How To Safely Get Rid Of Obsolete Office Materials

Whether you’re moving office, upgrading, downsizing, or simply having a clear-out, there will come a time when your business needs to dispose of obsolete office materials. As a business, it is your responsibility to ensure that the disposal of any of your office materials is conducted safely, and, to try and limit the impact that your business has on the environment. Here’s a quick guide to the safe disposal of some of the most common office materials. 

Paper

Digitization has, for the most part, made many old paper-based processes redundant, but pre-existing paper materials will still need to be correctly dealt with. Carelessly discarding paper documents in the bin can lead to fraud and it is your responsibility to dispose of any confidential paper materials in a secure way. Confidential papers should already be separated from general waste paper, but in the event that they are not, you will either need to sort through them, or to bite the bullet and to dispose of them all as if they were confidential. Any non-confidential waste paper can be disposed of in the paper recycling to be made back into new paper-based products. Confidential paper, on the other hand, should be shredded before being recycled. If you have a lot of confidential paperwork, then it may be worth considering the services of a paper waste management service who will handle the shredding and disposal of the documents for you. 

Furniture 

Office chairs, desks, shelves, and storage units are big and bulky items that can be difficult to get rid of. First and foremost, if the items are in good condition, then it may be worth trying to sell them, or if you do not require the profit, then you could donate them to a charity or other local business on the premise that they remove the items on your behalf. If the items are old, damaged or unsellable, then they should not be discarded in a skip straight away, but sorted for recycling. Metal components such as shelving, chair bottoms, and desks, will all be valuable to a metal recycle centre, and many recycle and scrappage companies will even visit your property themselves to remove items of interest to them. Anything that cannot be recycled, sold, or donated, can then be thrown away in a skip or taken away by a refuse collection service. 

Technology 

Computers, printers, scanners, and photocopiers form the backbone of many businesses, but like all technology, they eventually become outdated and require replacing. Your idea of old and new may be very different from that of another business, and so, as with furniture, it can be beneficial to advertise obsolete technology for sale. If you are not able to sell the items or they are damaged, then regardless as to whether you position yourself as an eco-friendly business, recycling is the next best option, allowing your old items to be broken down safely, and their component parts recycled into new materials.  

So there you have it - a quick guide to the safe and sustainable disposal of office materials. Remember, selling items can be a great way to recuperate lost funds, and recycling should always be a priority over landfills.