Containers for your educational establishments waste and recycling

Estimated reading time: 4 min

Providing the right bins and containers for your waste and recycling, and storing them in the right location, is essential for helping your staff, students and visitors separate waste more effectively and increase the amount your educational setting recycles.

In deciding what kind of waste and recycling containers and storage areas you need, think about these two questions:

What types and quantities of waste materials does your educational setting generate? For example, university halls, student bars and catering outlets would generate large amounts of waste glass, cardboard and food waste, a school is likely to generate quantities of waste paper and food, and an office is likely to generate paper and a small amount of food waste, plastic packaging, glass and metals.
Where in your educational setting is waste being generated, and by whom? For example, a student canteen might generate food waste from the students, but the staff break room would generate small amounts of plastic packaging and food waste from staff breaks. Catering waste is likely to be generated by meal prep in both university halls by students and in on-site school and university catering kitchens.

Answering these questions will help you manage the way waste and recycling moves through your premises. For example, you can position internal containers and bins in the places where waste is generated, such as in student accommodation kitchens, classrooms, break rooms and common rooms, by desks, behind the bar or at kitchen prep/clearing stations.

Checklist: choosing the right bins for your educational setting

Large enough to contain waste and recycling between emptying, but not so large that they’re difficult to manoeuvre or lift. We recommend that the containers you use to separate food waste indoors, for example in a food prep setting, should be 35 litres or less, and that the outdoor containers you use to present food waste for collection should be no larger than 140 litres, to keep them suitable for manual handling. WRAP Commercial Food Waste Collections Guide
With lids or covers to keep materials dry and stop waste and odours escaping
Store different types of waste separately so that they don’t contaminate each other – this also means you can reuse them more easily, and it’ll be easier to complete your waste transfer note correctly
Label containers clearly with the waste they contain
Make recycling food waste easy by providing containers with a foot pedal-operated lid that allows users to scrape their plates or empty their food waste kitchen caddy into the larger bin easily.

How to keep waste and recycling separate

It’s easiest to separate from non-recyclable waste at the point where it’s produced. Here’s how to keep your recycling separate from other non-recyclable waste:

Create recycling stations where waste and recycling are generated and include a container for non-recyclable waste
Colour-code containers consistently throughout your premises to reduce confusion

Best Practise Case Study
Kingston University has used waste and recycling “stations” with clear colour coding, easily recognisable material icons and gamification - using differently shaped apertures for each material - to clearly explain what item goes in what bin.
Both students and staff have positively engaged with the waste stations. Find out more here

Use our material-specific posters to label bins – they use distinctive colours and images that are used and recognised nationally across recycling services
Provide training – communicate the changes to your staff, students, visitors and cleaning and maintenance staff/contractor, providing separate training where necessary
Reward good practice – this will encourage further improvements

Good to know
There’s no official colour-coding system for bins in workplaces. However, it’s still good practice to establish a colour-coded system for food waste, dry recycling materials and general waste, especially across multi-site educational settings. Clear labelling and being consistent with waste and recycling bin colours should minimise things ending up in the wrong bin.

You can also speak with your facilities team, cleaning staff or current waste about supplying new bins if they’re needed.