The challenge
- Creating a consistent waste system across 90 offices in multiple countries
- Different languages, landlords, suppliers, and recycling regulations in every location
- Capturing reliable waste data before it disappeared into building-level streams
- Making recycling easy for busy employees without relying on individual motivation
The objective
A fast-growing global insurance group needed a waste system that could scale with it, from 300 employees across 10 offices to 3,500 people in 90 offices in the space of five years. The challenge was significant: how do you create a consistent, easy-to-use recycling system across dozens of countries, languages, landlords, and local regulations, without complicating things for the people using it?
Working as embedded sustainability lead, Ecofiniti set out to design a globally consistent waste system that any employee could use intuitively, make recycling the default regardless of country or language, manage all operational and regulatory complexity behind the scenes, maximise recycling rates and achieve 100% landfill diversion, and capture reliable waste data to support environmental reporting.
The solution
A consistent global front end
standardised signage, bin shapes, and colour-coding embedded into the design specification for every office worldwide. Blue meant paper. In every office. Every time.
Centralised waste points
desk bins were removed. Waste was centralised near kitchen areas and defined collection points.
Cleaner processes and data capture
colour-coded bag tags matched the bins. In larger offices, bespoke on-site weighing scales, paired with a colour-coded iPad interface, allowed cleaning staff to record waste data by material stream before it entered landlord-managed building systems.
Back-end complexity handled by Ecofiniti
different landlords, suppliers and recycling regulations were managed behind the scenes, maintaining a uniform user experience even where local constraints varied.
Composting and biodegradable packaging in offices with on-site cafés
switching to compostable packaging so that food waste and its packaging could go into a single composting stream.
Education and daily feedback
staff introductions during HR inductions and office-opening walkthroughs, plus screens in kitchenette areas displaying daily environmental KPIs.
Benefits
Simpler employee behaviour
Colour, shape and clear signage removed the cognitive burden from staff. Employees didn't need to know local recycling rules; they simply sorted waste the way the system showed them.
Reliable data for reporting
Capturing waste data at source, before it entered the building's waste stream, gave the organisation its own accurate performance data, feeding environmental reporting and enabling rapid response to changes in performance.
A system built to scale
As the organisation grew from 10 to 90 offices, the waste system grew with it, because it was designed into the office specification from the start.
Results
- Across 90 global offices, the system delivered industry-leading waste performance: 97% recycling and 100% landfill diversion.
- A bespoke 276-piece signage programme was developed across six sign types for the global rollout, each tailored to a specific office setting.
- The organisation's carbon footprint assessment, covering 90+ offices worldwide, confirmed that Scope 1 and 2 emissions had reduced by 30% year-on-year, driven largely by office consolidation and operational efficiencies. The waste system's 100% landfill diversion rate contributed directly to this performance, as well as to CDP and GRI reporting obligations.
“We took the complexity away from the people. Behind a simple, consistent system, we were managing different suppliers, regulators, and landlords in every country.”