Think you know office bins? Take the quick quiz!

It happens right after the lunch rush. A staff stands in the staff kitchen holding a greasy pizza box or store-bought pasta tray. For a split-second, there’s a bit of eeny-meeny-miny-moe exercise that goes on between the recycling and general rubbish bins. Usually they panic, drop it in the nearest slot and walk away quickly.

We all assume we know how to recycle. But one stray dollop of pesto or a single rogue coffee cup can ruin an entire truckload of clean cardboard (so, no greasy pizza box in the recycling please). When that happens, the whole batch gets rejected at the facility.

Grab some tea and let’s see how sharp your workplace sorting skills actually are. No cheating on Google or ChatGPT!

Q1: You have just demolished a packet of cheese and onion crisp and a chocolate bar. Does that foil wrapper go in the mixed recycling?

Answer: Absolutely not! Crisp packets and sweet wrappers must go straight into the general waste bin.

Q2: You grabbed a flat white on the way into the office. Once it is empty, can you chuck the cup into the mixed recycling?

Answer: General waste. Despite looking like they belong with paper, standard single use coffee cups must stay out of your mixed recycling.

Q3: you toss your leftover fruit into the kitchen food waste caddy. What actually happens to it once it’s collected?

Answer: It gets whisked off to an anaerobic digestion facility where it is turned into electricity and heat to power homes.

Q4: Someone drops a drinking glass in the sink and it shatters. Can you sweep the pieces into the glass recycling bin?

Answer: Stop right there. The glass bin is strictly for bottles and jars. Drinking glasses, mirrors and cookware must always stay out.

Bonus question: You just couldn’t finish that plastic tub of yoghurt. Do you just chuck it quickly to the recycling bin?

Answer: Nope! Please take time (it only takes a couple of minutes or less) to throw the remaining yoghurt into the food waste caddy, quickly wash the tub and dry it with tissue (or leave it in the kitchen sink to dry) before throwing it in the recycling bin. This way you avoid contamination and also don’t give flies the satisfaction to buzz around.

How did you score? If you tripped up on a few, your colleagues are definitely doing the exact same thing.

Your waste and recycling have serious potential, but only if they end up in the right bin. The easiest fix is to put simple visual guides right above your bins, so nobody has to guess.

With the government’s Simpler Recycling rules legally requiring micro-businesses to properly separate waste streams by end of March 2027, fixing these habits today will save you a massive headache tomorrow. Sorting waste properly is a low effort move that protects the environment and makes your workplace look good without breaking a sweat.

(*This article is part of SUEZ's Sort It Out series-practical guidance helping businesses manage workplace waste, reduce costs and ensure compliance. Find out more atSUEZ’s commercial waste management services in the South Westor call 0800 990 3713.)