Reusing banners reduces waste and makes work more efficient
What do we do with old banners that have lost their advertising function: throw them away? No, they get a second life! In a number of buildings in Utrecht Science Park, old advertising banners made of water-repellent canvas (such as roll-up banners or outdoor advertising) have been transformed into sturdy, reusable covers for rubbish bins.
A handy solution for waste during quiet periods
These covers are used during holiday periods, such as the summer holidays. During these periods, occupancy in the buildings is much lower than normal, which means there is also much less waste. The initiative was launched because there was no good way to cover waste bins during these quiet periods – for example, to keep out fruit flies. Previously, the bins were covered with bin bags. This looked untidy and, moreover, waste was often thrown between or under the bags.
The covers are intended for the familiar set of four waste bins located in the corridors of our buildings: paper, PMD, residual waste and GFE. A total of 250 covers have now been made, suitable for different types of waste separation stations, which are distributed across several buildings of the Faculties of Science and Geosciences. Other faculties have also shown interest, and this concept will soon be rolled out there as well.
By temporarily taking a large number of waste separation stations out of service, a considerable amount of (half-empty) plastic waste bags can be saved. In addition, cleaning staff no longer have to replace the bags on a daily basis, which makes their work both more efficient and less strenuous.
Joint commitment to reuse
Our own Doorvoerpunt voor materialen ensured that the banners were collected from the buildings and carefully removed from the aluminium cassettes so that they could be made suitable for this project. Social Goodz customised the covers.