Engaging with site visitors, service users and FM employees

Communication with FM employees, service users and visitors must be undertaken to ensure your recycling service is a success.

Below are some training suggestions for FM employees: 

• Equip FM staff with appropriate protective equipment for undertaking litter picking and bin emptying duties across your facilities; 

• Ensure they know what can and can’t be recycled to minimise contamination; 

• Provide clear instructions on what they should do with different waste streams or recyclables to help you meet your new recycling obligations. This includes identifying risks and how to mitigate them; 

• Provide training to permanent, seasonal and temporary workers. Use orientation training to ensure new starters can recycle from day one, with regular training and reminders for all employees; 

• Consider the size of containers, especially those for food waste, to reduce manual handling risks for anyone emptying containers into larger bins; 

• Encourage staff to provide feedback on how recycling is working across your facilities and make changes as necessary; and 

• Get feedback from staff, clients and service users at regular intervals to identify and implement any improvements. 

When engaging with visitors, service users and employees: 

• If you are taking on responsibility for waste management for clients and / or service users, ensure they understand their responsibilities and arrangements for recycling and waste management, and provide them with sufficient bin capacity to ensure they can recycle as is required by the new workplace recycling regulations. 

• Promote the recycling services to visitors in the promotional materials you provide for your facilities. This can also be included in any social media messaging or on digital display boards at your facilities. 

• Periodically, ask your waste and recycling collector for information on how much waste is being produced and how much is being recycled. Use this information to review how you can increase recycling in the future and consider setting targets to reduce waste or recycle more.

• Share successes with your stakeholders, e.g. service users, clients, local communities, and to on-site traders and vendors on the importance of their involvement in the success of your recycling scheme.