Help your business break up with single-use plastic

10 easy things you can do to reduce single-use plastic in your business or workplace

Plastic Free July may be coming to an end, but there’s no time like the present to begin making sustainable choices and cutting out unnecessary plastic from your business or workplace.  To help get you started, we’ve pulled together 10 simple changes you can make to your business, office or workplace to reduce the amount of single-use plastic and encourage more sustainable practices. 

Carry out a plastics audit

Ask employees to record their plastic waste when they throw or collect for a week to find out what types of plastics are used the most. Once you have this data, set targets to reduce and remove this plastic completely.  

Stop selling/providing bottled water 

You may find that a lot of the single-use plastic that is thrown away is from bottled water. This is an easy win for your business! Stop selling or providing bottled water and encourage employees and customers to bring their reusable water bottle to refill instead. And on that note… 

Install a water dispenser

Whatever your business, our Refill partner Culligan can help you reduce single-use plastic with their drinking water solutions in your place of work. Offices could reduce plastic cups with a mains-fed water cooler while event and hotel spaces, gyms and schools have the option of indoor or outdoor bottle refill stations or water fountains. Restaurants and the hospitality industry could replace plastic bottles of water by using a chilled and sparkling water dispenser, accompanied by a reusable glass bottle system. Contact [email protected] for more information about installing a water dispenser today. 

Speak to your canteen/hospitality team 

Once you’ve stopped selling bottled water, why not speak to your canteen staff/hospitality providers/managers about the possibility of charging for single-use takeaway boxes and coffee cups – or, better still, to remove them completely! Staff and customers will soon remember to bring a refillable container, Tupperware or reusable cup with them. Read our packaging guide. 

Start a Tupperware amnesty box 

Speaking of Tupperware, consider creating a shared box/collection of lunchboxes, Tupperware containers and reusable coffee cups which can be used by any employee at lunchtime. Download a poster to display next to it here. 

Get Team Codes on the Refill app 

Our free Refill app connects you to over 300,000 places you can eat, drink and shop without plastic. Encourage your employees to download it to find places to refill drinking water, coffee, food and even zero waste shopping nearby. Set up a team code to see both your individual and collective impact, and how many pieces of plastic you have saved as a team. Contact [email protected] for more information about setting up team codes. 

Engage with local businesses 

Chat to local cafes, shops, bars and restaurants about the issue of plastic pollution and sign them up as Refill Stations for free on the Refill app. Find out more about adding a Refill Station here. 

Communicate change 

Internal comms play a huge part in changing behaviour, leading to long-term sustainable practices and reduction in waste. Send internal emails or use notice boards, Slack or other platforms both physical and digital, alerting employees to any changes and reminding them to remember their reusables, download the Refill app and do their bit. Download our Remember your Reusables posters here. 

Inspire action 

Encourage your employees, supporters, customers and/or followers to take action to stop plastic pollution by signing and sharing our petition to ban single-use in cafes and restaurants, signing up to our Plastic Free Journal monthly email newsletter, and checking out more tips on living with less plastic in our Plastic Free Living Hub. 

Become a Refill workplace 

Work for a council or local authority? You can apply for our Refill Destination Awards Programme which helps forward-thinking councils that are committed to transforming their local area by tackling plastic pollution and helping to combat climate change. Or perhaps you work for a university, in which case becoming a Refill Campus could be just the thing to help meet your sustainability goals and implement long-lasting systems and behaviour change. Contact [email protected] for more information about our Refill Destinations and Refill Campus Awards.