Containers for your Office's waste and recycling needs

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

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

• What types and quantities of waste materials does your business generate? For example, a travel agency or accountancy, may generate large amounts of paper and cardboard, while a large office likely generates paper and a small amount of food waste, plastic packaging, glass and metals.

• Where in your business is waste being generated, and by whom? For example, a publishing business might generate large amounts of waste paper, but the staff break room would generate small amounts of plastic packaging and food waste from staff breaks.

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 by desks or in staff break rooms.

Checklist: choosing the right bins for your business

• Large enough to contain waste and recycling between emptying

• 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 contractor about supplying new bins if they’re needed.