Reduce Contamination with the 'I Don't Know Bin'

Recycling is confusing, and contamination is a universal problem. Organisations committed to reducing their waste footprint know that contamination can hinder their sustainability goals. Contaminated waste leads to additional disposal fees, increased costs, potential greenwashing, and loss of environmental certifications.

To help reduce contamination and educate your team, try this simple but effective exercise:

The “I Don’t Know Bin”

1. Set up “I Don’t Know” bins at your main recycling stations.

2. Communicate with your team about the purpose of the bin and its time frame.

3. Collect the items from the bin, then explain where each item should go and why.

4. Use visuals to help people remember the information - example below.

5. Keep it short and to the point.

6. Link to additional information for those who want to learn more.

Method Examples:

Here are a couple of items that landed in our bin and how we communicated about them:

Posted in our office channel, we used a picture of the bin and a coloured block that matched the bin it should go into. We provide a short description of the item and the correct bin for disposal – it’s as simple as that! For this tape roll in our office the tape can go into our soft plastics bin and the cardboard roll can go in the paper bin.

The second example was a bit more confusing, and we had some follow-up questions in the thread around unnumbered plastics. Of course, we reshared our own article on understanding the recycling numbers! It’s our most popular article for a reason, you can read it here.

Benefits of this exercise:

• It’s specific and actionable.
• It encourages people to second-guess their assumptions.
• It allows individuals to ask questions without feeling singled out.
• It can be easily repeated.
• It will help educate your team and reduce contamination!