Recycling and throwing away items at home is often easy since many residential trash pick-up guidelines are clear-cut. Throwing away items and recycling for your business can be a little more complicated. However, it's worth it to look into your city's guidelines. Properly disposing of your business' waste conserves natural resources, improves economic security in manufacturing, and saves the environment. Here are some questions you might have about your business's garbage and recycling.

Can you throw away electronic equipment or appliances?

Many roll-off dumpster services will not haul away computer monitors, batteries, microwaves, bulbs, TVs, and the like because of legal and safety regulations. You may get away with throwing these kinds of things away in the dumpsters outside your business, but it's a very bad idea. NPR.org says that this kind of waste has flame retardants and toxic metals which are horrible for the environment.

The good news is that much of this waste can be easily salvaged in recycling programs. If you have equipment—especially computers—that is in good working condition, consider donating it to a school, library, or a charity. You just need to wipe sensitive data off hard drives before doing so. Chron.com says that while you may have to pay for the recycling itself, there are some tax credits and exemptions for those that use equipment that can be recycled.

Do you have to schedule recycling or trash pick-up?

If you have bulky items from your office—think break-room appliances or furniture—then, yes. However, this kind of pick-up is easy to figure out. You just need to call your city's waste management facility and ask to schedule a bulk trash pick-up. You may also need to pay some additional fees since these bulky items require more labor to transport.

When should you contact a junk removal service?

If you are remodeling your place of business and throwing out construction debris, it's better to call a junk removal service. Your local government may not pick up these items, but a third-party service will.

Like bulk trash pick-up, you will need to schedule a pick-up time for the service to haul the dumpsters away. Before you call the service, make sure the dumpster isn't overloaded, as many services will not pick-up dumpster containers that cannot be closed securely.

Make sure that you contact a junk removal service that follows green practices. Plastics, metals, and wood from remodeling can be recycled.

For more information on how to dispose of your business's waste products, contact commercial trash services like Curbside DataControl in your area.