How to better understand your waste and recycling

To identify the different types of waste your store produces, undertake a waste audit by walking through the different areas within your store i.e., front, and back of store including warehousing and delivery areas to examine the contents of general waste bins, and to highlight any waste reduction or recycling efforts that are already in place.

Within a store the areas most likely to generate waste will include:

• warehousing/back of store – packaging such as cardboard, plastic films & wrapping;

• staff room/mess room/office - generating paper, food and packaging materials and

• front of store – some packaging waste, promotional materials, damaged stock and unsold products.

Depending on the nature of your business and the items you sell, there may be types of waste that you produce, for example damaged stock, which may be hazardous and require a specialised waste collection service.