Start Recycling at Work
If your company or organisation already has a recycling programme, that’s good and you can recycle at work. If not, it’s time to start one now. Just follow our 6 steps to minimise waste and start recycling at work.
First, you would need to form a team and get commitment from your management and colleagues. Conduct a waste audit and find ways to minimise waste through reduce and reuse. Next, start a recycling programme and educate your staff on how to recycle. Finally, remember to gather feedback, review and improve your recycling programme.
1. Get Commitment and Form a Team
Highlight the benefits of waste minimisation and recycling to your management and colleagues, and get their commitment and support. Form a team to be in-charge of the waste minimisation and recycling programme, and ensure that resources are allocated to implement the programme.
2. Conduct a Waste Audit
A waste audit involves finding out the type and quantity of waste generated, and how the waste are generated and disposed. This audit would help you to identify the problems and opportunities for waste reduction. Learn how to conduct a waste audit.
3. Minimise Waste Through Reduce and Reuse
Based on the waste audit, identify the major waste types and find ways to minimise the waste generation. Reduce them at the source of generation or divert them from disposal through reuse. Refer to our Reduce and Reuse categories for ideas.
4. Set Up a Recycling Programme
After your waste minimisation efforts, identify the remaining waste that can be recycled. Find a recycling contractor to provide recycling bins and collection services. First, you can approach your current waste contractor and check whether they can provide recycling services.
For commercial buildings and industrial estates with recycling programmes, recycling bins or skips are usually placed at certain locations and the recyclables are collected by the recycling contractor.
To find a recycling collector or someone who wants your waste, check out NEA’s list of collectors and traders.
5. Educate Staff on How to Recycle
Educate staff on the new recycling programme – the location of recycling bins, what can be recycled, and where the recyclables end up. The education could be conducted through events, talks and through posters.
6. Review and Improve
Gather feedback about the recycling programme from the staff and conduct checks on the recycling bins to ensure that the correct items are recycled. Monitor the amount of waste generated and recycled. Adjust and improve the recycling programme if necessary.
If You Need Help
Green Future Solutions provides consultancy services to help companies and organisations introduce an effective and sustainable recycling programme in their office. The scope of the recycling programme includes:
- Conduct a waste audit to establish baseline
- Source for recycling collectors and bins
- Educate staff on waste minimisation and recycling programme
- Monitor and review the programme
14 Comments
bymedea Baccifava
On the picture you are demonstrating a recycling paper collecting box.
Where can souch a box be purchased?
Medea
byEugene
You can get them from recycling companies such as Wah & Hua (http://www.wahhua.com/waste_manage2.html#office), Sembcorp Enviro Tay Paper (http://www.sembwaste.com/), and maybe Singapore Recycle Centre (http://singaporerecycle.com.sg/index.shtml).
byShane
It is easy to make a difference in the office:
http://groundtoground.org/2010/11/04/coffee-grounds-collecting-at-the-office-getting-started/
byMs Taibah Ismail
I’m working in a mosque and incharge of estate maintenance. Noticed that our schools and office throws papers hi volume.
I was wondering is it possible to place the recycle green box in our mosque..intended location will be at the classrooms level 4 and general office level 3.
pls advise
thank you and regards
byEugene Tay
@Taibah, to request for recycling bins and collection, try checking with the current waste collector for your mosque, who usually would do recycling as well. If not, you may wish to check with the collectors at http://app2.nea.gov.sg/topics_collectrade.aspx. They usually provide the bins as well as the collection for a fee.
byBB
Hi,
Sorry if this is repeated question but i cant seem to find a proper solution.
I would like to start recycling in my company – it’s a very small company but we constantly consume a lot of plastics, paper and tin cans as we frequently hold meetings. Is there any agency that can set up separate recycle bins for these items an collect them as well? The Nea link you provided appears to collect by category and i just want something basic. Hope you can help!
byEugene Tay
@BB, you can try contacting companies such as Wah & Hua, Veolia or Sembwaste in the NEA list.
byLibin
Hi,its a very useful product where can i purchase this quad type recycle station for my institution. i am from Abudhabi, please any dealers or manufactures in UAE please contact me on glcauh@eim.ae.
byAMNA Branudin
Hi there
Our team would like to look into ways on how we can be more environment friendly.
With that, can you please look into the possibility of us implementing the following, and to share on the details for each initiative (cost, pros n cons, etc):
1) Recycling bin in the office
Regards
Amna