On March 23rd, 2023, MassRecycle held their annual Conference and Trade show at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel in Marlborough. MassRecycle is a Massachusetts organization that assembles stakeholders to provide solutions to waste reduction and recycling issues as well as advocates for practical and effective legislation. The conference and trade show welcomed a large audience of people from the solid waste and recycling industry.
MassRecycle aimed to reduce waste at the event through several measures, working with RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts (RecyclingWorks) and Best Western staff to execute the plan. As lunch and other refreshments were to be served at the event, MassRecycle worked with the hotel to arrange use of reusable utensils and dishware, as well as washable cloth napkins, to prevent waste from single use disposable items. As requested by MassRecycle, Best Western staff coordinated with caterers and arranged for food waste, trash, and recycling hauling services.
Tommy’s Compost Service provided food waste pickup for the event and delivered collection bins that were staged at front and back-of-house. Catering staff scraped plate waste into Tommy’s bins and placed trash, such as chip bags, into a co-located trash barrel. Best Western coordinated with their current hauler, BP Trucking, to provide recycling carts for the waste sorting stations during the event.
Clearly labelling all waste containers and collection areas is key to increasing waste diversion while also reducing unnecessary contamination. RecyclingWorks developed customized waste bin signage, which was placed above every collection container, and included pictures to help attendees identify where to place their items. Signage was also used to train kitchen staff the morning of the event to describe what was acceptable in the food waste bin.
RecyclingWorks can help your organization reduce waste from special events such as conferences and fairs. To download our example signage in English and/or Spanish, please visit our Get Help page. RecyclingWorks’ Equipment for Collecting Trash, Recycling, and Food Waste page also provides best practices to ensure your collection containers are supporting your waste diversion programs. If your business or institution is interested in receiving free technical assistance or has a request to have signage translated, please contact RecyclingWorks at info@recyclingworks.com or call our hotline at (888) 254-5525.