The Price For Not Recycling Goes Up – To $6-Million!

The Price For Not Recycling Goes Up – To $6-Million!
A bill moving through Parliament in Ottawa will push fines for not recycling up steeply, a lot of money to pay for not recycling a $1 newspaper.
- By Isaac Rudik

Blue bins and boxes are so common around workplaces that people don’t even notice them anymore; they’re part of the industrial landscape. But while most employees may be in the habit of tossing a soda can or old newspaper in the container, not as many businesses are as diligent about recycling.

That may be about to change because the price for not recycling is set to skyrocket.

A bill moving through the House of Commons in Ottawa will push fines up to as much as a whopping $6-million for a corporation found guilty of violating recycling provisions of environmental laws – and a biting $1-million for company officers. Even employees can be held liable, although the fines would be somewhat less.

That’s a lot of money to pay for not recycling a $1 newspaper.

Now The Bad News

As if the prospect of writing a seven-figure cheque to the Receiver General isn’t daunting enough, the law provides that violators face public disclosure, humiliation and even the potential of the business being shut down:
• Convictions will have to be reported to shareholders and the government will list corporations found guilty of environmental offences on a public registry – sort of like a sex offender list.
• It will double fines for repeat offenders – potentially amounting to tens of millions of dollars.
• Business licenses, permits and other authorizations can be suspended or revoked for companies found guilty of not recycling.
• If there is damage to a protected area or a unique or vulnerable environment or species, the penalties and public disclosure policies will be even steeper.

The key to avoiding fines and other penalties is simple: Ensure that the business has a strong and on-going recycling communications plan in place.

Think of Coca-Cola, a brand everyone knows. Anywhere in the world, if you ask for a Coke people understand you. So why does the company continue to spend billions on advertising each year? Because if it stopped, the public would lose interest in Coke and buy a Pepsi instead.

If this can happen to the world’s strongest, most recognizable brand, imagine the effect that reducing information about a company’s recycling campaign activity will have.

Managers often believe that employees have the same level of understanding about waste issues as they do. Wrong. Workers produce waste and want rid of it. To overcome the problem, it’s worth looking beyond waste to the product. It helps the campaign be successful by giving employees the tools needed to succeed.

Some Good News

A multi-store retail chain boosted recycling with a marketing strategy called AIDA, an acronym for awareness, interest, desire and action.

It developed a recycling campaign by introducing details over a four-week period. Posters were in all stores and information was given to employees each week with their pay stub. By the time bins and boxes were delivered, employees were expecting them (awareness), knew what they were for (interest), why they were needed (desire) and how to use them (action).

In the first month, the company achieved a 45% recycling rate and the percent climbed over time as the information campaign continued. It also took advantage of using the proper style and size of container in different places around the store.
• Bullseye and Bullseye TRIO recycling containers provide a single unit with multiple openings for correct sorting of paper, bottles and cans.
• Slim Jim recycling container is designed to be placed where hallway space is tight.
• Brute Containers are a large, round bin for high volume areas.
• Dome Corner Round Receptacles are triangular bins that fit in corners, and multiple units can fit together a real benefit for those tight hallway corners.
• Waste Watcher offering a streamlined profile with customizable lids to match your recycling program
• BUSCH Recycling System offering a three hole and four hole sort system to cover high traffic areas or common space.

Reducing a company’s risk requires a well thought out plan along with on-going reinforcement. Take human behaviour into account when selecting bins because recycling campaign are much more effective if it’s easy for workers to recycle. A good strategy requires upkeep along with on-going communications.





Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc. (www.compliancesolutionscanada.com), Canada’s largest provider of health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, institutional and government facilities.

E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354.