Stories of Recycling Success in Business

Did you know that in many communities across the US, the commercial sector generates more than half of the total waste, and nearly two-thirds of the waste created at businesses and non-profits is recyclable? If more businesses stepped up and actively recycled it would make a significant difference to our environment. Many businesses may see a recycling program as an extra cost or hassle, but in reality, a recycling and waste handling program has numerous small business benefits. There are environmental benefits, of course, but recycling can also reduce waste handling costs, boost employee happiness, improve your company’s image, and more! Many businesses even end up making money from recycling!

Some states, like our home state of Minnesota, have started to expand recycling requirements to commercial buildings.

Recycling can actually reduce the cost do doing business and impact your bottom line! When a business recycles, there is less trash to throw away, reducing the monthly trash hauling costs. {Read more}

At Harmony Enterprises, Inc. we witness first-hand how proactive companies and non-profits are stepping up to take their recycling and waste handling to the next level. Here are three customers who are excelling with their recycling and waste management program, and how they are doing it.

Echo Food Shelf

With a customer base of 350 families and up to 1000 individual people per week, the Echo Food Shelf is able to sustain their efforts by employing 3.75 people, 200 regular volunteers, and various people who need to fulfill their service learning or community service hours.

Recycling Equipment – M60MD Vertical Baler

Challenge:

The Echo Food Shelf realized that it needed more sophisticated recycling equipment to manage its overflow of cardboard boxes. The food shelf accumulated large quantities of boxes that could not be reused for food orders due to shape, size, condition, or because they were previously used to haul meat and eggs. The boxes took up floor space, required significant employee time to manage, and wasted valuable potential revenue as garbage. They needed a practical, affordable, and immediate recycling solution for these commodities. Because capital expenses prevented the purchase of this necessary equipment, Echo found itself in a bit of a quandary.

Solution:

Having heard of their plight, Harmony joined the fight against hunger and donated a used M60MD vertical baler to the food shelf. The M60MD is a high-capacity vertical baler that fits under a standard ceiling. It has several safety features that allow its uniform 60” bales to be compacted, tied, and ejected from the front of the baler with ease. It was the perfect solution for the needs of the food shelf.

Read the Echo Food Shelf’s Vertical Baler Story

“As our program has grown, we find that space is more and more limited and the baler reduces the amount of space needed to hold cardboard until pick up day. It also reduces our waste management costs as we are actually paid by the pound for our cardboard refuse instead of just paying to have it hauled away.”

Cash Wise Foods

Cash Wise Foods, a subsidiary of Coborn’s, are big box food stores focused on low price, variety, and value and have made a big splash in Minnesota and North Dakota.

Recycling Equipment – M60CB Vertical Cardboard Baler

Challenge:

Cash Wise Foods thrives on efficiency and depends on it for their success. They receive goods in a variety of cardboard boxes that come in many shapes and sizes. Because of this, Cash Wise requires a vertical baler in their back room operations that has a wide enough door opening to handle the largest of cardboard, but with a modest footprint.

Solution:

The M60CB Vertical Cardboard Baler provides power and durability with a quiet operation that takes up a minimal amount of floor space. The vertical baler creates mill-sized bales in a short cycle time with an incredible 56,550 lbs of ram force! The unique strap-eject system allows for a safe, easy, and manageable way for their employees to eject the bale onto a palette for transport. With their optional “bale full” light, the employees can easily discern when the bale is at its proper size so that no baling wire or truck space is wasted in the removal of the cardboard.

Read the Cash Wise Food’s Carboard Recycling Story

“Our old baler was really noisy and took up almost twice the floor space as this (Harmony) one. We usually make three bales a day, so we need to be able to rely on it to get the job done.”

Indianapolis Airport – Food Court & Concourse

The Indianapolis Airport serves more than 8 million business and leisure travelers each year and averages 143 daily flights, seasonally and year-round, to 43 nonstop destinations. IND is the first airport in the U.S. to win LEED® certification for an entire terminal campus. LEED is a green-building award for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Waste Handling Equipment – SP20 SmartPack Automatic Trash Compactors

Challenge:

The Indianapolis Airport Authority actively supports environmental sustainability efforts and has standards and goals to guide their efforts. For instance:
1. Implement efforts to reduce waste; recycle, conserve energy, and pursue alternative energy sources.
2. Encourage employee involvement in meeting environmental standards, providing appropriate training on the latest environmental advancements, and serving as a catalyst for the adoption and integration of new technologies into airport operations.

Solution:

The airport installed six of Harmony’s innovative SmartPack-SP20 trash compactors with their Insite wireless monitoring system. With the new Harmony trash compactors, the airport has reduced its emptying of their receptacles by 1/7 times their previous rate, thus saving both money and the employees’ time. The compaction system allows the area of the units to remain clean and sanitary, providing a pleasant experience for travelers in the airport. The internal Insite wireless monitoring system encourages employee involvement by letting their staff know exactly when and where the containers are almost full, full, or need maintenance making trash related tasks a “just in time” needed thus saving man hours.

Read the Indianapolis Airport’s SmartPack Story

“…we have seen an increase in customer traffic which will benefit tremendously with the use of the new compactors. Another benefit that we are looking forward to is more time to interact and handle any customer service questions that may arise.”

Kudos to these organizations and the other businesses and non-profits who are taking initiative in bringing their business’ recycling and waste management programs to the next level. Click here for more Cardboard Baler & Recycling Success Stories.

Looking for Recycling and Waste Solutions for your Business?

If your business is interested in recycling, or you are in need of an equipment upgrade, see our complete line of Harmony balers and compactors. We have created a helpful filtering option for you to see which piece of quality Harmony equipment is the best solution for your waste and recycling needs. Our experienced and friendly sales staff is ready to answer any questions and assist you in getting a quote.

Harmony Enterprises is the recycling and waste solutions provider on a global scale. Our full line of balers, compactors, beverage extraction, and full product destruction equipment is recognized for its reliability, durability, and value. Our quality equipment is combined with our world-class customer service, innovative technology, and industry-leading warranty program as a part of our total solutions approach. To learn more, please contact us or call us at (507) 886-6666 today.