Containers and storage for your waste and recycling

Estimated reading time: 4 min

Providing the right bins and containers for your waste and recycling, and storing them in the right location, is essential for helping your staff, students and visitors separate waste more effectively and increase the amount your organisation recycles.

In deciding what kind of waste and recycling containers and storage areas your organisation needs, think about these two questions:

What types and quantities of waste materials does your organisation generate? For example, university halls, student bars and catering outlets may generate large amounts of waste glass, cardboard and food waste, a school is likely to generate large quantities of waste paper and food, while a school office likely generates paper and a small amount of food waste, plastic packaging, glass and metals.
Where in your organisation is waste being generated, and by whom? For example, a student canteen might generate large amounts of food waste from students, but the staff break room would generate small amounts of plastic packaging and food waste from staff breaks. Catering waste is likely to be generated by meal prep in both university halls by students and in on-site school and university catering kitchens.

Answering these questions will help you manage the way waste and recycling moves through your premises. For example, you can position internal containers and bins in the places where waste is generated, such as within student accommodation kitchens, within classrooms, break rooms and common rooms, by desks, behind the bar or at kitchen prep/clearing stations.

Checklist: choosing the right bins for your organisation

Large enough to contain waste and recycling between emptying, but not so large that they’re difficult to manoeuvre or lift. The WRAP Commercial Food Waste Collections Guide recommends that the containers you use to separate food waste indoors, for example in a food prep setting, should be 35 litres or less, and that the outdoor containers you use to present food waste for collection should be no larger than 140 litres, to keep them suitable for manual handling.
With lids or covers to keep materials dry and stop waste escaping
Store different types of waste separately so that they don’t contaminate each other – this also means you can reuse them more easily, and it’ll be easier to complete your waste transfer note correctly
Label containers clearly with the waste they contain

How to keep waste and recycling separate

It’s easiest to separate recyclable materials from general waste at the point where it’s produced. Here’s how to keep your recycling separate from other waste:

Create recycling stations where waste and recycling are generated and include a container for general waste
Colour-code containers consistently throughout your premises to reduce confusion
Use our material-specific posters to label bins – they use distinctive colours and images that are used and recognised nationally across recycling services
Provide training – communicate the changes to your employees and cleaning and maintenance staff/contractor, providing separate training where necessary
Reward good practice – this will encourage further improvements

You can also speak with your current cleaning or waste about supplying new bins if they’re needed.