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Survey Finds Recycling Programs Considered Valuable and Important

 

West Chicago, IL  - A survey conducted by CFR, manufacturer of recycling carpet extractors, finds that fully 70 percent of those surveyed (mostly cleaning professionals, distributors, and facility managers) believe recycling is “personally” important to them and their employers and is also important to sustainability in general.

 

Invitations to participate in this survey, which asked questions regarding several recycling issues, were e-mailed to more than 500 people. As of June 15, 2012, 57 people had completed all or most of the survey questions.

 

Asked which items are most often recycled at their facilities, 56 percent indicated that cardboard and packaging materials are the items recycled most frequently. Virtually all of the rest of the respondents reported that paper products are the items they recycle most.

Sixty percent indicated that they do not have anyone specifically in charge of recycling in their facilities. “This can be a problem,” says Doug Berjer, Product Manager for CFR. “In most cases, a successful recycling program needs someone in charge to organize the program and make it work.”

 

Even without someone in charge, more than 70 percent of respondents indicated that their recycling programs have expanded in recent years, while another 50 percent would like their recycling efforts expanded even further.

 

“It is a bit disappointing that cardboard, packaging materials, and paper products are still the main items being recycled,” says Berjer. “This has been true for decades now. [However], very often when someone is appointed the ‘recycling czar’ for a facility, the program expands and more types of items are recycled as well.”

 

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Notes on the Survey: Percentages are rounded up. Based on the number of people taking the survey, responses have a plus or minus error of 10 percent.

 

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