Cleaning staff are the daily operational level in waste management. Here are the national waste fractions and source separation at the workplace, handling of hazardous waste (chemical packaging according to SDS section 13) and clinical risk waste in the health sector — with the occupational health and safety considerations that come with it.
Introduction
When waste baskets and bins are emptied, it is the cleaning staff who in practice determine whether the waste ends up in the correct stream. Waste sorting has therefore become an integral part of the cleaning task — not just a matter of getting the bag out, but of keeping the waste streams separate all the way from the bin to the collection point.
The national waste fractions
Denmark has introduced a uniform, national source separation, where households — and at the same level businesses and institutions — must sort waste into a fixed series of fractions, marked with a common pictogram and colour system. The fractions are:
| Fraction | Typical examples in cleaning |
|---|---|
| Food waste | Leftovers from kitchen/canteen, tea kitchens. |
| Paper | Office paper, envelopes, newspapers. |
| Pap | Boxes, packaging cardboard (flattened). |
| Glass | Bottles and glasses from canteen/meeting room. |
| Metal | Cans, capsules, smaller metal packaging. |
| Plastic | Plastic packaging, film, bottles. |
| Food and drink containers | Juice/milk cartons etc. |
| Textile waste | Used textiles (phased in later than the others). |
| Hazardous waste | Chemical residues, batteries, spray cans, light sources (see below). |
| Residual waste | That which cannot be sorted in the other fractions. |
Source sorting on the workplace in practice
Good sorting depends on the system being easy to use — and on cleaning not mixing it together again when emptying. Some basic rules come back repeatedly:
- 01Empty each fraction into its own bag/container — do not mix two fractions because it is faster; then the whole bag becomes residual waste.
- 02Use uniform, marked sacks/colours so a fraction can be tracked all the way to the collection point.
- 03Do not fill the bags so heavy that they tear or cause lift injuries — bind off in time.
- 04Keep sorting points and buckets clean; a dirty sorting point is used incorrectly.
- 05Follow the workplace's waste plan — who takes which fractions where and when.
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