WASTE WATCHERS BLOG

Are you aware of the consequences that arise from not breaking down your cardboard for disposal? In this blog post, we've assembled a helpful resource that details why 'breaking it down' is important, how properly doing so could create a revenue source for businesses, as well as the best practices to leverage for your cardboard waste.

  In the United States and the EU alone, around 80 percent of all products sold are packaged in cardboard. However, a shocking 850 million tonnes of paper and cardboard are thrown away and end up in landfills across the United States annually. Moreover, if you’re measuring this material estimate during the holiday season, the total amount of cardboard waste generated increases by more than 25% of the normal average. Even more shocking is the EPA’s recent estimate that states paper and cardboard materials represent the largest component of municipal solid waste. Why does this matter? If you’re a business owner or manager, chances are you generate a lot of cardboard waste—from office supplies to shipping and logistics, or recurring Amazon deliveries—it’s unavoidable. And if you aren’t disposing of your cardboard properly, like the majority of folks who add this material to their trash heap, you’re missing an opportunity to not only be more environmentally friendly but also save money on your waste bill. In this blog post, we share a quick and helpful resource that details why 'breaking it down' is important, how properly doing so could add green to your organization’s bottom line, as well as the best practices to leverage to better dispose of your business’s cardboard waste.

With tons of trends lists for every industry circulating, it can oftentimes be difficult to sift through them all to know what is most important. That’s why we’ve put together a quick list of predictions for the waste and recycling industry that you can reference as you traverse the year ahead.

  Today, the world moves fast. With the proliferation of technology and speedy innovations, it is getting harder to keep up or predict what the future holds. Moreover, with tons of trends lists for every industry circulating, it can oftentimes be difficult to sift through them all to know what is most important.  That’s why we’ve put together a quick list of trends and predictions for the waste and recycling industry that you can reference as you traverse the year ahead. Read on for more.

New Year’s resolutions are common for many, but can often become difficult to keep up with as time goes on. For companies who have made sustainability commitments—or, resolutions if you will—read our blog to learn some quick and easy tips to keep the momentum going all year round.

  Each year we as individuals make resolutions for ways we can be better. But as many of us come to find, when February rolls around some of the promises we made to ourselves, or the people around us, have fallen by the wayside. Most often this isn’t a sole person’s fault, but can instead be blamed on the unpredictability of life that easily gets in the way of achieving our goals.  Schedules grow busier, opportunities dwindle, or the expectations we set have become a bit too ambitious. Whatever the reason, New Year’s resolutions usually require some sort of reset along the way. Organizations can be similar. Pledges are made, strategies are finalized, but it’s common that after the momentum from the first of the year passes, some plans fall by the wayside or need to be readjusted.   That’s why, whether you’re a business trying to be more environmentally friendly or an individual trying to recycle more, we wanted to provide some easy tips, backed by RoadRunner’s expertise, to keep your sustainability goals achievable all year-'round.

Learn more about why RoadRunner won first place in the Pittsburgh Business Times' Best Place to Work awards 2021 and how our values shaped this win.

  Each year Pittsburgh’s top companies are evaluated by the Pittsburgh Business Times for its annual Best Places to Work award. RoadRunner is proud to announce that this year our organization won 1st place in the extra-large category for the 2021 BPTW awards.  Not only did we want to share this exciting announcement with our audience, but thought it would be appropriate to highlight the key factors we believe make RoadRunner a winner for our employees whose survey results determined our BPTW placement.  Read on below to understand how we leverage our core values to drive engagement and growth among employees and the organization as a whole

As the world welcomes a new year where sustainability will be near the top of every discussion, businesses can’t afford another broken resolution. We set your company up for lasting commitments.

  As the world turns over a new leaf—with very green attitudes toward everything from purchasing decisions to improved recycling—businesses need more than just another empty resolution. This year, and every year from this point, will be about lasting commitments to sustainability.  Every habit, whether for an individual or an organization, takes small steps to build into an ongoing practice. With budgets resetting and brand reputations on the line, it’s time to consider adopting one or more of the following sustainability tips with a little intention. In doing so, you’ll witness the positive changes, both big and small, that ensue. 

