Help Us Encourage Businesses & Apartments to Recycle

Salt Lake City prides itself in our commitment to sustainability, and recycling is the first and most basic tenet of that commitment.

This commitment to sustainability and recycling is why we have gradually increased the number of services offered to residents over the last several years from curbside recycling to compost to glass recycling. It’s also, in part, why we introduced the Call 2 Haul program last year to achieve greater diversion from the landfill.

Resident waste, however, only accounts for about 40% of the total amount of material being generated. That’s why we also have a construction and demolition recycling ordinance (targeting 9-10% of generated waste) and a business & multi-family recycling ordinance passed in December 2015 to target the rest. The latter went into effect in January 2018.

The business recycling ordinance is not aimed at small properties or businesses, nor those properties which provide lower-income, Section 8 housing. Instead, it is focused on the medium- to-large properties that are creating more waste.

More specifically, a business or property in Salt Lake City that generates more than four cubic yards of waste per week is required to offer recycling. This is approximately equal to eight, 96-gallon curbside containers and is roughly what multi-family properties with 15 or more units, and businesses with 10-15 or more employees, would produce.

Spread the Word

Only 10-15% of business waste was recycled before the ordinance went into effect. That number is gradually increasing, but we’d like your help!

Are you aware of a business or multi-family property that is not offering recycling? Let us know!

Simply fill out this form or email slcrecycles@slcgov.com and we’ll contact them to follow-up.

They may not be aware of the ordinance or may not know that we have many resources and a toolkit to help them comply. There are also many great resources available through the Recycling at Work program.

Just as critically, we encourage you to tell them that recycling is important to you. Local businesses and landlords care what their customers and tenants think. You might just be the champion they need to get started!

Why Should Businesses Recycle?

There are many reasons, but here are a few ways to get the conversation started:

The more businesses recycle, the less garbage they have, which means they’re in a better position to control costs as trash fees increase. Having a firmer grasp of waste and recycling fees allows for better overall business or property management.

Furthermore, with more customers than ever seeking out sustainable businesses, recycling gives many companies a green edge. Did you know 66% of global consumers, and 73% of millennials (who, by 2025, will make up 75% of the workforce), are willing to spend more on goods from sustainable brands?

Recycling helps the local economy. Recovering the value of materials through recycling creates jobs and spurs Salt Lake City’s growing recycling sector. Recycling industries create up to 10 times as many jobs as landfilling waste and help boost our city’s economic growth.

It’s the right thing to do. The environmental benefits of recycling are found at every stage of a product’s lifecycle – from the mining of raw materials through use and final disposal. By redirecting waste to serve as raw materials for industry, recycling conserves valuable natural resources, saves energy used in extracting and processing those resources, reduces greenhouse gases, and decreases air and water pollution from disposal.

What can we say? We ❤ Recycling. Thanks for helping spread the word about SLC’s Business & Multi-Family Recycling Ordinance.

We’d like to give a special shout-out to all of the businesses and properties who are leading by example! Thank you for doing your part to improve our environment, conserve resources, and reduce air pollution.