Recycling and Sustainability — Cleaners Surrey Commitment

At Cleaners Surrey we place sustainability at the heart of every clean. Our cleaning teams and management work to minimise waste, support local circular-economy initiatives and lower our carbon footprint. We have set a clear recycling percentage target: to achieve an overall 70% recycling rate across our cleaning operations and client-managed waste streams by 2030. This target covers paper, card, plastics, glass, textiles and sorted food and garden waste where applicable, and forms part of our corporate sustainability roadmap.

Working with Surrey's borough systems

Across the county the approach to waste separation varies by borough — many Surrey towns use separate collections for food waste and combined recycling for paper, cardboard, plastics and cans. As Surrey cleaners we adapt to local collection models in places like Guildford, Woking, Reigate and Banstead, Elmbridge and others, ensuring that when our teams are on-site we follow the same kerbside sorting rules and help clients reduce contamination. Our staff are trained to respect bin colour schemes and the specific guidance provided by each borough council, so recyclable materials are handled correctly from the moment they are collected.

Partnerships for reuse and charitable redistribution

We actively partner with charities and community organisations to keep reusable items out of the waste stream. Where items collected during decluttering or cleaning are still useable, we coordinate donations to well-known organisations such as British Heart Foundation, Sue Ryder and local community groups and furniture banks. We also work with accredited textile recyclers and local reuse hubs to ensure that second-hand goods are channelled back into the community. These partnerships are a key part of our local sustainability work and help support vulnerable residents while diverting items from disposal.

Local transfer stations and processing

To keep transport emissions down and speed up material recovery we use local transfer stations and materials recovery facilities (MRFs) where possible. We routinely deliver sorted recyclable loads to facilities such as Slyfield Transfer Station and other borough-run transfer stations and recovery centres, helping reduce mileage and processing time. Our chain-of-custody procedures track materials from collection to final processing, ensuring transparency and measurable outcomes for recycling streams.

Fleet decarbonisation and low-carbon vans — our fleet strategy is a core sustainability pillar. Cleaners Surrey has begun replacing older vehicles with low-emission alternatives including electric vans and hybrids, supplemented where needed by Euro 6 diesel models during the transition. We invest in on-board telematics and route-planning software to minimise miles driven, and deliver eco-driving training to all drivers. The result is lower tailpipe emissions, quieter local routes and a reduced operational carbon footprint for our cleaning services in Surrey.

What we recycle and how: we sort and separate common waste types into dedicated streams before collection. Typical materials we capture include:

• Paper and cardboard (office waste, packaging)
• Mixed plastics, metal cans and aerosols
• Glass where borough collections permit
• Textiles and small electrical items through partner schemes
• Food and garden waste — where client sites participate in borough food-collection schemes

Measuring progress and targets

We monitor recycling performance monthly and report annually against our targets. Our headline commitments are to reach a 70% recycling rate by 2030 and to divert at least 95% of non-hazardous cleaning-related waste from landfill each year through reuse, recycling and energy recovery routes. These measures feed into operational KPIs for supervisors and cleaning teams so that sustainability is built into everyday tasks rather than treated as an afterthought.

Operational practices that reduce waste — our procurement and on-site behaviour focus on waste prevention. We favour concentrated and refillable cleaning products, reduce single-use plastics by introducing reusable microfibre systems, and encourage bulk supply deliveries to cut packaging. Training emphasises correct segregation at source to prevent contamination and improve recycling yields. We also schedule regular audits of waste streams at client sites to identify further opportunities for material reduction and reuse.

Community engagement and local action — beyond operational changes, Cleaners Surrey supports clean-ups and community collection days in collaboration with borough councils and local charities. We sponsor local textile and small electrical collections, encourage staff volunteering and run information sessions for clients on how to separate waste more effectively. Our Surrey cleaning services are therefore not only about tidy premises but about actively improving local recycling outcomes and building a low-carbon local economy.