During the holiday season, Americans produce an additional one million tons of waste each week! We put together a resource that will help you reduce your waste this holiday season.

  As we leave our workplaces and sign off of Zoom for the holidays, we trade the stress of the job for the stresses of upholding traditions, hosting festivities, feasting, and gift-giving. And that leads to a shift away from typical non-holiday behavior, particularly around how often Americans are running garbage bags out to the curb. During the holiday season, from Thanksgiving to New Years, Americans toss 25% more trash, producing an additional one million tons of waste every week. Between trends of surging online retail, the rise of convenience-driven takeout meals, and ornate gift wrapping, Americans stand to make more waste than ever this holiday. This means that we need to be both proactive and mindful about reducing the amount of waste we generate and dispose of—and RoadRunner has just the tips you need to make this season a little greener.

Many people are shocked to learn that 84 percent of clothing ends up in landfills or incinerators. Upon learning this, we wanted to know what is driving that outcome and what kind of impact it has on the environment. Here's everything you need to know about why managing textile waste is so challenging, the impacts it has on the environment, what brands are doing to reduce textile waste, and how your business can take action. Continue reading to learn more!

  FAST FACTS: Before you dive into the main content in this post, check out these surprising facts about textile waste:

During the holiday season, Americans produce an additional one million tons of waste each week! We put together a resource that will help you reduce your waste this holiday season.

  I think most of us can admit that we’ve collectively experienced a strange year, to put it mildly. And as 2020 draws closer to its end, there seems to be a sense of relief that has settled in for many as we wade into the gift-giving season. However, if you’ve read any of RoadRunner’s recent blogs, wishing you a “green” holiday or sharing sustainability tips to encourage more eco-friendly habits during upcoming festivities, you may have picked up that this time of year is responsible for a significant increase in waste generation (see below). Moreover, the average holiday waste figure above is based on data from previous years when much of the world wasn’t living through a global pandemic—An ongoing event that has shifted the way many households live, how businesses operate, and the type of waste we all create.  With this in mind, we wanted to talk about a material that most businesses and households are probably quite familiar with, more so now than ever before: Cardboard!  Given that many of us are working—or, at the very least—shopping from home, we’re likely well aware of how cardboard makes its way into our space, in the form of online orders, takeout meals, ongoing deliveries, office shipments, and more. In an effort to not only educate, but also motivate you, to recycle your cardboard appropriately, we put together an infographic called: Cardboard Recycling 101 to share some interesting facts, explain the lifecycle of this material, and, most importantly, encourage people to reuse, recycle, or upcycle it this holiday season and into the new year.

During the holiday season, Americans produce an additional one million tons of waste each week! We put together a resource that will help you reduce your waste this holiday season.

  It likely comes as no surprise that people generate more waste during the holidays than any other time of year—25 percent more to be exact. And given the unexpected circumstances that 2020 brought with it this year, that percentage isn’t expected to decrease any time soon. If anything, with all the online shopping, deliveries, and takeout orders, we’re likely to see an increase in holiday waste generation.  It's also worth noting that we're already deep into prime “waste generation season,” which falls between Thanksgiving and New Years, annually. So we thought it would be helpful to share not just the staggering facts about holiday waste, but also some helpful solutions to reduce waste (and hopefully recycle more) during this time and beyond. Before sharing more about the landscape of holiday waste, consider that reducing waste at your business or home doesn’t just positively impact the environment, but can also help save money by lowering recurring expenses. The reason for this is when unexpected waste increases occur, typical vendors can be required to service your location more frequently, or pick up a lot more trash than what was agreed upon in a waste contract—often resulting, most commonly, in overage charges and unexpected fees.  That’s why it’s important to not only anticipate when waste increases may occur for your business, but also work with a waste and recycling hauler that makes it easy to change service frequencies, add new streams as needed (e.g. cardboard, mixed paper, etc.), and help you avoid unnecessary charges when possible.  All that said, please see some key stats below to put the increase in holiday waste into perspective and check out our sustainable holiday infographic for tips on how you can reduce waste this season and into next year!