Top tips for office cup recycling

Start conversations. Engage, don’t tell. Involve your staff in decision making about recycling in the workplace. Where you can, tap into people’s passions and interests. What do your staff care about? You could use this as a hook to engage people. Consider using voting bins to engage staff.

Nudge behaviour. You can prompt people to make a decision at the point of action such as by using recycling reminders at key locations and placing bins in strategic locations. Add reminders about key actions e.g. ‘empty your cup’.

Be authentic. Tell your story. Why is recycling coffee cups important to you as a business? What are you doing about it and what can employees do?

Be visual. Use videos, GIFs, infographics and eye-catching materials to get the message across. See our branding and messaging guide to help ensure you use consistent icons and colours. People are more likely to use bins that are bright, colourful and eye-catching. Visualising the amount of waste produced can help people understand the problem, so use data and storytelling.

Make it easy: Make recycling the obvious, default thing to do, by using clear, consistent communications and place general waste bin next to all recycling bins, so that people always have the option to make the right decision and only recycle what can be recycled. Where possible provide a place that people can empty out any liquid before recycling their cup.

Build a community. People are more likely to follow instruction from their peers, so create a team of sustainability champions within your business.

Use social norms. Recycling is something that many people do because it’s the norm; a habit that people get used to and which is reinforced by seeing other people doing it. Use active language – ‘we recycle’ rather than pleading with people to ask that they recycle. And don’t try to guilt-trip people!

Pride of place. Evidence shows people are more likely to recycle in clean, managed spaces. Explain how staff or tenants are contributing to keep their place of work pleasant or costs down by recycling their coffee cups.

Make it topical. Does it fit with celebratory time of year, a wider event or even something that people are talking about in the office.

Make it fun. Corny puns and bad jokes often help! The benefits have to outweigh the barriers when it comes to changing behaviours. Think about what could stop people from recycling their coffee cups versus what would motivate people to change their behaviour.

Learn and refine. Don’t expect to get everything right straightaway. Try, learn then refine.