You might be surprised to learn that implementing a waste management plan can have a serious impact on the bottom line. It can also help shrink a company’s carbon footprint by driving a significant reduction in the amount of landfill waste and greenhouse gases released into the earth’s atmosphere.
Developing a waste management plan can help you to better understand your own organization’s waste habits and how they contribute to the larger waste practices of your industry and your geographic location. As well, monitoring waste management can assist you in complying with local laws regarding waste, ensuring that you are following all necessary rules, reducing the expenses of your business, and protecting the environment.
Creating a Waste Management Plan
The following steps are guidelines to help you develop a waste management plan for your business. When following these steps, be sure to be as detailed as possible, and don’t skip over anything.
1. Understand Your Waste Habits
How much waste does your business create? On trash collection day, evaluate all of your trash bins and take note of their sizes to help you make an informed estimate. Are your trash bins full? Are they empty? What kind of trash are you throwing away?
2. Who Removes the Waste?
You must know whose duty it is to manage the waste of every facility throughout your business. After you understand who is responsible for this, you need to stay in contact with this person to ensure they are on the same page when implementing new waste management procedures.
3. Explore Your Waste Hierarchy
Your waste goals will depend on the kind of business you have, as well as the recycling capabilities available in the area where your facilities are located. First, check if your waste is recyclable. Also, see if some of your waste can be sold. The following waste hierarchy list will help you determine how to divide your waste into appropriate categories:
- Reduce
Is it possible to get by using fewer of any specific materials? Which material at work are you using the most of, and could you cut down on your dependence on it? - Reuse
What are you throwing out that you might be able to reuse? Can any of it be used again or used in a different way? - Recycle
Waste that is organic can be saved and used as compost to nurture green spaces and gardens. Use an extra trash bin to dispose of organic materials for use as compost. Also provide separate bins at all facilities for paper, plastic, metals, and any other materials that can be recycled in your area. - Recover
Collect steel scraps, old bricks, wire, or other cast-off materials from construction sites, manufacturing floors, or other locations, and sell them. - Energy Recover
If your facility generates heat through manufacturing or other processes, you may be able to redirect and reuse that heat elsewhere in your facility. - Dispose
Once your waste has been separated through the aforementioned processes, bring whatever waste remains to a sanctioned landfill or leave it in appropriate legal containers for municipal waste services to pick up.
4. Apply Waste Hierarchy to Your Waste
Evaluate the waste generated by your business. Apply the waste hierarchy to it, and create a plan on how to deal with each kind of waste your business creates.
5. Contact Local Waste Management and Collection Services
Learn about what is offered in your area in terms of collection services and local waste management. They will be able to assist you in exploring your options based on your geographic location and the types of waste your business produces.
6. Understand Waste and Recycling Contracts
Be familiar with contracts regarding waste and recycling. Evaluate your choices and think about how you can align the waste management procedures of your business with what the contracts require. Also take competing bids, if possible in your area, to ensure you’re getting the best rates from your waste management service provider.
7. Share the Waste Management Plan
Discuss and share your waste management action plan with your entire workforce. Be sure everyone knows the changes in procedure put in effect to decrease the amount of waste. Make it clear that your management team is behind the effort.
8. Gradually Carry Out the Procedures
It is sometimes best to implement changes in phases, depending on how severe they might be. Consider gamification or some other incentive(s) to encourage participation at the onset of each phase. This will help employees get into the routine. As you see how your business is reacting, you might also consider adjusting the goals if they turn out to be too unrealistic or not ambitious enough.
9. Monitor and Adjust
Businesses change as times change. Continue to observe your waste habits and adjust accordingly. As technology or additional waste management services reach the market, your waste management plans might shift in another way that works best for you.
Benefits of Waste Management
Saving your business money by properly managing your waste might be a huge benefit, but don’t forget that you are also doing your part to reduce the environmental impact of your business. There are many advantages to taking the time to create a waste management plan, and not really any downsides. With the right approach 一 and a little patience 一 you will no doubt be satisfied with the amount of waste reuse and reduction your operation can accomplish.