Every business, no matter its size, creates waste – that’s just inevitable. It could be leftover materials, outdated products, or just the daily rubbish from the office kitchen, but whatever it is, you’ve got to manage that waste properly – you can’t just ignore it. Why? Because poor waste management can lead to higher costs, environmental issues, and even legal complications.
The good news is that with a little planning and the right tools, you can handle waste responsibly and maybe even save some money in the process and with that in mind, keep reading to find out what some of the best solutions for waste management businesses are.
Start With a Waste Audit
Before you can manage your waste effectively, you need to know what you’re dealing with, and a waste audit is something that can help you work out what’s being thrown out, how much, and where it’s coming from, all of which is very helpful.
Take a week to track everything your business throws away and then determine what it is. Is most of it paper, for example? Is it packaging? Food waste? Old products? Once you know what the main culprits are, you can work out how to reduce the waste or manage it better.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
This paragraph is relevant to a waste management business as it emphasizes the importance of reducing, reusing, recycling… it’s a classic trio that you’ve more than likely heard of, but just because the idea has been around for a long time, that doesn’t mean it’s no longer any good – in fact, it’s a mantra you should definitely pay attention to not just in business, but in the rest of your life as well. The key is to do all these things as soon as you can, and as early in the process as you can, so once you’ve done your audit, you can get started.
One thing to look into is whether or not you could switch to digital receipts rather than paper ones, for example, or perhaps you could buy supplies in bulk so there’s less packaging to deal with (as long as you won’t waste any of the supplies by doing that, of course otherwise you’re going to be making more waste, which defeats the object). Then look for ways to reuse anything you can, and recycling is the final step – make sure you’ve got separate bins for paper, plastic, and other recyclables, and give your team some training so they know how to use them properly.
Safely Dispose of Old Products
If your business deals with physical products, at some point there’s sure to come a time when you need to dispose of old items, which could include damaged goods, expired stock, things that don’t meet safety standards anymore, and so on.
You can’t usually just throw these things out like other rubbish, and instead you’ll need to use services like Sledge Hammer Product Destruction. This is a specialized service that ensures products are safely destroyed, which is great for the environment, it saves you worrying about what to do with the old items, and it keeps your business’s reputation intact because you’ll be doing the right thing. By getting the help of a waste management business, it could save you a lot of problems further down the road.
