How a 200-Person Office Cut Food Waste by 40% With Workplace Composting

A facilities manager shares how their 200-person office reduced food waste by 40% in just six months through a practical workplace composting program. Learn from their early mistakes—including confusing bins, missing signs, and summer odors—and discover the simple system that finally worked.

Chapters

• ~00:00 — Introduction: Why We Started Composting at Work
• ~02:15 — Meet the Facilities Manager Behind the Program
• ~05:00 — Setting a Goal for a 200-Person Office
• ~08:30 — Early Mistake #1: Choosing the Wrong Bins
• ~11:45 — Early Mistake #2: Launching Without Clear Signs
• ~15:00 — Early Mistake #3: Dealing With Summer Smells
• ~19:30 — The Turning Point: One Compost Bin Per Floor
• ~23:00 — Why Weekly Pickup Made the Program Sustainable
• ~26:15 — Using a Small Leaderboard to Motivate Employees
• ~30:00 — Cutting Food Waste by 40% in Six Months
• ~33:30 — Listener Question: Can You Compost Coffee Cups?
• ~36:00 — Key Takeaways for Starting an Office Composting Program
• ~38:00 — Next Week: Reusable Lunch Boxes

Pull Quotes

“We cut food waste by 40% in six months—not by building a complicated system, but by making composting easier to understand.”

“One bin per floor, clear signage, and a weekly pickup were the changes that finally made the program work.”

“Coffee cups are only compostable if they’re certified—and your local composting service accepts them.”

Resources Mentioned

• Certified compostable product labels and standards
• Workplace compost bins
• Clear composting signage
• Weekly commercial compost pickup services
• Floor-by-floor waste-reduction leaderboard
• Local composting facility acceptance guidelines
• Reusable lunch boxes

Guest Bio

[Guest Name] is a facilities manager responsible for workplace operations at a 200-person office. They led the organization’s composting initiative, helping reduce food waste by 4