The Definitive Guide to Creating a Successful Recycling Programme

6 Steps to Set Up your Recycling Programme

It may seem daunting at first, but starting a recycling programme can unlock a multitude of benefits for your organisation. So, what are the key steps that you need to take?

1) Complete a Waste Audit

A waste audit is an essential component of any successful recycling programme. It allows companies and premises to investigate their waste management requirements in detail, identifying the amount and types of waste generated and determining areas for improvement or adaptation.

To carry out a waste audit, there are several questions that should be answered:

• How many recycling bins are in place?
• Does everyone have easy access to a recycling bin?
• How much waste is collected in one week?
• Are your recycling bins often overflowing?
• What types of waste are collected?
• Do your recycling bins have clearly labelled waste streams?
• Are recyclables mistakenly disposed of in general waste?

Answering these questions will help you learn the lay of the land when it comes to waste management and help inform your approach to building a successful recycling scheme. Ultimately, it’s a crucial step forward to helping you achieve your environmental goals.

Glasdon offers a free waste audit, which you can request here.

2) Hire a Waste Collection and Disposal Company

It is the responsibility of the workplace or company to hire a suitable waste collection and disposal company to deal with your generated waste.

The disposal company you choose should have a waste carriers license. Be sure to check this license before entering into an agreement with a contracting company. DEFRA’s Register of Waste Carriers, Brokers and Dealers can provide businesses with the information required and offer an easy online platform to check if contractors carry a waste carrier licence.

But that isn’t the only element to consider when contracting a waste collection and disposal company. Compiled by Recycle Now, here is a list of possible questions and considerations you may decide to ask your new or existing waste contractor to optimise your recycling programme.

• What can and can't be recycling with them?
• Will an additional fee be levied if cross contamination occurs?

• How frequent are collections?
• How are missed collections reported?
• Are there any height or weight restrictions to consider?
• Is there a charge for overfilled recycling bins?

• When are charges reviewed?
• Can you terminate the waste contractor contract if you are not happy with the service or if a price increase occurs?
• Does the waste contractor provide incentives to encourage recycling?
• How and when can services be amended?

3) Select your Waste Streams

A waste stream is a specific flow of waste, such as plastic or food waste, from source to disposal to recycling. The individual recycling capability, treatment level, and hazard level of an item determines its waste stream.

After completing a waste audit, your workplace should have a good idea of which waste streams you want to collect. Many waste collection companies advise a separate, single stream bin* for waste materials that businesses generate most frequently e.g. paper, food waste. For smaller recyclable collection amounts, a waste audit may highlight the need for a multi-stream container.

*Simpler Recycling for England, introduced in March 2025, requires business and non-residential properties to regularly collect six types of waste: paper/card, glass, metal, plastic, food waste, and general waste. This requires a minimum of four waste streams with glass, metal, and plastic combined into one ‘dry mixed recycling’ stream. Some operators may also choose to collect paper and card alongside the dry recyclables, meaning only three bins are needed. For more information about Simpler Recycling legislation, read our guide.

Similar legislation is also in place in Wales and Scotland. Generally, it’s always best to check waste stream collections with your waste collector, as some waste collectors offer different recycling services and collections.

4) Choose your Recycling Bins

Choosing the right recycling bins is critical to determining how successful your workplace waste management programme will be. With various sizes, colours, styles, materials, and streams available, there are several things to consider when deciding which containers will be optimal for your recycling programme:

PLACEMENT

Outdoor recycling bins are ideal for public streets and parks, school and university campuses, playgrounds, high streets, car parks and leisure establishments, amongst others. They usually offer a larger capacity than their indoor counterparts to fulfil the waste needs of high footfall areas. They also tend to come with lockable entry and vandal-resistant material to provide added security and reduce damage caused by vandals or weather. Hooded apertures are also commonly used, which help to contain odours, repel vermin, and prevent rain from pooling inside.

Indoor Recycling Bins are suitable for internal environments including offices, classrooms, hallways, cafeterias, and receptions. They come in various styles and sizes to match individual waste requirements and aesthetics. With capacities ranging from as little as 2.5 litres all the way to 180 litres, interior recycling bins can fulfil the waste needs of both low and high footfall locations.

Whether outdoors or indoors, recycling bins should be placed close enough together to encourage people to recycle. If someone needs to walk too far to a container, they are less likely to recycle and more likely to litter. Recycling containers should therefore be placed in natural walkways, but they must not obstruct the path. A general rule of thumb (especially for indoor recycling) is you need one standard-size recycling station (160 litres) for every 30-50 people.

CAPACITY

To determine the capacity of bin you need, first consult your waste audit findings. The intended placement of the container, the intended users, and the intended recyclable waste for disposal will all help determine a suitable capacity for that area.

