain only 25% pre-consumer waste and 75% virgin material.
In addition to recycling waste materials back into similar products, there are many products in which waste is used to manufacture a radically different product. Waste newsprint is recycled into loft insulation. Old tyres are recycled into carpet underlay and porous hose pipes. Mixed plastic is used to manufacture a wood substitute. The imbalance between supply of collected waste material and its traditional uses is prompting more imaginative uses of reclaimed materials, with new products appearing all the time.
Finding Recycled Products
Many everyday purchases already contain significant amounts of reclaimed material. In some instances the performance of the material is unaffected by the recycled content, for example the use of recovered aluminium in beverage cans and glass in jars and bottles. The purchaser is unaware of the presence of reclaimed material and needs to make no conscious effort to select a particular product. Other frequently used items regularly containing reclaimed materials are relatively low grade items such as cardboard boxes and brown envelopes. Before waste became a matter of general concern the inclusion of recycled material in such items was not publicised, and it may still not be evident. Checking with your supplier should provide some information as to what extent items currently purchased include reclaimed content, its percentage and source - pre- or post-consumer waste.
In other situations it will be necessary to specify that your company wishes to use products which are recycled, for example with photocopier or printing papers. In some of these the performance of a particular material will be more critical and specialised advice will be required. There are companies which specialise in providing technical information on recycled office products, particular paper, and also specialised suppliers of office products for the environmentally conscious office, which sell products containing recycled material.
Many regular office supply companies also carry product lines with recycled content in their catalogues. Many printers are now offering recycled paper as an option and it is worth talking with your regular printer when ordering letterheads and other stationery before looking elsewhere. Waste Watch produced a guide to recycled products, which forms part of a Buy Recycled Programme being developed by the National Recycling Forum.
Product Labelling
The use of labels and symbols to designate a recycled product is also very variable. The Mobius Loop, (Fig.3) although used widely, has no precise meaning and is often used to indicate the recyclability of an item, rather than that it contains recycled material.
Combined with a coding system, it is now used to identify different types of plastic to facilitate recycling.
The European Eco-label is still only available for a limited number of products, and its adoption for paper is proving a lengthy and much debated process.
The British recycled paper industry has agreed its own system of classification based on the source of the waste paper. In Germany, the Blue Angel symbol signifies that products are made of 100% recycled Paper.
Figure 3: The Mobius Loop
Buy Recycled Policies
In the United States, the Buy Recycled Business Alliance, part of the National Recycling Coalition, has been highly successful in encouraging major companies to increase their purchases of recycled products, and the Federal Government has specified a minimum recycled content of 20% for all paper purchases. Many of the states also have minimum recycled content laws. This has helped boost the markets for recycled materials. This situation does not apply in the UK, and it has been left to organisations to adopt their own policy.
Thames Water Plc
Thames Water Plc states that "We will, where practicable and environmentally beneficial, seek to ue recycled materials and products. We will support the use of easily recyclable materials in preference to those which are not".
Making a commitment to buying recycled products could be undertaken on its own, or it may form part of a wider policy of environmental purchasing, probably part of the organisation's environmental policy as a whole. The initial step is to obtain a commitment to the policy from senior management levels. This is vital, as there may be barriers, such as cost and availability that will require time and effort from the organisation's purchasing staff to be overcome. A buy recycled policy will help overcome the reservations of other staff on the use of recycled products. Arriving at such a policy may require extensive consultation, depending on the size of the organization and its method of working. Local authorities, for example, will probably require the support of elected members, particularly if there are budget implications. The second step is to form a team of people to develop the buy recycled programme. Involving individuals throughout the organisation, not just purchasing staff, will make the programme more likely to be successful, as it will provide the opportunity for purchasers and users to collaborate on the varied needs and constraints.
Members of the team will need to gather information and become educated about the recycled products available. This will include contacting existing and potential suppliers, checking on product availability and performance. Reviewing existing purchases and finding out if any contain recycled material will also be part of this process. Once the information has been gathered, any trial schemes to test out the performance of particular products will need to be run. Final decisions can then be made on which products to use. It may be more satisfactory to start with a limited range of products, and expand the programme over time. This will enable users to become familiar with a small number of products, and will facilitate the change over to the use of recycled products.
Bath City Council
Bath City Council's Environmental Policy states that:
"Recycled paper and other recycled products should be used for all purposes and by all Departments whenever available at a quality suitable for the intended purpose and at a competitive price."