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excess liquid waste chute in office bin

Want to know how to reduce contamination of liquid waste in your office recycling bins?

 

So you’re getting serious about recycling in your business, or trying to improve your recycling rates, and encourage people to recycle more. But, you have the all too common problem of people tipping drink bottles in the bin with liquid still in, let alone the half full coffee cups!

 

Here at Unisan, we hear you, and are all about making solutions to help you out with your waste and recycling at work, so of course, we have developed an answer to this. Our bespoke recycling stations are completely customizable, not only can they be made to perfectly suit your interior design, they can have the exact waste streams you need for your organisation. Only you will know what waste and recycling your office has, so only you can design the perfect office recycling bin / station. A liquid waste chute is one of the many possibilities, and provides a long-lasting and practical solution for the designated disposal of liquids. This can reduce the need for frequent emptying and prevent leftover drinks from contaminating other waste streams.

Cup and excess liquid bins are an ideal way to keep refeshment areas clear of half empty drinks. With a central reservoir these bins are an easy clean option to maintain a professional refreshment area in your organisation.

Our range of recycling bins are suited to internal recycling and are hugely popular, being used throughout the UK in a variety of locations including offices, schools, hospitals, exhibition centres, councils, universities, cafes, motorway services and other places of work.


Improve your company culture & boost employee engagement

It’s been proven many times that a good corporate responsibility scheme can actually boost employee engagement. Studies have shown that by empowering your employees to be able to make a positive impact on the environment, you can not only improve your organisation’s sustainability, but also have more engaged employees and a better company culture.

We always recommend keeping all your waste streams in one station and using the same stations throughout your facility. This way, staff can easily recycle the same waste in the same way wherever they are in your facility, and they will instantly recognise every recycling station across the office.

Keeping the waste streams in one place will also give you much better recycling rates, as employees will always have the option to recycle their waste wherever they are, and it will always be as easy to recycle waste as otherwise. Keeping all the waste in one station also makes your cleaners’ job easier, quicker and more efficient.


What waste streams do I need?

internal office recycling bin with liquid waste chuteThe first thing to consider here is what waste streams your waste broker collects. Obviously, if you only have general waste & mixed recycling collected, there’s no point in spending money on a recycling scheme that segregates recycling into 5 separate streams. If you want to segregate your waste better than you are currently, then the first thing to do is talk to your waste broker, or maybe even find a new one. Once these back-of-house processes are set up, it’s time to start thinking about how to effectively segregate the waste front-of-house. You may even consider using multiple waste brokers; for example, a separate collection for food waste. That being said, we do see a lot of trends in recycling segregation. The most common configuration of waste streams is food waste, general waste, and mixed recycling. More and more offices now are also recycling coffee cups, as the technology and facilities to do this are improving rapidly. We also see a lot of liquid waste collection; this is especially useful if you’re internal office recycling bin with chute for excess liquidsegregating coffee cups, as these are often not fully emptied. Another common waste stream is confidential waste – many offices have a partnership with a confidential shredding company.

 


Make recycling easy and decrease contamination

internal office recycling bin stationMake it specific If there are certain items that your staff are repeatedly disposing of incorrectly, then just a little more information about each waste stream could go a long way. For example, if employees are putting food in the mixed recycling stream, you may want something saying ‘no food’ on your general waste aperture. If you can solve problems specific to your office, this will go a long way toward eliminating contaminated recyclable waste.

Make it as clear as possible Everything about the design of your recycling scheme should be designed to make recycling as easy as possible for your staff, thereby increasing recycling rates & reducing contamination. We recommend colour-coding the waste streams to make things as clear as possible. Where possible, use the WRAP colours for waste streams. The Waste Resource Action Program (WRAP) is a governing body which seeks to standardise waste recycling across the country, by using standard colours, symbols & signage. You’ll recognise these symbols & colours from your household recycling, especially at your local civic amenity centre. These waste streams won’t always perfectly translate into how you recycle at work, but by using the colours & symbols where possible, you’ll make it easier for staff to identify waste streams.

Even if you send zero waste to landfill, there’s likely to still be room for improvement. If you remember the hierarchy of waste, your first priority should be to reduce the amount of waste you produce. In this sector alone, you can always improve: reducing your paper usage, phasing out single-use bottles & cups, switching from disposable cutlery & dishes in the canteen, reducing the package on staff lunches – the list is endless.

However even when just sticking to recycling, there’s still always room for improvement. New waste streams If your mixed recycling rates are already high, then it could be time to look at recycling more waste. For example, set up a coffee cup waste stream, have your food waste collected, introduce recycling of more types of plastic, or even set up very specific waste streams, such as coffee grounds or electrical items.

Download our PDF recycling guide here for useful information and popular solutions for your organisation