Workplace recycling is one of the most impactful ways businesses can contribute to sustainability, but it’s often challenging. However, it can become easier with a proper waste management & recycling strategy along with the right guidance and internal bin infrastructure.
At Unisan, we frequently receive questions about how to engage employees in proper waste disposal and segregation at source, how to implement recycling programmes that drive behavioural change and how to demonstrate your company’s environmental commitment.
This blog is for all Facilities and Sustainability Managers looking to increase recycling, reduce contamination of recyclable waste, decrease their company’s carbon footprint, and improve their brand image.
What Can I Do to Get My Team at Work to Recycle and Separate Waste Correctly?
The first step is education. Employees need to understand how to recycle and, most importantly, why recycling is important. Our Workplace Recycling Engagement Training Sessions help organisations promote and increase workplace recycling by giving guidance and helping to educate team members why they should recycle with a view to achieving the company’s sustainability goals, and demonstrating that they care.
During these interactive sessions, employees and managers will gain the confidence to recycle correctly and actively participate in your company’s sustainability efforts. With our training sessions, the participants will come away with a clear understanding of how to recycle correctly and why it is important.
The second step is to make the process as simple and intuitive as possible. One of the most common challenges regarding workplace recycling is ensuring employees segregate waste properly and choose the correct waste stream at the recycling station / point of disposal. At Unisan, we believe that removing the “two-second pause” is a must for achieving higher recycling rates. We create bespoke and customised recycling stations that are design-led and help to integrate consistent, clear signage with icons and colour coding, and we suggest placing them in visible and convenient areas for use and easy recycling. It is important to make sure that the ‘path of least resistance’ is the right one and that is as so simple and easy for people to recycle.
Our Unisort Climate Recycling Stations combine multiple waste stream colours and apertures, depending on a company’s needs and recycling regulations, in one station, making the process of separating waste so easy.
How Does Recycling More at Work Help to Reduce the Company’s Carbon Footprint?
Recycling at work significantly reduces your company’s carbon footprint by conserving energy, raw materials and natural resources. Approximately 1.6 tonne saving of CO2 is created for every 1 tonne of waste that is diverted from landfill.
As you are probably aware, manufacturing products from recycled materials requires less energy than making them from raw materials. A great example is how recycling aluminium saves up to 95% of the energy required to produce primary aluminium, reducing carbon emissions in this way.
In addition, diverting waste from landfills prevents harmful greenhouse gases, like methane, that contribute to global warming.
Work recycling helps decrease the amount of waste that ends up in incinerators and landfills, directly cutting down harmful CO2 emissions.
Unisan helps companies to increase the amount they recycle by engaging staff to separate properly and reduce contamination at the point of disposal which leads to carbon savings, providing measurable data to showcase the impact of recycling initiatives.
Our Workplace Recycling Engagement Training Sessions go beyond waste separation and provide the next step after implementing a better ‘binfrastructure’. Our sessions educate employees on the more extensive environmental benefits of recycling and how these efforts reduce a company’s overall carbon footprint.
How Do I Start my Recycling Programme at Work?
Make it easy and engaging…
People will take the path of least resistance or the ‘easy option’ so it’s our job in facilities and sustainability to make sure we provide the right, specific waste streams in the most convenient locations with super clear, coded signage. Implementing recycling stations in central areas near teapoints, exits and walkways can assist with driving behavioural change. It also ensures that the same waste streams are available wherever you are in the building and the waste streams are kept together in one unit (can’t be separated around the office).
The process of getting started with a recycling programme at work is straightforward with Unisan’s Workplace Recycling Engagement Training Sessions.
A Typical Recycling Engagement Training Session Structure
Our training sessions are designed to be interactive, engaging, and tailored to meet the specific needs of your organisation, with up to 20 delegates per training session.
Typically, sessions will cover the following topics:
- Understanding Recycling: An overview of the recycling process and individual materials, including the benefits, challenges, and common misconceptions.
- Implementing Recycling Programmes: Practical guidance on setting up and managing recycling programmes within the workplace, including correct recycling stations, signage & waste streams, waste audits and resource allocation.
- Behavioural Change Strategies: Techniques for motivating employees to participate and embrace recycling habits and integrate them into their daily routines.
- Communication and Engagement: Strategies for effectively communicating recycling initiatives, fostering buy-in from employees, and building a culture of sustainability.
The sessions can take place on-site, virtually or be customised based on specific requirements and objectives.
How to Encourage Recycling at Work?
Encouraging recycling at work requires educating and motivating employees, as well as making it convenient for them.
Our Workplace Recycling Engagement Training Sessions, empower employees and management alike with the knowledge, tools, and motivation necessary to elevate recycling efforts within their organisation.
It’s important to help employees understand the positive impact of recycling on the environment and the business so they can start participating more actively. Giving people the reason ‘why’ they should do something is important…
Incentives and rewards are also very effective ways to boost engagement. Set up recycling challenges where teams or different departments compete to recycle the most or to achieve specific sustainability milestones. Recognising and rewarding these efforts in front of peers can build enthusiasm and drive the right behaviours towards recycling across the company.
Also, Unisan’s bespoke recycling stations are designed to simplify and streamline the recycling process, making it easier for employees to engage more. By strategically placing recycling stations and using consistent signage, we can eliminate the barriers that may prevent employees from recycling. As recycling becomes a part of their daily routine, engagement will naturally increase over time.
How to Improve Recycling at Work?
We believe that there’s always room for improvement when it comes to recycling. Even if your company already has a recycling programme in place or has had a training session before, ongoing regulatory changes and recycling innovations mean there’s always something new to learn and refine.
The solution is to stay updated so your recycling efforts remain effective, compliant, and continuously evolving toward greater sustainability.
A great and simple way to start is by reviewing your recycling practices regularly and conducting waste audits to help identify areas with higher contamination rates or departments where employees still need help with proper waste segregation.
At Unisan, we specialise in helping businesses optimise their recycling systems with design-led, bespoke recycling solutions. Our Unisort indoor or outdoor recycling stations and customised waste management strategies are built to drive behavioural change and enhance recycling engagement.
Furthermore, we offer a Used Bin Takeback & Recycling Service, facilitating our customers’ recycling of old waste bins when we deliver their new recycling stations.
If you want to see significant results, arrange a Workplace Recycling Engagement Training Session to help your company improve recycling efficiency by teaching employees the importance of avoiding contamination and offering tips for integrating recycling into their daily routines. The training sessions are interactive, so employees can ask questions and get hands-on experience, further enhancing their ability to recycle effectively.
How Can We Demonstrate to Our Staff, Shareholders & Customers that We Care About Sustainability?
To demonstrate your commitment to sustainability, you must actively communicate your recycling achievements and sustainability goals.
Publish your waste reduction figures, carbon savings, and recycling rates in company newsletters, annual reports, or social media to show stakeholders you’re serious about sustainability.
Another brilliant way to demonstrate your dedication is by implementing Workplace Recycling Engagement Training Sessions for management and employees. With these sessions, you can foster a culture of sustainability that resonates with shareholders, customers, and employees alike while also helping your company achieve sustainability certifications and show compliance with current regulations.
Our extensive track record, which spans over a decade and includes 1,700 clients, with some of the UK’s most recognisable brands, such as Amazon, Coca Cola, British Gas, and HSBC.
Trust Unisan to deliver your desired results, improve recycling at work, reduce your environmental footprint, and demonstrate your commitment to sustainability to employees, customers, and shareholders.
Ready to get started? Contact us today.