Talking rubbish: CitySwitch waste heroes

Are you looking for inspiration to help reduce waste in your office?

Meet Roger, Jeff, Brad, Jo, David and Jen. We think they’re akin to Marvel superheroes.

They’re all ducking and weaving through challenges to prevent us from being overrun by dumped takeaway coffee cups, other single-use containers and textiles.

Head down butt up for better recycling rates

On the last Friday of every month EML has a drinks event for all George Street employees in Sydney.

Organic and carbon neutral wines, beers and ciders are served, and edible cups are used. Sustainable food options are nibbled (June featured a ‘critter buffet’ – insects), and drink containers are – of course – recycled.

EML has an arrangement with ReCollect . It takes away EML’s cans and bottles, reclaims the 10-cent deposit and donates it to a charity on EML’s behalf. The one rule is the waste stream must be contaminant-free.

Last month nearly 800 containers were recycled. The funds go to EML’s chosen charity once a year, This is My Brave Australia.

It’s the morning after the night before. Roger, EML’s waste hero (pictured above) is sorting through the recycling bins. He’s making sure no-one has thrown anything away other than cans and bottles.

Environmental sustainability – it’s all about the glamour!

Breaking the single use habit

Jeff leads a partnership with ReturnR and ANZ retailers at its Melbourne head office to reduce single-use coffee cup and container waste.

The program involved extensive stakeholder engagement to test products, review samples and integrate with building facilities.

Food and beverage retailers, cleaners, building management and ANZ employees were all on board to create successful outcomes.

The system makes it easy for ANZ employees to reduce waste. When they visit a cafe they receive a ReturnR reusable cup for their coffee or container for their breakfast or lunch.

They return the cup or bowl – which come in 2 sizes – to the staff kitchens, where they are put in the dishwasher before cleaners deliver them back to cafes in the building. A reusable container hub has been set up in the building's basement for storage.

ANZ has set a target to reduce waste to landfill by 40% by 2025 (against a 2017 baseline). So far they’ve slashed single-use cup and container use by 50% for the building’s retailers (from FY20 baseline Simply Cups recycling data).

If in doubt, throw it out: How Arup reduces contamination rates

Arup has 9 offices across Australia so effective waste management is quite a challenge.

Brad, Jo and David embrace the challenge with fervour, determination and practical nous. They tackle waste management in Sydney and then collaborate nationally.

Nine offices mean 9 different waste systems. Arup tackles contamination rates in 2 ways.

First, it minimises confusion by keeping all waste signs consistent across the country. Designed in-house, the signs ensure employees travelling around the country are familiar with the set-up.

Second, its key message to employees is ‘if in doubt, throw it out’. Although landfill is the worst outcome for waste, too much contamination can sabotage an entire bin.

When it comes to the ultimate office waste challenge – coffee cups – Brad has worked closely with building management to introduce a reuse solution.

Arup mugs are available in building cafes for employees to pick up their coffee on their way to work. The employees must then place them in staff kitchen dishwashers.

Cleaners then return the mugs to the cafes at the end of the day. As a bonus, employees get a discount on their coffee too.

Arup has also integrated the container deposit scheme with its bin stations. This makes it easy to collect 10-cent returnable items. All funds are donated to an Indigenous youth foundation.

Lastly, the team is tackling waste produced in home-offices too.

While a food scraps (organics) collection is available in the office, it’s not yet available to all employees working at home. For now, the team has taken it upon themselves to provide composting workshops for employees.

What an apparel company does with all its textile samples in the office

Globe International is a producer and distributor that specialises in purpose-built apparel, footwear and skateboard hardgoods. Jen Haighway works for FXD Workwear, one of Globe International’s 6 brands, in its Melbourne-based office.

Jen is a champion at using the Upparel bins at work to save textile waste going to landfill.

One significant challenge for an apparel company is disposing textile waste. This consists of wear-test samples, material swatches and prototype samples from supplier factories.

Globe collaborates with Upparel, a textile reuse and recycling solution, to reduce waste going to landfill.

Upparel sorts the material it receives and passes on up to 60% of it to charity partners. The remaining 40% is repurposed or recycled into UPtex, a material that is used in packaging, signage and homewares.

Beyond Jen, the rest of the FXD Workwear and Globe International team participate by recycling their old clothing and linen from home.