Restaurants Save Money with the Right Recycling Practices 

In 2018, when China stopped accepting plastics and recycling from the US, waste management professionals wondered whether the recycling industry could survive the loss of a major market for America’s commodity scrap. Two years later, the verdict is in. While recycling costs have undeniably increased, demand for high quality recyclables is still growing. Global demand for paper and cardboard is projected to grow by 1.2 percent a year, and the plastic recycling market by $14.74 billion by 2024. This is good news for restaurants, particularly chains and franchises that want to be environmentally sustainable while saving money in the process.

Recycling remains an affordable alternative in part because space for landfills is at a premium: the US is expected to run out of room in its landfill within 18 years, according to a recent report by the Solid Waste Environmental Excellence Protocol (Sweep). As landfills reach capacity, creating new ones has proved challenging, particularly in…