Providing employees with a desk-side recycling bin and a smaller trash bin attached to it can increase recycling and reduce waste in the workplace, where half of respondents to a national poll said recycling is difficult.
That recommendation, known as the “little trash” scenario, is one insight comprising the first wave of the “Recycling at Work” study, commissioned by Stamford-based Keep America Beautiful and sponsored by Purchase-based PepsiCo Recycling and 44,000-employee commercial real estate company CBRE, which maintains offices in White Plains and Stamford.
“Conducted over a six-month period in 2014, the study”™s purpose is to help define best practices for a recycling program that will foster improved recycling behavior in the workplace and result in an increase of quality and quantity of materials collected,” Keep America Beautiful said in a statement. “The overarching recommendation, which achieved a 20 percent increase in office recycling during the study, is to provide employees with a desk-side recycling bin along with small trash bin.”
Among the data gathered nationally from 200 long- and short-term study investigations:
- Office paper is the most frequently recycled material, but it was still present in the trash in 50 percent of offices.
- Plastic beverage bottles and aluminum cans ”“ termed priorities, along with paper ”“ are about equally present in recycling bins and trash bins.
The study also found paper towels frequently end up in the recycling bin along with, to a lesser degree, food scraps. Getting them in the trash is also deemed a priority by Keep America Beautiful.
“In common areas,” the findings revealed, “it”™s recommended that recycling and trash bins be paired with simple, consistent signage provided on bins and posters with the most common recyclables identified on the recycling bin.”
The study, conducted by California-based Action Research, focused on the effects of office bin placement on recycling rates and level of contamination.
“Our research clearly shows that by combining specific-sized trash and recycling receptacles, with simple signage and messaging, businesses and other organizations can increase employee participation and improve their rate of recycling of office-generated materials,” said Jennifer Jehn, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful.
The environmental organization, which was founded in 1953, said 50 percent of respondents in a recent national poll indicated it is “difficult to extremely difficult” to recycle in the workplace. A lack of convenience was determined to be the greatest obstacle to recycling.
Pepsi, beginning in 2010 when it launched its PepsiCo Recycling effort, set a goal of recycling 50 percent of U.S. beverage containers by 2018; the number is 42 percent today. The program to date has recycled 83 million containers.
Aluminum cans are the most recycled containers, with industry sources reporting 67 percent recycled in 2013.
Keep America Beautiful reported, “After implementing the ”˜little trash”™ condition, offices significantly increased the proportion of material in the recycling bin that was actually recyclable and decreased the amount of trash collected in the bin. There was also a decrease in the amount of recyclables improperly placed in the trash bin, especially that of office paper. Paper in the trash bin was reduced to nearly zero. Moreover, the respondents of the ”˜little trash”™ approach had a positive experience with the program.”
