Five Simple Ways to Improve the Office Recycling Program for Your Company
Improving your office recycling program is easier than you might think.
In many workplaces, employees struggle to adjust to the business recycling programs that their companies implement. Poorly placed bins, a lack of proper labelling, and poor waste education leads to incorrectly disposed of materials.
Below, we've listed ways you can positively contribute to your workplace's waste program.
#1: Assess Your Office Recycling Bin Locations
How visible are the recycling bins at your office? If your workplace waste bins are:
- too few in number;
- difficult to find;
- awkward to access for some employees; or
- poorly labelled,
you may be deterring employees from disposing of their waste properly.
According to a case study performed by The Great Forest Experiment, there was a 77% drop in recyclable materials found in the trash when a company moved to a centralized bin system rather than a desk bin system. In a centralized bin system, it's easier to label bins with commonly accepted and unaccepted items, and when employees are educated in proper waste disposal, their recycling habits reflect it.
Elements of a successful centralized bin system include:
- Making sure you have enough bins for the size of your company
- Putting your bins in easy to access and prominent locations
- Grouping bins together and separating them by materials
- Placing recycling cans near usage hotspots, like paper bins in the copy room or plastic bins in the break room
#2: Partner with a waste education platform
Education is the best way to ensure your employees understand proper waste practices.
Recycle Coach allows users to search a "what goes where" feature that's tailored to the waste rules of your workplace's location, answer questions and play games that work to increase their waste knowledge, and is easily accessible.
An app like this works to consistently educate your employees, while giving them real-time access to usable information at the moment it makes a difference.
#3: Promote a Paper-Conscious Policy
When you think of your average workplace, you think of paper, printing, memos and binders. That's why no office recycling program is complete without a paper-conscious policy.Mindlessly printing anything and everything has got to go. Your new office paper recycling push will make sure that your employees digitize their communications as much as possible.Paper recycling supports carbon sequestration and reduces climate change, so it has impact.
- Use recycled paper and print on both sides
- Put up signs discouraging printing in all forms unless absolutely necessary
- Educate your employees on the social, economic and environmental impact of paper use
It's also a good idea to get your janitorial staff on-board so that they know how to recycle paper at work, once it has been sorted.
#4: Create a Space for Recycled Office Supplies
By now, your green team must have noticed how many office supplies are being wasted every day. This has more to do with a lack of space, than intentional disregard for your recycling program.Employees like things to be easy, and organized. Deliberately designate a space for recycled office supplies, and encourage office workers to drop their old and surplus supplies there.
- Anything that can be reused should go in your reusable supply room
- Stationary, used paper, furniture, broken technology, clothing – all extras
- Whenever an employee needs something, they must check the room first
Only allow your employees into the new office supply room if there are no alternatives. Your new supplies should be made out of recycled materials if possible.
#5: Buy Products That Have Been Recycled
Part of your job as a green team is to make sure that your office recycling program saves your company money. This will involve some sleuthing on your part.If your team notices that the company uses supplies that aren't recycled, you can track down the budget being spent on them and improve it with a pitch for a cheaper, recycled product.
- Investigate the cost of recycled products for your business
- Help your company replace standard products with recycled products, for less money
- There are hundreds of hundreds of brand products products that are made from recycled materials
- Pitch your bosses and make an economic and environmental case for the change
Recycling programs for businesses work best when the green team is able to make these critical changes on an economic level. Be a company that recycles and uses recycled products.
You might also like...
Five Simple Ways to Improve the Office Recycling Program for Your Company
Improving your office recycling program is easier than you might think.
In many workplaces, employees struggle to adjust to the business recycling programs that their companies implement. Poorly placed bins, a lack of proper labelling, and poor waste education leads to incorrectly disposed of materials.
Below, we've listed ways you can positively contribute to your workplace's waste program.
#1: Assess Your Office Recycling Bin Locations
How visible are the recycling bins at your office? If your workplace waste bins are:
- too few in number;
- difficult to find;
- awkward to access for some employees; or
- poorly labelled,
you may be deterring employees from disposing of their waste properly.
According to a case study performed by The Great Forest Experiment, there was a 77% drop in recyclable materials found in the trash when a company moved to a centralized bin system rather than a desk bin system. In a centralized bin system, it's easier to label bins with commonly accepted and unaccepted items, and when employees are educated in proper waste disposal, their recycling habits reflect it.
Elements of a successful centralized bin system include:
- Making sure you have enough bins for the size of your company
- Putting your bins in easy to access and prominent locations
- Grouping bins together and separating them by materials
- Placing recycling cans near usage hotspots, like paper bins in the copy room or plastic bins in the break room
#2: Partner with a waste education platform
Education is the best way to ensure your employees understand proper waste practices.
Recycle Coach allows users to search a "what goes where" feature that's tailored to the waste rules of your workplace's location, answer questions and play games that work to increase their waste knowledge, and is easily accessible.
An app like this works to consistently educate your employees, while giving them real-time access to usable information at the moment it makes a difference.
#3: Promote a Paper-Conscious Policy
When you think of your average workplace, you think of paper, printing, memos and binders. That's why no office recycling program is complete without a paper-conscious policy.Mindlessly printing anything and everything has got to go. Your new office paper recycling push will make sure that your employees digitize their communications as much as possible.Paper recycling supports carbon sequestration and reduces climate change, so it has impact.
- Use recycled paper and print on both sides
- Put up signs discouraging printing in all forms unless absolutely necessary
- Educate your employees on the social, economic and environmental impact of paper use
It's also a good idea to get your janitorial staff on-board so that they know how to recycle paper at work, once it has been sorted.
#4: Create a Space for Recycled Office Supplies
By now, your green team must have noticed how many office supplies are being wasted every day. This has more to do with a lack of space, than intentional disregard for your recycling program.Employees like things to be easy, and organized. Deliberately designate a space for recycled office supplies, and encourage office workers to drop their old and surplus supplies there.
- Anything that can be reused should go in your reusable supply room
- Stationary, used paper, furniture, broken technology, clothing – all extras
- Whenever an employee needs something, they must check the room first
Only allow your employees into the new office supply room if there are no alternatives. Your new supplies should be made out of recycled materials if possible.
#5: Buy Products That Have Been Recycled
Part of your job as a green team is to make sure that your office recycling program saves your company money. This will involve some sleuthing on your part.If your team notices that the company uses supplies that aren't recycled, you can track down the budget being spent on them and improve it with a pitch for a cheaper, recycled product.
- Investigate the cost of recycled products for your business
- Help your company replace standard products with recycled products, for less money
- There are hundreds of hundreds of brand products products that are made from recycled materials
- Pitch your bosses and make an economic and environmental case for the change
Recycling programs for businesses work best when the green team is able to make these critical changes on an economic level. Be a company that recycles and uses recycled products.
You might also like...
Let's work together
We’re a proud partner to 1,700+ municipalities across North America and beyond. From local problems to larger initiatives, we’d love to have a conversation. Send us a note and we’ll be in touch as soon as possible.
