Containers and storage for your waste and recycling

Estimated reading time: 9 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, customers and visitors separate waste more effectively and increase the amount your business recycles.

In deciding what kind of waste and recycling containers and storage areas your business needs, think about these two questions:

What types and quantities of waste materials does your business generate? For example, a bar, pub or restaurant would generate large amounts of waste glass, cardboard and food waste, while an office likely generates paper and a small amount of food waste, plastic packaging, glass and metals.
Where in your business is waste being generated, and by whom? For example, a manufacturing business might generate large amounts of waste cardboard, but the staff break room would generate small amounts of plastic packaging and food waste from staff breaks.

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 by desks, behind the bar or at kitchen prep/clearing stations.

Checklist: choosing the right bins for your business

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. Commercial Food Waste Collections Guide
With lids or covers to keep materials dry and stop waste 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 correctly
Label containers clearly with the waste they contain

How to keep waste and recycling separate

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

Create recycling stations where waste and recycling are generated and include a container for general waste
Colour-code containers consistently throughout your premises to reduce confusion
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 employees 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 hospitality and food service environments. 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 businesses. 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 current cleaning or waste about supplying new bins if they’re needed.

Where to store your rubbish and recycling between collections

Most businesses have dedicated areas or compounds where they store their waste containers in between collections. These help to keep your premises tidy, as well as ensuring bins are easily accessible for staff and the waste service provider who empties them. Here’s how to store rubbish and recycling while it’s awaiting collection.

Keep bins out of the way – store bins and other containers away from public highways and pavements between collections
Make a storage area – ideally, store them in an external yard, internal storage area or purpose-built bin room big enough for several containers (this could be shared with neighbouring businesses) in a way that doesn’t make them a fire hazard
Provide safe and kerb-free access – position your storage area in a place that gives safe and easy access for both staff and waste collectors, including staff who are less mobile
Ensure step-free access – make sure bins can be wheeled safely without going up and down steps:
- Bins over 250 litres shouldn’t need to be manoeuvred over more than three steps
- The gradient between the storage and collection points should not exceed 1:12 or 8%
- Two-wheeled containers shouldn’t need to be moved more than 15m between collection point and vehicle, and four-wheeled containers no more than 10m
Collection Points - put containers for waste and recyclables for collection in places that minimise the need for difficult collection vehicle manoeuvres (such as reversing). As far as possible, they should also be separated from public areas. Liaise with your waste service provider to identify collection hazards and reduce or eliminate these risks.
Monitor and maintain – keep bins and storage areas clean and tidy to reduce the risks of attracting vermin, watching out for leaks and other damage Making Space for Waste: Designing Waste management in New Developments – ADEPT

Rubbish and recycling storage: how much space do I need?

The amount of storage space you need will depend on the types and quantities of recycling your business generates (as we saw in Step 1, there are six primary listed in the legislation) and on how often your waste and recycling is collected. The Waste Audit you completed in Step 2 and the Business Waste Calculator in Step 3 will help with this, and you can also talk to your current waste contractor.

Here are a few things to remember when planning how much space you need:

Make optimum use of the space – simple measures such as squashing plastic bottles, breaking down cardboard boxes, or (even better) reusing packaging will all help reduce the amount of space you need, and may allow you to reduce the size and/or number of containers you need and/or the frequency of their collection.

Good to know
Even small volumes of food waste can be very heavy. When they’re full, larger bins can pose a problem for both operatives and kitchen staff. To keep bins safe and manoeuvrable, our Commercial Food Waste Collections Guide advises using containers of 140 litres or less. For hygiene reasons, you may also want to have food waste collected more often than your general waste or dry recycling. Commercial Food Waste Collections Guide

Preserving the quality of your recycling, such as keeping paper dry, is important to maximise its chances of being recycled into new products, so ensure you have enough secure storage space for this.
Headroom – make sure there’s enough working headroom in your storage area – the minimum height should be two metres.
Turning circle – allow enough room for a clear turning circle of at least 1.5m diameter so that you can move bins around safely. You’ll need a much bigger turn circle if you have large, four-wheeled bins.
Space around the bins – aim for at least 150mm of space around each bin so you can move them unrestricted. Making Space for Waste: Designing Waste management in New Developments – ADEPT

If you’re reading this and wondering how you’re going to find enough space, don’t worry! Here’s how you can save on space while still keeping your recycling separate:

Smaller bins – how full are your existing containers when they’re collected? You may be able to manage with a smaller general waste bin if you separate out more of the bulky recycling – this could save you money too!
Use sacks instead – these may be an option for some types of recycling, and may give you more flexibility on storage.
Compacting waste – crushing certain types of recycling may help save space, but check with your waste service provider first to make sure they can accept compacted recycling.
More frequent collections – could bulkier recycling be collected more often so that you can manage with fewer or smaller bins?

You can read more about waste management in buildings in the Code of Practice – BS 5906:2005 Table 1.