Welcome to the inaugural edition of the quarterly Business Newsletter. Did you know that the commercial and business sectors generate 60% of Franklin County’s landfilled materials? Or that commercially generated cardboard and food waste are two of the largest sources of business waste disposed of in the landfill? Central Ohio’s businesses are an important part of our community’s plan to reach our shared waste reduction goals. SWACO is committed to helping local businesses implement and improve their recycling programs, divert more materials from the landfill, find solutions for hard-to-recycle materials and help educate employees on how and why to recycle right.  

I am pleased to introduce you to Sheila Davis, Business Program Administrator, who over the last two years has spoken with many businesses that are making great strides in implementing and enhancing recycling at their facilities and are working hard to divert materials from the landfill. Sheila shared with me recently that during these conversations, she frequently has business leaders inquire about the free technical assistance that SWACO offers. A good example is Owens Corning, whom we recently helped find a new home for flexible poly films, a material that is not frequently accepted by mainstream recyclers. Read more about how we are Connecting the Dots, in this article by Doug Compton, Packaging Development Leader at Owens Corning.  

Beyond the free technical advice our team of experts offers, SWACO has also created several resources to make it easier for businesses to educate employees about recycling, audit their recycling programs, and document sustainable recycling programs so that they can share their success with shareholders and customers. We are also developing innovative financial incentives to help businesses start new recycling programs. When central Ohio businesses succeed at sustainability, so do our communities and the environment.  

This new business-focused newsletter is just one more way we are here to support you. But we cannot reach our diversion goals alone. Please reach out to us if you would like to talk about your unique waste stream needs and challenges and learn how we may be able to help you find a solution.  

And, if your company is already doing something unique to reduce waste or recycle right, and you would like to share that information with other central Ohio businesses in an upcoming SWACO newsletter, send us an email to [email protected].   

Sustainably yours, 

Joe Lombardi, Executive Director