When you’re running a small business, it’s so important that you know what you’re doing when it comes to office recycling. At Change Waste Recycling, we are constantly helping business owners cut waste, carbon and costs by creating an office recycling system that works.
This blog will take you through all of the steps you need to take to get your office recycling system up and running and just why it’s so important:
The benefits of recycling
There are so many reasons why your office should be recycling. Not only are you helping the environment by reducing the amount of waste heading to landfill, your business can enjoy reduced costs and increased efficiency as a result of recycling.
It is also important to recycle to meet Government regulations. Aside from that, it also improves your image among your clients, customers and employees – result!
Design your recycling system
The first step of office recycling is to have a solid plan in place from day one. We know that no two offices are the same, which is why we design bespoke recycling systems for our clients.
First, look at your layout – this will depend on the type of office you have its size and how it is set up. The most important part of your layout is ensuring the recycling bins are in a convenient location to encourage staff to use them. Likewise, food waste bins should be placed in the kitchen for ease of access.
You will also need to identify a location for your recycling to be collected from and who will be organising the bags for collection, just so the process goes as smoothly as possible. Our team can help you identify what waste you produce most of and the best places to position your collection bins.
Communicate with staff
To make your office recycling system work, its essential to talk to and engage with your staff. Speak to senior staff especially, as they need to lead by example and show everyone how easy your new system is to use.
Focus on engaging the majority of your staff who are willing to start recycling and keep promoting the positive reasons for it – once some people start recycling, you’ll probably find others will soon join in!
You can also consider setting up a charitable donation for every kg recycled or kg of carbon saved, to give yet another reason for people to recycle.
Make sure you clearly communicate these key messages to staff:
- What materials can and can’t be recycled?
- What materials go into what bins?
- Where are the bins?
To help with these questions, read our useful what can I recycle? guide here.
Think about implementing staff updates on how your new office recycling system is going – seeing the results of their recycling efforts and how it is making a change to your business is how you motivate your staff even further.
Remember to always ask staff for feedback for what is working for them and what isn’t – there’s no point in having a recycling system that doesn’t work for everybody!
Reduce waste, carbon and costs
If you choose us for your office recycling initiative, we will send you a monthly carbon report that shows how much you’ve recycled and how much carbon you’ve saved that month. These help you identify where you could still be recycling more, so you can continue to make your system even better.
We have loads of handy guides on our website to help you and your staff recycle, so there’s no excuse not to be clued up about your office recycling!
Interested in finding out more about our environmental services? Get in touch with us today or view some case studies of our happy customers.
