Staff use recycling bins when three things are true. The right bin stands where the waste is made. The sign on it shows a photo. Someone checks the result each month.
Five steps get you there, at one site or many. Audit each site, standardise bins and signs, brief your own teams, track four numbers, then fix the weakest sites.
The monthly check is what catches a slip. At a retail mall client, recycling fell from 6.7% in April 2026 to 3.2% in June. April's recycling had carton and metal. May and June had carton only. The report told the site what to check. Were cardboard and metal going into the general bins? Had recycling pickups dropped? The figures are published with the client's permission.
Where Act 672 applies, separating is also the law. Commercial, industrial and institutional premises there have had to separate waste at source since 2020.
Five steps set up source separation at every site
Each step leaves a record, so you can see it was done at every site.
| Step | What you do | The record it leaves |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Audit | Weigh what each site throws away, by material | A baseline sheet per site |
| 2. Standardise | Use the same bins, colours and signs everywhere | A bin map and one set of signs |
| 3. Brief | Your own team leads brief staff at the bins | A dated attendance list |
| 4. Track | Record four numbers per site each month | A monthly sheet per site |
| 5. Fix | Rank the sites and visit the weakest | A fix list with names and dates |
Step 2 is done when a site passes this checklist
- Bin types and sizes match your other sites
- Bin colours match your other sites
- Every bin has a photo sign, not text alone
- Bins stand where the waste is made, not just at the exits
- Each bin has a fixed pickup day, written down
- The site has a written routine for its type: office, factory, shop or warehouse
Step 4 tracks these four numbers at each site
| Number | How to work it out | Your target |
|---|---|---|
| Recycling rate | Recycled ÷ (recycled + landfill), by weight | ____ % |
| Contamination rate | Wrong items ÷ everything in the recycling bins, by weight | ____ % |
| Capture rate | Recyclables in the right bin ÷ all recyclables thrown away | ____ % |
| Cost per tonne | The month's waste bill ÷ tonnes collected | RM ____ |
Set each target from that site's own Step 1 baseline, not from a borrowed benchmark. Raise it as the site improves.
Each step works the same way at one site or many
Starting with one site? Our 90-day waste diversion playbook sets the same work out in three 30-day phases.
Step 1: Audit each site to learn what it throws away
You cannot choose bins until you know what goes in them. At each site, record:
- Total waste by weight, not by bin count
- The split by material: paper, plastic, metal, glass, food and the rest
- What is recycled today, if anything
- Wrong items found in the recycling bins
- Where bins fit, and where the collector loads
With many sites, start with the ones that throw away the most. Our waste audit guide shows how to do the count yourself. We also offer a free waste audit, which takes about a week.
Step 2: Standardise the bins, colours and signs at every site
Staff, cleaners and contractors move between sites. If blue means paper at one site, it must mean paper at all of them.
The three colours below are the ones Rompin District Council, in Pahang, publishes for recycling bins.
| Bin colour | What goes in |
|---|---|
| Blue | Paper |
| Brown | Glass |
| Orange | Aluminium cans, steel cans and plastic |
General waste goes in its own bin. Keep food and liquids out of the three recycling bins.
Bins are bought, not hired: wheelie bins are sold outright. The only bin you hire is a RORO bin, for bulky one-off loads.
Bins and pickup days drift apart when each site has its own collector. One partner across every site, which we call total waste management, puts the pickups and the records under one contract.
Step 3: Your own teams brief staff at the bins
This step belongs to your own teams. It is not something a collector, or GarGeon, does for you. The habit forms on your floor, under your own supervisors.
- Keep each briefing to 15 minutes, standing at the bins
- Bring real items and sort them in front of the team
- Cover the three mistakes that site makes most
- Repeat it monthly for the first quarter, then once a quarter
- Put it in the day-one induction for new staff
Where staff change often, name one person per shift to check the bins. Share each spot-check with the team, with a photo of a clean bin beside a spoiled one.
Step 4: Track the four numbers from weighed pickups and bin checks
The recycling rate is also called the diversion rate. It and the cost per tonne come from weighed pickups, so ask your collector for the weight of every load. The other two need a bin check. Each month, open a sample of bins and weigh what sits in the wrong place.
Each GarGeon pickup record carries a photo, a timestamp and the weight. Our waste collection tracking page shows how that works across sites. To check a rate by hand, use the worksheet in our guide to improving waste diversion rates.
Step 5: Fix the weakest sites first
Once a quarter, rank your sites by recycling rate. Then act on the list:
- Ask the best sites what they do differently, and copy it
- Visit the weakest sites and look inside the bins
- Move bins closer to where the waste is made
- Change the pickup day for a bin that overflows or sits half empty
- Repeat the Step 3 briefing where wrong items keep turning up
Write each fix down with a name and a date, and check it at the next review. To see how far separation takes a site, score it on our zero-waste ladder.
Separation is compulsory where Act 672 applies
Where a site stands decides which rule it follows.
- Act 672 states. Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Johor, Kedah, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Perlis. The separation rule there asks you to separate your waste, appoint a licensed collector and keep disposal records. Ignoring a written direction to separate carries a fine of up to RM1,000 under section 74(2) of Act 672.
- Selangor. Local councils and KDEB Waste Management run solid waste there today. On 29 July 2026 the Housing and Local Government Minister announced that the Cabinet had agreed to extend Act 672 to Selangor in phases, covering all 12 local authorities. No start date or phase order has been published.
- Other states. Ask your local council what it requires. In Sabah and Sarawak, ask the state government.
Run the same five steps at every site anyway. One standard is easier to manage than two. Our Act 672 compliance guide covers the law in full.
If you cannot say which of your sites separates well, start with Step 1. Tell us your sites and the collectors you use today. Book a consultation, and we will show you what each site sends to landfill and what it recycles.
