As the world shifts its focus to more environmentally friendly solutions, one big pain point has always been waste. Despite initiatives to reduce, reuse, and recycle whenever possible, much of the waste we produce ends up in landfill. But how is this impacting climate change? And how can waste management provide a solution?

At ETM Recycling, we help businesses to manage their waste, introducing methods to limit your environmental impact and maximise the amount of waste that can be recovered. In this article, we’ll explain the link between waste and climate change, and offer solutions built on good waste management principles.

Improve your waste management today – get in touch.

How is Waste Linked to Climate Change?

Methane gas, one of the main byproducts of poor waste control, is a large factor for climate change, taking around 30% of the responsibility. Of the methane gas that enters the atmosphere, roughly one fifth of this comes from waste generation – the third highest of any sector.

There’s expected to be between 2.56 and 3.33 billion tonnes of solid waste generated each year by 2050. Meanwhile, in the UK, we recycled 44.1% of our waste in 2022. This means a large amount of waste still ends up in landfill or being disposed of in suboptimal fashion.

While in landfill, waste breaks down into methane and carbon dioxide, which are both major greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. Plastics also break down into harmful chemicals that damage our ecosystems, killing wildlife and disrupting natural lifecycles – while not directly linked to climate change, this is still an important factor regarding wider themes of sustainability.

So, built up waste leads to climate change via the emission of greenhouse gases which result in a warmer planet. Good waste management acts as a solution, helping to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, or even eliminate it entirely.

What is the Impact of Good Waste Management?

The primary impact of good waste management on waste and by extension climate change is that it means less waste goes to landfill. This results in fewer emissions, reducing global temperatures, helping our climate recover, and working towards global temperature and sustainability goals.

Good waste management also leads to more recycling, meaning waste products will be reused. This is less impactful than harvesting and creating fresh materials, the processes of which tend to generate large quantities of emissions and heat.

This has other impacts as well:

Less litter clogging up streets and habitats, promoting healthier wildlife
Cleaner air, improving quality of life for people
Cheaper materials due to easier access to recycled goods
More space opened up for other uses by reducing the need for landfill space

There are multiple different ways that you can implement waste management, from the basic handling of your waste to the business practices you have in place that determine the initial amount of waste you produce.

Waste Management Solutions for Recycling and Climate Change

Reducing Landfill

The main way you can reduce the amount of waste you send to landfill is through proper waste management. This can mean:

Increasing the size or number of bins
Sorting your recycling
Educating your employees
Engaging in local recycling initiatives

Improving awareness of sustainability issues and increasing your company’s access to easy recycling methods are great ways to stem the flow of waste to landfill, resulting in more goods heading down the proper waste stream channels.

Reducing Overconsumption

Preventing overconsumption is a difficult task, especially for wastage caused by your customers. But how about as a business? If you look at your day-to-day activities, you may find you generate a lot of waste – empty food packaging from the lunch hall, paper from shredded documents that could have sat digitally, or shrinkage you can’t put to effective use.

Perform an audit of the waste you produce, and find places you can cut back. Consider solutions like improving kitchen facilities so staff can bring their own food in with reusable Tupperware, or go paper-free. Whatever you do, cutting down the waste you produce internally can be a great way to reduce your impact on climate change.

Find out more about how to manage your waste – contact the team at ETM Recycling.

Improve the Sustainability of Your Products

Minimising the amount of waste is probably the best way to halt its impact on climate change. As a business, you’re not in full control of the consumption of your products – after all, your customers buy your products to fill a need. Handling needless wastage, however, is something you can do.

Consider what packaging you actually need:

Can it be thinner?
Are there new materials that are better?
Could I use recycled materials?

Answering these questions with action can help you limit your wastage, cut costs, and generally engage in more sustainable practices.

Find out more about how to manage your waste sustainably >

Harnessing Methane Gas as a Biofuel

Inevitably, some waste will always end up in landfill. However, this doesn’t mean it will result in climate change. Instead, some sites have systems in place to harness the methane produced by landfill as biofuel.

While it is generally better and more efficient to catch the waste before it goes to landfill, as this results in less escaped gas and other forms of environmental damage, harnessing landfill methane as a biofuel will still help to limit its impact.

Offsetting Your Emissions

Last of the bunch is offsetting. This is an appealing tactic from a business perspective, as it means you can generally find cheaper ways of achieving the same overall result. However, these methods tend to not take into account the other emissions that your products result in, the immediate local effects, or the maintenance needed to sustain any offsetting initiatives.

When you factor these elements in, you’ll find it’s a much better idea to tackle the problem directly. To do so, you’ll need a partner – and that’s where we come in.

Improve Your Waste Management with ETM Recycling

At ETM Recycling, we can help you find the right waste management solution to match your business’ scale and needs. This will mean less waste to landfill, more to the recycling plant, and a more sustainable outlook for all your business practices. If you’re interested in finding out more, get in touch today!

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