Business recycling action plan
When making changes in any workplace, it’s important to take the time to get it right. Our 10-point action plan has been designed to help your business achieve sustainable outcomes and ensure your employees feel empowered as you embark on your journey toward reduced waste.
1. Identify all relevant stakeholders
Make a list of all the people who will be involved in your new waste minimisation program. This will most likely include owners, managers, employees, cleaning staff and customers.
Top tip: Contact your building management or landlord to notify them of your new waste management plans and discuss any foreseeable barriers upfront.
2.Choose a coordinator
Appoint a staff member as the coordinator to oversee and organise the recycling and waste changes. Ideally, this person will be able to help plan the initiative and be well-organised, enthusiastic about waste minimisation and a good communicator able to liaise with all stakeholders.
Top tip: Integrating changes successfully into your company culture is easier as a top-down initiative. If management exemplify and support a commitment to a cause, your team will follow.
3.Understand your waste streams
When setting up an effective recycling program, it’s important to understand your waste streams. A bin inspection will offer insights for waste minimisation.
While conducting an inspection:
- note your workplace’s day-to-day activities, including what resources are being used
- consider where an item comes in, and become familiar with its full lifecycle throughout your organisation
- look through all internal and external bins and make a list of waste and recyclables onsite.
When making your list, consider the volumes of each item and ask yourself the following questions:
- Can it be reduced or avoided?
- Can it be reused?
- Can it be recycled?
Top tip: Depending on the size and type of your business, you may wish to first focus on recycling cardboard, paper, glass, aluminium and plastic. Then, as your program achieves success and is embraced by staff, you can then focus on other areas to improve such as organics, ink cartridges, stationary, scrap metal, electronics, hardwood, soft plastics and batteries.
4.Use a waste and recycling contractor that suits your needs
You now will have an understanding of the types and amount of recycling your business generates. The next step is to determine how to have these items recovered rather than wasted in landfill. If you already have a bin service provider, you may need to review your current contract first to check the flexibility to enhance or change your service details.
If you don’t already have a provider, find out about Council’s user-pays recycling service for businesses online, or visit Planet Ark’s Business Recycling site to help identify the best provider for your workplace. First decide if your business will separate recyclable materials or mix them together. If you choose to separate, you will need to look into single-stream recycling options. Choosing to have a mixed recycling service is often called a ‘co-mingled’ collection, and these are services like your yellow-top recycling bin at home.
Top tip: First consider if the materials can be reused around the workplace, or by another business. Reusing items or donating to charities can have significant environmental and social benefits.
5.Notify all stakeholders
Confirm all stakeholders are aware of the changes and expected start date. To increase commitment, it is important to be consistent in your messaging, and transparent about the desired achievements and benefits.
Top tip: Consider questions like: Why have you chosen to do this? What makes this initiative important to your company and overall business goals? How will the outcomes be measured?
6.Provide introductory and ongoing training to all stakeholders
Education should start before the changes to the waste systems are implemented. Ongoing training will ensure staff engagement is maintained.
- Regularly raising the changes as an agenda at team meetings will ingrain it as a new approach for your organisation
- Explain how recyclables are collected, what is recyclable, how the changes will benefit the environment and the company, as well as other waste reduction and reuse measures that will be implemented
- Show examples of recyclables and non-recyclable materials on a board or sign near the recycling and waste containers
- Post informative articles on recycling, source reduction, and reuse.
Top tip: Simply telling your team they should be passionate about a certain initiative won’t generate true commitment. The more you consider the cause from a team-building and education perspective, the more likely your business is to rally around that cause.
7.Strategically place internal bins and signage
Your program will only be effective if it is easy and convenient to use. Bin quantity, location and signage play an important role in this.
- Be strategic about the placement of recycling bins as they need to go in places where the most waste is generated.
- Ensure a recycling bin is installed next to every rubbish bin as this will help shift your staff toward consistent recycling behaviours.
- Consider placing recycling bins under staff desks, in photocopy rooms, near printers, and in staff break areas.
- Bins need to be easily identifiable with clear signage, and include clear lists about which items are to go in which bins.
Top tip: Consider installing organics, worm farm and soft plastics collection containers to help in your efforts to reduce business waste onsite.
8.Continually monitor, evaluate and improve
Once the systems are in place, monitor your progress to evaluate
cost-effectiveness, employee participation and environmental impact. Allow opportunities for staff and customers to provide feedback.
Top tip: It is important to continuously audit the contents of the waste and recycle bins, document any contamination, and educate were appropriate. See Council’s website for information and take our Business Recycling Challenge.
9.Maintain ongoing contact with your service provider
Regularly speaking with your service provider about the availability of new services will keep you up-to-date about changes in the industry. Your contractor can help to ensure you are getting the best services to meet your waste and recycling needs.
Top tip: Ask your contractor what assistance, education and resources they can provide you to ensure optimal use of their services.
10.Celebrate achievements with staff and customers
Promote the success of your waste minimisation efforts by sharing your company’s achievements throughout the business and to customers.
- Use online newsletters and emails to distribute updates or milestones about the program
- Publicise the quantity your company recycles over a certain period (month, quarter, year)
- Calculate and distribute disposal cost savings based on the decrease of waste
Top tip: Celebrating and raising awareness about your business’s recycling culture is also a valuable asset to include on your company website and new employee induction manual.
Keep in mind that Council has a dedicated Business Recycling Officer to help
you on your recycling journey. If you have extra questions or need additional
support, send your questions to