[Your business name] · On-site hub
Event Waste Ops
Everything the site needs — materials, traders, safety, skips. One page.
🔎MaterialsWhat is it, which bin — search it
🛒Trader guideHow to present waste to us
⚠️SafetyHazardous items & sharps procedure
🗑️Skip plannerBuild the container order
Placing something new? Ask these:
1 · Mixed materials — can it separate into one clean material?
2 · Contamination — clean, or does soiling wreck the bale?
3 · Grade — right material, right stream? (brown paper ≠ cardboard)
4 · Volume — enough of it to be worth separating?
Reuse beats recycle · Source separation beats sorting later · Hazardous? Pull it and ask.
1 · Mixed materials — can it separate into one clean material?
2 · Contamination — clean, or does soiling wreck the bale?
3 · Grade — right material, right stream? (brown paper ≠ cardboard)
4 · Volume — enough of it to be worth separating?
Reuse beats recycle · Source separation beats sorting later · Hazardous? Pull it and ask.
The three phases
Build
Get-in packaging — cardboard, shrink wrap, wood, banding, metals. Clean bulk, easy diversion.
Show
Public streams — cans, compost, general, hazards. The rECOvary line’s daily battle.
Break
De-rig — signage, scrims, Terram, carpet, wood, metals. Arrives batched and separated.
⚠ Hazardous — never bale, never crush
No match — try another word.
TRADERS: presented right, your waste recycles. Mixed in one bag, it doesn’t. Two minutes to read.
The bag code — the container identifies the contents
Clear bag= plastics (soft or hard — not mixed)
Opaque bag= general waste
1-ton sack= cardboard
Two streams take no bags at all: food and glass go loose in their wheelie bins — bags ruin the compost and jam the glass crusher. Exact bag spec is confirmed per show; the principle never changes.
Stream by stream
Cardboard
Flat-pack every box, strip all plastic, into the 1-ton sacks. Dry.
Not wet, not full of packaging.
Soft plastics
Film neatly pushed into clear bags, tied when full.
No crisp packets or laminated wrappers — general.
Hard plastics
Empty rigid plastics into clear bags.
Never mix film and rigid in one bag.
General waste
Into opaque bags, tied at the top. Only what can’t go elsewhere.
Not the catch-all — separate first, general last.
Food waste
Loose into your caddy / 110 L / 240 L wheelie bin — NO bags.
A bag in the food bin ruins the compost.
Glass
Loose into the 240 L glass wheelie bin — NO bags.
Bags jam the glass crusher.
Cooking oil
Into the oil drum we provide.
Never down drains, never mixed with water/food.
Cans
Separate and drained.
Not mixed with bottles, glass or general.
The six rules
- Separate at source — a container per stream.
- Keep it dry — wet card and film can’t be recycled.
- Empty & flatten — boxes flat, contents to their own streams.
- Pull hazards out — see the red box.
- Food & oil in their own bins/drums.
- Present at your agreed point, on time.
⚠ Never in any bag: gas, aerosols, vapes, NOS
These explode or burn when compacted. Keep separate — hand to the waste crew or the designated drop point.
Trader guide · from the operations manual §4A
Hazardous — the one rule for all four
Treat as liveAssume pressure or charge remains, even if it feels empty.
Never crushNo crushing, piercing, heating or baling. Ever.
Pull & separateOff the line into its own container — before the baler.
🔋 Vapes
Spot itDisposable & refillable e-cigs, any size, empty or full.
DangerLithium battery — fire if crushed.
→ Fire-safe battery / WEEE container
🧴 Aerosols
Spot itMakeup, deodorant & suntan sprays, spray paint.
DangerPressurised — explodes if crushed.
→ Aerosol drum (empty cans may join metals)
🔥 Camping gas
Spot itButane/propane canisters & cylinders.
DangerHigh-pressure flammable gas.
→ Gas container — away from NOS · refillables to supplier
⛽ NOS canisters
Spot itSilver steel chargers & large 2kg+ cylinders.
DangerPressurised even when “empty”. Oxidiser — feeds fire.
→ NOS container — segregated from flammables
☣ Sharps — handle by procedure only
Never touch a sharp with your hands. Gloves don’t stop a needle. Tool, not fingers — every time.
If you find one
- STOP the line. Don’t let it move on.
- Warn others so no one reaches in.
- Grabber, never hands — lift it with the tongs from the kit.
- Straight into the sharps bin. Never a bag or pocket.
- Don’t bend, break or re-cap it.
- Clean & disinfect the spot and tools.
- Log it — what, where, when.
If you’re pricked
- Make it bleed under running water. Don’t suck or scrub.
- Wash with soap and water.
- Cover with a waterproof dressing.
- Report to the first aider now.
- Get medical help TODAY — A&E, occupational health or NHS 111.
- Record in the accident book.
⏱ Treatment is time-critical — go the same day
Safety · manual §8.7–8.10 & §8.23 · procedures to be signed off by your H&S lead
Container Order
Skip planner · manual §4B · every stream needs its container from day one