How to go for Gold - What can we learn from our top recyclers?

(Drum roll) The results for the First Mile Recycling Standards 2024 are in and we’re celebrating the recycling success of our customers.

Overall in 2024 we avoided over 108,000 tonnes of carbon emissions through recycling – that’s the equivalent of 680,000 trees saved. Every customer contributed to that number and we’re here to give kudos to every one of them but especially to our gold standard customers.

What are the recycling standards?

Tracking and measuring what we collect and the environmental impact of that is an essential part of our business, so we have a whole load of data on every customer. This includes the number of recycling streams, recycling percentages, how much CO2 they’ve saved from their recycling, the amount of general waste and the green energy generated from that.  

These numbers help to define whether a customer has reached the standard for a gold certificate which is a recycling rate of at least 80% and four or more collection streams with First Mile. Today we’re celebrating and applauding those who made it!

The coveted (recycled) gold award goes to…

We wanted to give a shoutout to some of the companies who reached gold standard, and those top performers come in all sizes across all sectors. Our 28 recycling streams are there to reduce the amount of general waste for every type of customer and those with the highest recycling rates are taking advantage of the streams that fit their business.

Hospitality Recycling

Shop Cuvee is a small business making great wine fun and accessible. They sell online and from their premises in North London and Shoreditch where they also have a bar service. In 2024 they recycled an incredible 94% of all the waste collected by First Mile. With four recycling streams, Shop Cuvee is embracing sustainable business practices. We say cheers to that and a huge well done to them on reaching gold standard.

Hospitality businesses aiming to improve recycling efficiency can have food waste and coffee grounds as two separate collection streams and instead of a catch-all dry mixed recycling, a separate glass recycling stream can be a more practical option (especially for those serving wine and beer in glass bottles). To up your recycling rates, take a look at what is being discarded in your general waste and check what could be recycled via First Mile.

Office Recycling

Blink Films is a production company and another of our gold standard customers. They have an amazing 11 separate streams for waste and recycling including food, mixed recycling, general waste and WEEE recycling. At year end they’d recycled 85% of all their waste – a fantastic result.

Office based employers have a different set of recycling options beyond the basics. For example, printer ink cartridges, paper towels or secure paper shredding – all services offered by First Mile. Some office customers also use our food recycling service within communal kitchens or for their on-site catering. From the end of March, recycling food waste will be a requirement for organisations with 10 or more full-time employees.

Retail Recycling

One of our retail customers smashed the target for gold standard with their 88% recycling rate over 2024.

Brick Lane Bookshop in Tower Hamlets saved the CO2 equivalent of 17 trees with their recycling over the year. The independent retailer has four services with First Mile – Mixed Recycling, Cardboard, WEEE and General Waste.

Retailers are one of our biggest users of cardboard collection. With Simpler Recycling, First Mile customers will still be able to recycle cardboard with our Mixed Recycling steam, however we recommend setting up a separate cardboard recycling stream if you business has ample cardboard waste.

 Lots of our clothes retail customers also use our coat hanger recycling service for broken or unwanted hangers. Using these additional sector-specific recycling services reduces the amount going into general waste. And with general waste collection costing more than other recycling services, any reduction in this will save money.  

Our Zero to Landfill Policy

Having targets and measuring success is a fantastic motivator and our customers can check their First Mile portal to see how they’ve done this time.

Those that don’t make the podium still get a certificate, and that’s not just a ‘well done for taking part’ token gesture. Every First Mile waste customer can take pride in the fact that they’re a Zero to Landfill organisation.  Our policy of sending nothing to landfill means general waste is sent to our partners who transform it into green energy.  That on its own is worth celebrating.

How to improve recycling and reach gold standard?

To reach gold Standard a customer has to have a recycling rate of at least 80% and have four or more collection streams with First Mile. The 80% relates to how much of the waste collected by First Mile is being recycled, in other words, being kept out of general waste.

To reach silver standard, customers need to recycle at least 50% of all waste collected and have at least two collection streams.

Improving recycling rates is a team effort and by that we mean getting your employees on board and working with the support of First Mile. 

Check if there are any recycling streams that you could add outside of the basic food, general waste, and dry mixed recycling. More streams = less waste.  

Get your staff trained and on-board with our point of recycling posters or training days. We also host webinars and can provide links to our e-learning platform. Having clear instructions on site together with motivated staff will improve your recycling rates and reduce spoilage. We’ve helped lots of clients improve their recycling success rates with our support.

Shout about your sustainability success

The Recycling Standards certificate shows a commitment to sustainable business practice and it’s something worth shouting about. Our customers can download digital assets as well as printed certificates from the customer portal to display online or on-site.

If you want to partner with First Mile to improve recycling rates and become a zero to landfill organisation, get in touch with our team.

Simpler Recycling reforms are almost here

We’re aiming to help every customer get closer to the gold standard over the next 12 months and the introduction of Simpler Recycling rules will help. If you’re one of the businesses that has to comply by March 31^st this year, talk to us and we’ll help you get collections in place. Waste has to be separated into food, general waste and mixed recycling. Add another single collection stream (anything from coffee grounds, to WEEE or flexible plastics) and you’ve ticked the first box for gold standard.

 A huge thank you from us to Shop Cuvee, Blink Films, Brick Lane Bookshop and all our other customers. Together we’re reducing our impact on the planet.