What Low Oil Prices’ Mean to Recycling and Recyclers

Everyday consumers rejoice at the sound of low oil prices. It gets them gas on the cheap and lets them save a little extra. Low oil prices also help businesses and sometimes in a very big way. The amount of electricity and gas required to run some facilities, including in manufacturing and construction, is absurdly high! Those of us in the recycling industry though have a bit of a different relationship to low oil prices. In many ways, it’s a big negative. 

Before we get into all the jibber jabber on low oil prices and what they mean to recycling, it’s important to understand how oil pricing works. Depending on supply and demand, oil prices rise and fall according to the market. When less oil is produced but the same amount of people or more want the same amount of oil, it becomes more valuable and the price increases. When more oil is produced than what the population wants, there is more supply and so the price falls. Since 2014, the world has seen the oil supply increase overall. Nations such as Russia, Saudi Arabia, and North Africa continue to push out significant numbers. Also, Canada and the United States have begun exploiting their own resources to find oil. At the same time that this supply has been rising, global demand has been slowly falling. The result is the lowest oil prices in almost fifteen years!

How this all affects recycling has to do with how plastic is valued alongside how oil is priced. Plastics are a direct by-product of petroleum and oil processing, meaning that as oil prices fall, so does plastic accordingly. Today, oil prices are so low in some areas of the world that it is less expensive to buy virgin plastic than to purchase recycled plastic. For recycling, this means a supply of recycled plastic that is no longer economically advantageous.

So the domestic and global demand for recycled products is shrinking. Recycled plastic, paper, and metal have all seen drops in value, weakening alongside oil pricing. The recycling market is at a crucial moment where how we respond is going to determine how many companies like ours survive.

Know that we can’t change oil pricing or the relationship that recycling has to low oil prices. There’s no way to get around that. The best approach to low oil prices is in finding ways to reduce the cost of recycling. A big part of this is eliminating contamination. Consumers need better education on what contamination is and how it affects recycling. Significant value in recycling is lost due to contamination. Beyond this, the benefits of recycling in lowering greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the environment needs to be emphasized.

The present landscape of recycling is being threatened by low oil prices and there is a sufficient need to compensate on pockets of the marketplace that are rejecting recycled products. The environmental benefits are well-established and its cost-effectiveness needs to be maintained.

Building a sustainable future together is going to rest on being able to recycle efficiently with regards to all types of waste products, household and commercial alike. Recycling’s future should not depend on high oil prices. Instead, it needs to be focused on efficient processing and product distribution. That’s how recycling can defeat low oil prices and continue to make its mark!

Source : http://www.garbagebinrentals.ca/waste-collection-removal-disposal-blog/497-what-low-oil-prices-mean-to-recycling-and-recyclers.html

How to Manage your Waste when your Dumpster Rental Arrives

For everyday homeowners, dumpster rentals have become a key part of managing waste on a property undergoing renovations or construction. For novices though, if you don’t know what to do with your dumpster rental when it arrives at your property, you may not get the most out of the experience. 

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The best way to manage a dumpster rental is in first ensuring that you’ve chosen the right dumpster rental company to partner with. From there, you want to identify and prepare the location on which the dumpster is expected to sit. Consider where you want to put your rental carefully. The wrong position can be a huge inconvenience to you or even your neighbors. Ensure the driver can easily access the location and ensure you don’t need to get any special permits to host it, such as if you intend to have it on the street.

It’s always recommended to have a dumpster on soft ground. This is because they are heavy and can end up doing major damage to a solid surface if it’s not properly supported. A grassy area or somewhere that is not an asphalt driveway is best.

After the dumpster rental has arrived and it is set up in its temporary location on your property, be aware of the volume limits of the container. For many dumpster rental companies, they may not accept a container it is overflowing with garbage or even if it’s filled to the brim. When it’s filled to the top, it may create issues with covering it in transit. In general, we recommend filling up a dumpster only to 75 percent of its height.

