Working with businesses to increase recycling rates is at the heart of Westminster City Council Commercial Waste Services. We encourage businesses to commit to responsible waste management and are dedicated to ensuring our customers’ waste management arrangements are as efficient and effective as possible.
Central Hall first approached Commercial Waste Services with the objective to increase their recycling rate, which was struggling at just 11% back in 2017. After seeking advice on how they could become more environmentally sustainable, we set out to provide them with the necessary guidance and support.
How did we help Central Hall?
Our approach included conducting a full complimentary waste audit to establish what they could recycle more and in which way. Additionally, we helped educate staff members on the benefits of an effective recycling set-up, how to segregate and handle different waste streams correctly as well as implementing recycling for four new waste streams (food waste, glass, paper and cardboard and coffee cups).
To ensure these new services were implemented and used to their maximum effectiveness, we provided Central Hall with new bespoke signage and stickers for recycling points throughout the building. We also conducted monthly waste and recycling performance reports which tracked the recycling rate, allowing to identify areas for improvement.
Use our recycling performance calculator to see a full breakdown of how much waste your business produces and where easy improvements for recycling can be made.
What were the results?
The successes at Central Hall proved to be astronomical. Jumping to a recycling rate of nearly 70% within months, this dramatic increase proved the biggest positive impact effective waste management could have for Central Hall. We hope that the successes at Central Hall will inspire other businesses to explore how they too can increase recycling rates in their own premises. Central Hall even received a Westminster Lions accreditation and was granted our platinum recycling award for their hard work and dedication around recycling.
Learn how your business can reduce, reuse, recycle and recover with our latest recycling guide.
Future steps for Central Hall
Now that Central Hall is recycling at a high rate, our future objective is to conduct further waste audits as part of our ongoing support programme to help staff make simple changes and take action on reducing waste. Commercial Waste Services will also continue to provide Central Hall with performance information and refresher training sessions, ensuring the staff are continuously kept up-to-date on effective waste management techniques and best practices around recycling.
How can you get started with increasing your business recycling rate?
Recycling effectively gives waste a new lease of life, utilising materials in a more resource-efficient way. What are some best practices you can adopt in your business to improve your recycling performance? Here are a few steps your business can take to get started:
- Assess which materials are in your waste and how much of them you throw away. This will give you an idea of the recycling collections you require. If you want us to help, just ask for one of our free waste audits
- Ensure you recycle materials such as paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, pots, tubs, trays, packaging glass, cans, Tetra-type cartons, food waste, batteries, electrical appliances and coffee cups. Make sure they are segregated and thrown into their respective waste or recycling bin
- Organise an efficient internal bin set-up with clear signage to capture what can be recycled. Avoid deskside bins since they promote poor recycling habits and are more costly to service and maintain (via your cleaners) than central recycling points. Download or order our bespoke free of charge recycling posters and bin stickers to help signpost what goes where
- Stop using difficult to recycle items such as black coloured plastics and composites (e.g. pouches, crisp packs, laminates etc) of more than 1 material since they cannot be easily recycled)
- Ensure you keep environmentally damaging waste streams separate for a specialist collection. This includes chemicals, oils, batteries, paint, fluorescent tubes, electronic appliances, clinical and other hazardous waste. Do not put them in your recycling bin, general waste bin, or down the drain
- Use our secure shredding service to recycle your confidential paperwork
- Start segregating your waste properly for recycling. Do not contaminate your recycling with general waste and non-recyclable items
- Familiarise yourself with recycling logos on products and packaging. A few of them are irrelevant in the UK, such as the Mobius Loop and the Green Dot
- Ensure your recyclable items are clean and dry before they go in the recycling bin
Take a moment to download the full case study
Find out how we have worked with Central Hall helping them to go from strength to strength; recycling more and disposing of waste sustainably through the most effective and efficient waste system that is boosting their recycling rate.
