It’s peak service, your venue is packed with guests and your employees are in full survival mode. As orders fly out of the kitchen and people line up at the bar, every second counts. But in the chaos of a Friday or Saturday night, the recycling system you painstakingly set up is the first thing to fall apart.
In the rush to keep customers happy, processes aren’t followed, bins get contaminated and your sustainability efforts quite literally go to waste. It’s not deliberate. Even the best intentions can falter in the face of a busy service.
So, what can you do to bridge the gap between environmental responsibility and operational reality?
1. Put bins in the right places
In any hospitality business, efficiency is key. When every minute counts, your people don’t have time to make regular trips to sort waste. At the same time, when space is at a premium, hospitality venues can find it hard to offer the facility to sort recycling at the point of collection.
The key to ensuring your venue maximises recycling rates and stays compliant with legislation, while continuing to operate smoothly, is to put the right bins in the right places. That means food waste bins near your kitchen prep areas, paper receptacles in receptions and glass recycling in bars. Our Slim Jim® Vented Containers are designed to help increase recycling rates in even the tightest of spaces. Their sleek design and small footprint, combined with clever features like bag cinches and easy liner removal, make them stand up to the demands of busy hospitality venues.
Meanwhile, our BRUTE® containers are spotted in many back-of-house environments, being favorites with chefs, bartenders and housekeepers alike, thanks to their large volume, famous durability and easy movement.
2. Choose the right bin for the job
Not all bins are created equal. So once you’ve identified where your sorting solutions should be placed, you need to choose the right product for the job.
In hospitality, you need bins that are up to the job, containers that can handle busy shifts where there’s lots of waste and not a lot of time to dispose of it. You need durable solutions you can trust, bins that are designed to fit the job you need them for and that have long-running warranties to back up their claims.
Durably designed containers like the Slim Jim® Step On are perfect for areas like kitchens, where there’s a growing emphasis on waste management after the introduction of Simpler Recycling legislation, which requires food waste to be separated. Built to withstand even the toughest of environments, they feature clever features like slow-close step-on lids that help to conceal unsightly waste and stop unwanted odours.
While scale and durability are vital back-of-house, when it comes to customer-facing areas you need something that combines functionality with aesthetics. Small, smart and seriously stylish - our new Rubbermaid range reimagines waste management for modern venues. These dual-steam containers make waste management effortless in receptions, washrooms and anywhere front-of-house.
3. Clarity is key
Providing the right sorting solutions is only one side of the coin when it comes to improving recycling; the other is clarity. While it may be clear to you, your people might not understand what needs to go where, and that can lead to cross-contamination that can prove disastrous for your recycling rates.
After all, one greasy box in the cardboard stream, one bottle cap in the glass and suddenly your carefully separated waste ends up contaminated, potentially resulting in increased costs from your waste management contractor.
When your team is rushing through a busy service, you need to know that they will get recycling right. To help, we’ve built a label customisation tool that lets you quickly and easily personalise your recycling labels. From colour-coding to custom designs, there are options to help you bring clarity to your waste management systems.
Looking to sort your recycling?
Do you need help with your recycling? Just contact your local team, who will be happy to discuss your venue’s needs.
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