Since opening to the public, Smyrna has been a 100% zero waste producing venue.
We have provided waste bins for beneficiaries / users for their own waste. From April 2024 we will be removing all waste bins from the venue. There will still be small waste bins in the venue but only for your convenience when facilitating or collecting your own waste. The contents of these bins must be removed by you.
This means, when you use Smyrna and bring a waste producing product, we ask that you bring a bag for your waste and dispose of it responsibly yourselves.
We understand that recyclable products are not classed as waste so, please help us by recycling responsibly. This will:
- Help us maintain or pass our current environmental objective.
- Save valuable funds for waste disposal or receipt of any fines for incorrect disposal.
We will still be providing the following:
See "Duty of Care" below.
- Kitchen food bin for organic waste like tea bags and food. We ask that you do not place meat products or food products that contain peppers and chillies. (1) & (1.1-2)
- Food products that contain the following must be removed by you. There are additional food waste bags in the drawers to the right of the cooker:
- Peppers
- Chillies
- Nuts
- Meat
- Dairy (milk bottles, rinsed and with the tops on, can be placed in the appropriate bin)
- Nappy bin. For the convenience of our parent, carer and guardian beneficiaries, we will continue to provide a bin for used nappies. This can be found in the accessible toilet [on the left as you leave by the fire exit] next to the baby changing unit (2)
- Sanitary bin. We will continue to provides these in each toilet cubicle. (2)
- Bin for paper stick wrappers and tea bag wrappers. This will be placed next to the organics bin and can only be used for these. An additional container will be added to dispose of the milk bottle seals - NEW by end of May 2024
To ensure Smyrna recycles correctly, we'd prefer you to take all your recycling home with you, if you cannot, you may use the bins designated for recycling produced by Smyrna ...
In the kitchen we will continue to provide the following with related requirements if you are unable to recycle the items yourselves.
When our beneficiaries bring in their own food items, we will continue to provide bins for:
- Recyclable plastics. (3) & (3.1-2)
- Please separate any non-recyclable portion of the plastic
- Discard all residual food waste
- Rinse and dry plastic containers before placing them in the appropriate bin.
- Cardboard and paper. (4)
- If the cardboard has a cellophane window that enables your product to be seen through the packaging, please remove this and dispose of in your own waste.
- If the cardboard had food products stuck to it, please wash this off. If it will not wash off, please dispose of this in your own waste.
- Flatten all boxes.
- Cans. (5)
- Please ensure all cans and glass are cleaned / rinsed through and are dry before placing in the correct bin.
- Glass recycling has not been undertaken at Smyrna, beneficiaries have always removed this themselves.
- The can bins will shortly be removed as we will no longer be providing canned refreshments.
Duty of Care.
We have a duty of care to our volunteers, please ensure that you remove waste products and dispose of them correctly. Please ensure that all recyclable products are separated, cleaned and dried.
- Due to food allergies by a member of the volunteering staff, please DO NOT include any pepper or chilli based products in the recycling bin. These items can cause skin irritation or anaphylaxis to some volunteers.
- In addition, please don't add meat-based products. Although our volunteers will not be eating these products from the bin, there are also allergic reactions we need to take into account.
- This also applies to nuts and dairy products.
- Do not dispose of used nappies and related nappy changing products in any other bin or place them down the toilet.
- Any product found to have been placed down the toilet, you could be charged for the removal of the item(s).
- Whilst nappies class as non-hazardous clinical waste or sanitary waste but are often referred to as offensive waste as they normally have an unpleasant sight and smell, but are not hazardous. in most cases. (4)
- Whilst sanitary waste includes non-infectious bodily fluids that are not otherwise clinical waste, they should be categorised as “offensive/hygiene waste.” They must still be managed carefully to avoid harm. (4)
- We have an agreement in place for collection, removal, and disposal.
- Separate and clean this packaging. Take them away with you if they have contained any of the ingredients listed above in the Kitchen Food Bin and Organic Waste section.
- Crisp packets, cereal bag packets and any other plastic film type packaging must be removed from the venue and disposed of by yourselves.
- Please follow the instructions above in Cardboard and Paper if you need to recycle them at Smyrna.
- Please follow the instructions above in Cans and Glass if you need to recycle them at Smyrna.
