3 Ways to Increase The Quality Of Your Office Recycling

Many offices have this problem: there is a recycling system in place, but recyclables still end up in the trash or vice versa. So while the infrastructure for a greener office is in place, it’s harder to make sure those bins have the right waste. Here are 3 tips that will help improve the quality of your existing recycling stream.

1. Identify items that can be replaced or removed from both the recycling and trash stream. This might be the most time-consuming task, but it can yield great quality. By identifying items that don’t need to exist in the office–or at least in the trash bin– you can improve the quality of both your recycling or trash streams. For example, many offices have the plastic Keurig coffee machines but, therefore, cannot recycle the pods on their own. Instead of getting rid of the machine, you can buy a recycle-a-cup tool to encourage users to remove the K-cups from the trash stream and recycle the plastic components, or replace the pods with reusable K-cups. 

There are also items you can remove altogether, like paper towels in the bathrooms. Instead, you can install an air dryer or provide clean towels for reuse. If you want to keep paper towels, you can instead replace the trash bin in the bathroom with a compost bin, as they can easily be integrated into compost streams.

2. Add photos of typical recyclables above or on your recycling bins. Many people might know typical items that can be recycled, such as aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and office paper. But some offices might have particular items or packaging that mistakenly get placed in the trash because employees don’t know that those things can be recycled. For example, items you might consider are juice boxes, yogurt cups, and packing peanuts: these are all recyclable materials, but many might mistakenly put them in the trash. 

3. Switch to smaller trash bins. Research has shown that smaller trash bins (versus larger recycling bins) have effectively led to recycling improvements because employees consider their trash more carefully. Unlike removing trash bins altogether, which can frustrate employees and lead to recyclables in the trash, the smaller trash bins led to less trash, and recyclables placed in the right bins. By making this simple switch, you can see a higher quality in your stream.

Overall, by rethinking what goes in your trash and recycling bins, you can improve the ROI of your streams altogether, and support a greener office environment.