WasteCompositionAnalysis
National Theatre - Enterprises
November 2023

Audit Overview
The waste audit shows that the recycling rate could
have been 87% in October, if all your waste andrecycling had been diverted through the correct
recycling streams3.

Your General waste audit showed that only 27% ofmaterial present was general waste. The remaining 73%
could have been recycled in some way.

Your Plastic, cans and plastic containers (PCPC) Audit
showed that only 31% of material present was PCPC.
The remaining 69% should be disposed of via
alternative disposal routes.

87%Introduction
On 30/11/2023, Recorra carried out an audit on the general waste and mixed
recycling sacks from National Theatre - Enterprise
The audit aimed to identify and quantify what material is going into each stream.
Then we can make recommendations so specific improvements can be made.
This will lead to an increased recycling rate

Current performance
Reported1 performance as of October:
63%

s​

.​:​

Actual2 performance based on composition audit:

57%

General waste
From this audit we can see that only 27% of the material found was actually general waste.

Material

Weight (kg) % of sample0.073

Waste

8.027%

Glass

6.221%

Cans and Plastics

5.1

17%

Food

2.38%

Cardboard

2.27%

0.0357Film/ wrappers

2.07%

0.0275

Coffee cups

1.96%

Paper

1.14%

Compostables

0.83%

Tetra pak

0.00%

IT Equipment

0.00%

White Tissue

0.00%

Total

29100%

0.06420.21030.06790.07780.27170.1719

Waste
Cans and Plastics
Food
Compostables
Paper
Glass
Cardboard
Tetra pakCoffee cups
Film/ wrappers
IT Equipment
White Tissue

General waste

Food Waste

Cans

Coffee Cups

Glass

Cardboard

Plastics

Paper, Cans & Plastic Containers
From this audit we can see that only 31% of the material found was actually Paper, Cans & Plastic Containers(and Cardboard).

Material

Weight (kg) % of sample
0.0541

Waste

7.50

38%

Paper

2.56

13%

Food

2.01

10%

Glass

1.86

9%

Cans and Plastics

1.85

9%

Cardboard

1.74

9%

Coffee cups

1.18

6%

Film/ wrappers

1.08

5%

Compostables

0.15

1%

Tetra pak

0.02

0%

IT Equipment

0.00

0%

White Tissue

0.00

0%

Total

19.95

100%

0.09320.05910.37590.10080.00750.12830.09270.0872

WasteCans and Plastics
Cardboard
Paper
Compostables
Food
Coffee cups
Glass
Film/ wrappers
Tetra pak
IT Equipment
White Tissue

Paper, Cans & Plastic Containers

General Waste

Coffee Cups

Glass

Compostables

Food

Recommendations
Improve food recycling
8% of the general waste sample and 10% of
the mixed recycling sample audited wasfound to be food waste.
We would suggest launching a foodseparation scheme to all kitchens andrestaurant areas to capture all of the waste
food created by National Theatre Enterprises staff.
Separating food waste is beneficial to theenvironment as it can be sent to ananaerobic digestion facility, where the food isbroken down to produce biogas and fertiliser.

Recommendations
Educate staff
69% of the mixed recycling sample wasincorrectly placed in this stream, alongside 73%of the general waste sample being incorrectlyplaced.
Based on the high level of material in the wrong
bins, we would recommend undertaking activities
to engage with staff.
National Theatre - Enterprises could also takeadvantage of engagement activities such as
Lunch & Learns, workshops and revitalising
Green Teams.

Recommendations
Improve coffee cup recycling
6% of your overall sample was made up of coffee
cups. Coffee cups are made from virgin fibres, so
it is important to capture as many as possible forrecycling.
To capture coffee cups, they must be collected
separately in their own stream and sent to a
specialist recycling facility.
We recommend introducing a coffee cup
recycling stream at site. Contact your AccountManager if you are interested in this service.

Recommendations
Introduce colour coding
A strong colour coded message from posters,
tinted sacks, and bins will reduce the level ofcontamination and improve the quality of therecyclables.
All infrastructure relating to your recycling
scheme should follow a colour system; werecommend lime green for mixed recycling, grey/
black for general waste, and brown for foodwaste. This includes internal and external bins,
signage, and sacks.

Recommendations
Improve a SustainABLE Box
Created to capture all your hard-to-recycle items,
we'll give them a new life to the items often foundat National Theatre - Enterprises, recycling themusing our network of trusted and vetted service
partners.
We have a growing list of items that can berecycled in a SustainABLE Box, including crisp
packets, coffee pods, snack wrappers, PPE, andplastic film.
Contact your Account Manager if you areinterested in this service.

Recommendations
SustainABLE Procurement
For the first time, it is now incredibly easy toswitch to more sustainable alternatives. Our
team of experts have curated a selection of over
2,000 products based upon a criterion including:recycled content, ethical supply chains andenvironmental credentials.
Our ecommerce site has been reconfigured toshow you these products first, to help improveyour social and environmental footprint, whilst
still giving you access to all the products you may
ever need.
.

Recommendations
Improve a Vegware compostables service
2% of the overall sample was identified as
Vegware compostables.
With our new service, Vegware foodservice
containers, cutlery and cups are transformed into
quality compost in 7-weeks along with residue
food that would not normally be recovered withconventional food waste collection systems.

Recommendations
Improve a glass service
16% of the overall sample was identified as
glass.
Glass is one of the simplest materials to recycle;there is no limit to the number of times a glass
bottle can be sorted, crushed, melted and madeback into a new bottle.
Glass collected is transported to a specialist
facility, crushed and used to manufacture new
glass bottles in the UK.

Methodology

The following took place on 30/11/2023:
The auditor randomly selected bags each fromgeneral waste and mixed recycling from the audit
bins.
The auditor weighed the sacks, before
segregating each waste stream found within thesacks accordingly.
Each stream was subsequently weighed
individually in kilos and the data recorded.
Data on waste production was collated andresults are presented in this document.

Notes
1 This figure is what the recycling rate is atcollection. This does not include any
contamination that is sorted out at the Material
Recovery Facility. This is based on either actualor estimated weights of the contents placed in
the recycling bin
2 This figure is what the audit shows, considering

the contamination found in the recycling. This
does not include the recyclables found in thewaste, as this would continue to be sent to an
EfW facility and not recycled
3 This figure assumes that 100% of the material.​.​placed in the card, food and glass streams is
recyclable and free from contamination. This is
your optimal recycling rate, based on the resultsof the waste audit, which have been extrapolated
across the whole building.