How to recycle on a workflow level
Updated July 9, 2026
By Joe Wiltshire| Corporate EHS & Sustainability Manager
By Joe Wiltshire| Corporate EHS & Sustainability Manager
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From homes to workplaces, recycling is always an option. But how do we make it easy? How do we make it work for us?
Two words: recycling programs. Many municipalities offer them. You wheel a bin out to the curb and items are taken and sorted. So, can you accomplish something as easy on a workflow level? Yes. All you need is the right partners. What can be recycled?More and more, teams want to keep things out of the landfill, but what can be recycled these days?
It’s shifted beyond the plastic, glass, and paper that everybody thinks about in their home and expanded to include PPE, scrap metal, and even packaging and shipping materials. PPE alone has seen a large expansion in recycling options. PPE like earplugs, coveralls, and gloves all have programs available now. These days any item that ends up in the waste stream is something that companies want to recycle. What are waste streams?You’ve read “waste stream” a couple of times now; let’s define it. In its simplest form, a waste stream is the type of material in a product – think scrap metal, a Tyvek suit, flashlights, etc. Regardless of the item, the idea is the same: Use something as much as possible, and then have a plan for when it’s used up.
How to get startedNo surprise here, but step one is identifying your waste streams; look at your different types of waste and work backward from there.
Once a product ends in consumption and is ready for recycling, there are take-back programs. Companies like Veolia and TerraCycle have really stepped up and created a way to find recycling opportunities for different items to be reused. It’s a simple process, too. Every take-back program is a little different and driven by the waste stream itself. But the basic idea is there’s a box in your facility for recyclable items, say masks. When the box is full, you just ship it. The items get recycled, and then there’s reporting available. Also, with many companies working across borders, these programs are often global. Most common waste streamsMany organizations start with anything that can go into a garbage can or recycling bin. So, cardboard and paper products are big first steps to take. A popular next step is the packaging that enters a facility. All that plastic wrap on pallets? That’s not garbage anymore.
Trex’s entire business model is making alternative wood composites out of plastics like pallet wrap. They take that wrap, clean Ziplocs, and the seemingly unending supply of plastic shopping bags and make those discarded materials into decking and other outdoor products. Beyond those starter ones, waste streams have gotten to the point where even chemicals and metalworking fluids are being recycled. But the biggest one that people are now targeting is PPE. An easy example is the people coming into a facility. Every single day, they need to put on a new pair of gloves and grab earplugs. In many cases, those can only be used one time or until a certain number of uses. Often, these near-single-use items end up in the garbage. But they don’t have to. These common items DO have recycling programs. One example is the RightCycle program. If you use nitrile gloves, safety glasses, or protective clothing, this program keeps those from going in the trash. Instead, you just collect and ship them away. We’ve reached the point where programs can turn so many of these materials into new goods. For example, chemicals are used in concrete, paper products produce more paper products, and pallet wrap becomes park benches. Next stepsIf you’re thinking about recycling on a workflow level, here’s how to get started.
Now, start having conversations. There are options for every waste stream, and Fastenal can be a part of those solutions. When you work with either your local Fastenal or our compliance team, we make it easy to identify which programs will fit you best. The final takeaway? Finding the right program can make workflow-level recycling much easier. You may also like:
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