It is often challenging for businesses to generate buy-in and broad participation in recycling initiatives within their facilities. There are many ways to reinforce the process and educate your employees, but without a doubt, the best place to start in order to make significant positive improvements is by incorporating signage on your waste & recycling receptacles. In this post, we share why signage is so important for businesses large and small, and the best practices for incorporating waste & recycling signage at your business.
Why Signage is so important
Clearly labeled bins eliminate the guesswork and ensure employees have the appropriate guidance to discard waste materials into the proper receptacles. We highly recommend labeling each unique container (commingled recycling, mixed paper, compost, landfill, etc.) throughout your facility.
Assign a color to each waste stream type that you have a receptacle for. This will help improve recycling participation by creating familiarity and further solidifying which bin to use for recyclables, landfill waste, organic waste, etc. After assigning colors to each stream, ensure your signage matches the corresponding color. Colors for each waste stream vary from business to business, but these are the most common colors that RoadRunner and our customers use:
Yellow: Mixed-Paper Products
Orange: Cardboard Waste
Blue: Commingled Recyclables
Green: Compost / Organics
Black: Landfill
Presenting your colleagues with eye-level messaging on the "how-to's" of recycling will help reinforce the proper management of materials. Ensure visibility by posting large, easy to read, signage on or above each container. The most popular sticker placements include the front of the container, the backboard, or next to the openings. If possible, post additional signage on walls above the receptacles.
Include examples of commonly used items for each stream to help encourage correct separation of materials. Sometimes, office workers have trouble remembering which materials belong in which container, but seeing a list of accepted materials can clear up any confusion and guide them. In the example below, we include compostable items directly on the signage.
You can also include images or graphics of commonly materials generated at your facility. Using specific imagery makes it easier for people to identify the appropriate receptacle to use.
Listing the "Not Recyclable" items can be just as helpful as listing the recyclable materials, and a great way to mitigate common contaminants from being tossed in the wrong container. We're talking about you, Styrofoam, plastic bags, used napkins, and paper towels. Position the “don’ts” at the bottom of your signage and stickers.
Do your best to ensure the color, image, size, messaging, and text is consistent at each collection point inside your facility. For example, if you use a green container for organics, then make sure to use green containers and signage for organics throughout your entire facility. Using varying colors, images, messaging, or text throughout your office or facility can create confusion and negatively impact the benefits of incorporating signage.
We often find that language barriers lead to contamination. Make sure to address this by including intuitive graphics or imagery in your signage and stickers. As much as possible, translate your signage into each language used by your employees to further support participation in your waste and recycling program.
Now that you understand the best practices for waste and recycling signage, it's time to get started at your own facility! Let us know if found this resource helpful in the comments section below, and of course, feel free to get in touch if you have any questions! Thanks for reading.