For example, if an office-based workplace generates a high volume of coffee cups as waste, but little of any other recyclables, they may choose to get a dedicated indoor coffee cup recycling bin alongside a 30-litre mixed recyclables bin. This would provide adequate capacity for both the cups and other types of recyclables.

Or, if a company generates a moderate amount of a few different materials, they may opt for a quad recycling station that provides four 40-litre waste streams in one unit. This cuts the cost of buying multiple bins, while providing the necessary infrastructure to achieve their environmental goals.

A school, warehouse, retail company, or any other business with high indoor and outdoor traffic may place several large-capacity recycling bins outside and some additional smaller bins indoors. This strategic placement will optimise waste collection both indoors and outdoors to the benefit of the overall recycling programme.

Once the placement, users, and waste streams are determined, finding an ideally sized recycling container has never been easier. With capacities ranging from 2.5-litre desktop recycling units to 1280-litre lockable wheelie bin storage, there is a wide range of indoor and outdoor containers to choose from.

For help with choosing a recycling bin, read our guide.

Reduced-size apertures (e.g. slot, round, oval) encourage users to place appropriate waste into the correct bin by providing openings suited for specific waste streams. This acts as a barrier to incorrect waste, preventing cross-contamination and minimising the possibility of facilities rejecting contaminated recycling waste.

Apertures come in various colours, which make them easy to spot and allow them to coordinate with recycling signage to improve recycling rates.

Graphics and signage that are clear and easily discernible can greatly contribute to the success of your recycling programme. They allow for easy identification of recycling points, while attracting and encouraging individuals to dispose of waste in the correct containers. The right images and graphics can highlight the function of each waste stream and create a simplified recycling system to minimise the possibility of cross-contamination.

Recycling bin graphics can also be personalised to incorporate your organisation’s logo or message. From a company crest to a full graphic wraparound, the aesthetic of your recycling bins can be tailored to fit workplace branding, corporate colour schemes, or government schemes.

Read more about personalisation and branding.

5) Communicate with Staff

Once the foundations of your recycling scheme have been decided, it’s important to communicate the changes to your staff. Informing and discussing recycling and environmental targets with staff members allows companies to receive feedback and suggestions, which can help put the final touches on your plan. It also ensures that all staff are aware of, and adhering to, the company-wide goal.

The most important aspect of communicating with staff is training them to use the new recycling programme. Company-wide comms and clear, visible signage both play critical roles in this transition, and it may also help to assign responsibility or ‘green’ roles within a team to improve the success of your programme. This combined approach to communication will help to lessen the probability of cross contamination and prevent the disposal of recyclables in general waste bins.

6) Monitor

Measuring and monitoring your recycling programme will enable you to identify emerging problems and adapt your scheme accordingly.

Performing scheduled reviews and spot checks can help keep track of your company’s waste generation and ensure that staff members are segregating waste correctly. Any lapses may indicate further training or communication is needed to fully engage staff with your environmental objectives.

4 Tips to Promote Workplace Recycling

Set an Overarching Environmental Goal – if all staff members are striving for the same target, and can see their colleagues actively pursuing the same objective, it encourages participation and therefore improves recycling rates.

Communicate and Accept Feedback – allowing staff members to comment and respond to your recycling programme before and during implementation is a useful way to discover any issues or helpful suggestions. Staff will have a good idea of what recycling streams are most beneficial for the workplace and which are not. This communication can be verbal, via newsletters, or even through the company intranet.

Set Targets to Measure Programme Success - achievable targets not only help measure success, but are also a handy way to encourage participation. By creating an attainable focus, targets present a fun way for staff to adopt important recycling habits, which helps affirm your overarching environmental goals.

Install Recycling Points – encourage staff to recycle by installing easily accessible and identifiable recycling points across your premises. These will enable staff members to recycle materials easily, preventing waste from unnecessarily going to landfill and therefore lowering waste disposal costs.

Need Help with Your Recycling Programme?

As the UK strives towards its goal of eliminating avoidable waste, recycling will take centre stage in the fight for a greener, more sustainable future. As workplaces and businesses, we all have a role in preserving the planet for future generations, and we must all work to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. So what changes will your workplace make to pursue environmental targets?

If you’re struggling to get started with your recycling programme, let’s have a look together. Reach out to us for a free waste audit, explore our extensive range of recycling bins and containers, or contact us with your enquiry.

Whether you’re aiming to comply with legislation, reduce waste disposal costs, or hit your environmental goals, we look forward to helping your organisation build a better future.

Our full Guide to Creating A Successful Recycling Programme is available to download as a pdf here.