Eastside businesses top King County’s ‘best workplaces for recycling & waste reduction’ list

These King County businesses are being recognized for strong internal recycling programs and for their commitment to reducing the amount of waste their company produces.
Nearly half of this year’s list is comprised of businesses from Bellevue and Kirkland, and this year it is notable that many companies have organized “Green Teams” that help to inform and educate employees, and have also begun organics collection in company kitchens.

“Since becoming a Best Workplace for Recycling two years ago, our company has added food scraps and other organic materials to our regular recycling program and our company now generates less garbage,” said Petra Liskova of CDM. “Our Green Team helps us set goals and tracks progress, and we estimate our overall recycling rate now at 70 percent.

This year’s list encompasses a wide array of workplaces in King County – large companies such as Philips Oral Healthcare, drugstore.com and Frito Lay, Inc. along with a variety of other organizations from categories such as small business, government, hospitality, consulting and retail.

Last year, businesses in King County sent more than 220 tons of recyclable materials to the landfill. By providing a recycling-friendly workplace, companies can dramatically increase their recycling rate, ultimately saving money on their garbage bill. For some businesses on the list, decreasing their waste allowed them to decrease the size of their dumpster or rarely fill it above 60 percent capacity.

To qualify as a Best Workplace for Recycling & Waste Reduction, companies met at least 10 criteria out of a list of 33 good business recycling practices—choices that range from placing recycling bins by every desk, to collecting food scraps for on or off-site composting.

List members share secrets to their recycling success on the King County Web site. Many cite the same fundamental practices that make their workplaces great recyclers and waste reducers:

• Educate employees on how to properly use the established recycling system
• Integrate recycling techniques and practices into all training materials
• Encourage all staff to receive feedback and advice to improve the recycling program
• Designate a recycling coordinator or ‘green team’ to monitor and maintain recycling efforts

“It is great to see the large number of workplaces in Bellevue and Kirkland that made this year’s list through their commitment to recycling and waste reduction programs,” said Sharon Aller, King County program manager for the campaign.

“The list also showed continued growth from businesses in the categories of hospitality and engineering, proving that you don’t have to be a traditional office to be a business that is good at recycling,” Aller said. “These businesses created opportunities to conserve in multiple settings – that means at desks, in kitchens, break rooms, warehouses and anywhere else where employees generate recyclable materials.”

This year’s list of 65 local businesses has increased by 15 from 2008. King County releases the Best Workplaces for Recycling & Waste Reduction list annually, and expects it will continue to grow. The goal of the list is to recognize the top recyclers and waste reducers, and help motivate others in the local business community to improve recycling and waste practices.

The Best Workplaces for Recycling & Waste Reduction list is part of a larger County educational outreach campaign to encourage businesses and residences alike to recycle more. To see the complete list of “Best Workplaces for Recycling & Waste Reduction” and to learn more about what these businesses are doing to improve recycling programs, visit www.kingcounty.gov/recyclemore.

The 2009 King County Best Workplaces for Recycling & Waste Reduction are:

Related information

Best Workplaces for Recycling and Waste Reduction

Recycle More. It's Easy To Do.

King County Solid Waste