How to Increase Recycling at Your Office

October 08, 2021

Recycling at work is a wonderful concept for a business; not only is it good for your company and the environment, but it’s also excellent for your money account!

While you may have made the decision to recycle more rubbish actively, you will also need to encourage your employees to do so. And sadly, many of us are less careful at work when it comes to segregating and sorting our trash. So, how can you get your employees to recycle? 

Here are some tips to support and increase your office recycling:

Start small

When you go green, you have a lot of great ideas in your head about how to minimise waste and save money while helping the environment. Even if you have the financial means to make your goal a reality, you should start small.

It will be a new culture for the workplace and the employees. And you must provide enough time for everyone to adjust to the new standards and maintain them.

Starting small relieves strain on your staff and allows them to accept the concept. Starting with no-brainers like duplex printing is a good place to start. This will not only reduce paper usage by half, but it will also require no extra resources.

Cut back on the take out coffee cups 

It’ll be hard to persuade staff to give up their morning coffee, but you can take steps to reduce the number of take-out coffee cups. Consider how many cups are discarded in the bin every day.

Use reusable mugs and water bottles instead of takeaway coffee cups. This small modification will significantly reduce the number of cups and plastic bottles entering the system. As a result, this will also assist in lowering office expenditures.

Reduce the waste coming into the office 

Reduction is an important aspect of recycling. There are many things to consider. From reducing energy usage by turning off non-essential devices and lights to ensuring that taps are not leaking.

You can also inform your vendors about your recycling programme and urge them to bring only recyclable or compostable products to work with you. Because your trash is recyclable, you may substantially minimise what goes into a landfill if you can manage consumption and what comes into the facility. 

Have centralised Recycling bins

Remove individual recycling bins and replace them with centralised recycling bins for the greatest results. Employees have to sort their rubbish by providing containers in handy places. They become more detached from what they are discarding as a result, rather than just tossing it into the rubbish bin at the end of their desk.

This approach also enables staff to learn how to correctly sort waste and comprehend what goes where in order to avoid stream contamination.

Our range of Bin & Recycling includes designs and solutions for use in commercial buildings & offices, schools, colleges, universities, and a variety of internal public areas.

Many of the bins are available in a wide range of colours and with several options to tailor the bins to your exact requirements.


Shelter Store Team

Shelter Store is the UK's leading supplier of smoking shelters, canopies, walkways and street furniture. Follow us on LinkedIn.