It also bears keeping in mind that though it is a dumpster, certain materials may not be accepted as waste. Depending on the dumpster you rent and from what company, they may have rules on what can be included in your waste and what cannot. Breaking these rules can lead to fines and penalties, something you don’t need! Always consult before renting any dumpster with the company you intend to rent from on what is expected. Among the items that dumpster rental companies do not permit are hazardous materials, chemicals, agriculture-related garbage, or electronics.

Follow these points to effectively manage waste with your dumpster rental. By doing so appropriately, you will avoid additional fees and help keep costs where they need to be. All things considered, a dumpster rental is not that expensive when weighing against the service provided. To keep costs reasonable though, you need to know where the fees and fines are. It is also imperative that you choose the right size dumpster rental for your project.

Dumpster rentals are becoming the popular go-to for DIY home renovators. The convenience of having your own dumpster ready to accept any unwanted items is a massive benefit and one that no homeowner would want to go without.

For those that are working on larger home renovation or construction build projects, what no one tells you is how to properly dispose of waste. Attempting to do it yourself can lead to headaches and high costs. Instead, save yourself a little time by contacting a local dumpster rental company to help. This way, you also get all the inside knowledge on waste disposal and ideally will receive the best advice for the job!

Source : http://www.garbagebinrentals.ca/waste-collection-removal-disposal-blog/496-how-to-manage-your-waste-when-your-dumpster-rental-arrives.html

8 Guiding Principles on How to Clean your Kitchen

Any kitchen can end up a real dump if a homeowner is not regularly cleaning the bacteria and residue that naturally accumulates here. Don’t let kitchen bacteria bring you down. There’s a number of ways to clean your kitchen from top to bottom, ridding it of any evil bacteria looking to make prey of you! Here are our eight guiding principles on how to clean your kitchen.

Begin by reducing clutter on counters

By eliminating clutter on your kitchen counters, you make your job easy. Anything that is not required to the kitchen, remove it and consider returning after you’ve cleaned – only if you deem it necessary.

Apply an all-purpose cleaner to countertops

All-purpose natural cleaners produce amazing results in the kitchen and should be among the first steps you take in tidying up surfaces. Also, ensure that you are using a new sponge to clean all countertops as an old one can end up spreading bacteria that you don’t ever want to find!

When cleaning, start from the ceiling down

Don’t ignore any part of your kitchen and begin by cleaning from the ceiling down. Use a duster to clear off the walls and corners. Check for any water leaks and ensure those are addressed before continuing. Find a quality rage to wipe down cabinet doors and any handles anywhere in the kitchen.

Empty the sink

After you’ve emptied your sink, fill it up with hot water and a little soap. Throughout your cleaning, you may need this to soak items such as a microwave turning plate.

Clean the inside of your fridge

To thoroughly tackle the kitchen, this must involve emptying the fridge and cleaning the insides with a sponge. Any removable shelves should be taken out, soaked, and dried, and the inside walls should be cleaned extensively. Again, start from the top and work your way towards the bottom.

Clean both inside and outside of your microwave

We may not think of the microwave as a particularly dirty part of the kitchen but it can be. Don’t just wipe down the inside. Sometimes, the outside can be just as dirty!

Wipe down the sink

Every once in a while, you want to wipe down the inside of the sink just to clean any residue that may be sticking to the side or in the troublesome corners. With the way that some countertops are built, the corners of a sink can act as bacteria traps. Imagine all that disgusting bacteria getting on your food. Ew! This is precisely why a sink should be cleaned regularly.

Mop down the floor

Sweep and mop down the floor, and wipe down the inside of your household garbage cans. After all garbage containers have been wiped, you should have quite the kitchen on your hands!

Yes, sometimes, it’s tempting to let garbage sit in the kitchen but that’s not always the best move. Bacterial infections happen every day in kitchens across North America and you don’t want that to happen to you or your family. If you regularly handle raw chicken, meat, and produce, there are several bacteria in these that can cause illnesses and make us sick. Kitchens need to be cleaned regularly.

There’s no ifs, ands, or buts around it. We hope that this guide provides some step-by-step assistance, walking you through the guiding tenants on how to properly clean a kitchen.

Source : http://www.garbagebinrentals.ca/waste-collection-removal-disposal-blog/495-8-guiding-principles-on-how-to-clean-your-kitchen.html