During the stay

WhatsApp template: recycling and trash collection

Recycling is the daily habit foreign guests find most confusing in Italian apartments: 5 containers, different schedules per street, fines if wrong. Without clear instructions, guests accumulate trash in the apartment or leave it incorrectly — generating conflicts with neighbors. Three variants: scheduled door-to-door, fixed collection points, simplified system.

When to send

When to send: with check-in message, every stay. For 4+ night stays it becomes critical (guest will produce trash).

3 ready-to-copy templates

Three tone variants. Pick the closest match to your style, or use them as a baseline to personalise.

Placeholders like {{guest_name}} are intentionally left visible — replace them with your data before sending.

1Door-to-door (scheduled)

Hi {{guest_name}}, important info about trash — here in {{city}} we have door-to-door collection.

📅 Schedule for {{address}}:
• MONDAY evening: 🟫 ORGANIC (food waste, kitchen scraps) — compostable bags in drawer under sink
• TUESDAY evening: 🟦 PAPER & CARDBOARD
• WEDNESDAY evening: ⬜ MIXED ('dry' waste)
• THURSDAY evening: 🟨 PLASTIC & METAL CANS
• FRIDAY evening: 🟢 GLASS
• SAT/SUN: no collection

🚮 Trash exposure: from 8 PM to morning of indicated day. Leave containers {{exposure_location}} (sidewalk / lobby / inner courtyard).

🛒 Divided containers in the kitchen are already set up — just put trash in the right bag.

⚠️ Mistakes = €100 fine (to building, passed to us). Please follow colors, it's simple.

Not sure? Send me a photo, I'll tell you which bag.

2Fixed containers

Hi {{guest_name}}, trash info.

♻️ In {{city}} collection works with fixed containers 200m from the apartment, at {{collection_address}}.

Containers already divided by color:
🟫 ORGANIC (food)
🟦 PAPER & CARDBOARD
🟨 PLASTIC & METAL
🟢 GLASS
⬜ MIXED

In the apartment you have divided bins in the kitchen — when one is full, go down and put the bag in the matching container.

🕐 Available 24/7, no specific hours.

📍 Container map: {{collection_maps_link}}

Questions? Message me here.

3Simplified system

Hi {{guest_name}}, quick trash info.

🗑️ In the apartment you have 2 containers in the kitchen:
• 🟫 ORGANIC (food, fruit, scraps) — green compostable bag
• ⬜ EVERYTHING ELSE (plastic, paper, glass, general)

When full:
📍 Go down to ground floor, there's a shared container in the courtyard {{container_location}}
📍 Put the bag in the container matching the color

🕐 Always available, no schedule

No need to separate plastic/paper/glass — the building has a simplified system managed directly. You only have to separate organic from the rest.

Done. Questions? Message me.

Practical tips

1If your area has complex recycling, ask someone from the building to print the updated calendar. It changes every 1-2 years and hosts never know for sure.
2For error management (guest puts plastic in organic, etc.), follow up the next day with courteous message — 'for next time, plastic in yellow bag'. Never punitive messages.
3If you have 5+ apartments in the same area, invest in separated drawers with universal graphic labels (bottle, apple, box icons). Clearer than any text.

Frequently asked questions

Guest doesn't recycle: how to handle?+

First stay: friendly message 'Hey, a little correction...'. If recurring in same stay, firmly remind possible fines. Never escalate — cleaners the next day can rebalance fast.

Do I need to physically guide guests?+

No, a simple checklist written in the template works. To be thorough: photograph the kitchen containers and send them with instructions. 'See this yellow bag? Plastic and cans go here' is unambiguous.

How much can a repeatedly-wrong guest cost me?+

Building fines in strict zones (Bologna, Milan, Rome center): €50-200 per repeated event. Few real cases, but a good template eliminates almost all. ROI on the 5-minute investment of writing the template is huge.

Related templates

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