When you run a small business, waste may not be the first thing you want to talk or think about every day.
But it’s an issue that’s causing more and more company owners concern – and the price of disposal shows no sign of reducing any time soon.
Predictions are that waste costs will rise by around 47% over the next 5 years, driven by a combination of recycling challenges, vendor pressures, and increased landfill charges.
The problem businesses face
Businesses across the country generate huge volumes of waste and how you manage that has direct impacts on the environment, people’s lives, and the economy.
All companies are obliged to be compliant, whether your waste is general, hazardous, clinical, or confidential. Landfill taxes also keep rising and contractors now weigh bins routinely and adjust billing accordingly.
Carry out an audit and take action
So, what steps should you take to tackle this problem head-on – and make sure your company makes the best decisions?
The first thing you need to do, obviously, is find out how much waste you’re creating – so you can devise the most effective way to deal with it.
Start by carrying out a detailed assessment: you can do this yourself or with the help of a specialist waste or recycling organisation. There are also lots of online solutions they can offer you nowadays, to help you get a useful and detailed analysis of the situation.
What is the aim?
You need to identify solutions to reduce the cost of your waste disposal to see if the current way you’re dealing with waste removal is the most advantageous.
Devise a clear strategy
It’s one thing to understand more about what waste you’re producing, but how do you actually go about making the necessary changes in your company? You’ll need to devise a clear strategy that identifies a set of goals, and achieves the following aims and objectives:
Sets goals for future waste reduction;
Encourages your employees to reduce waste and instills a culture to promote that;
Produces clear outlines of the benefits of reducing waste so you can provide a consistent message and monitors your company’s progress towards any identified waste reduction targets.
Invest in waste management machinery
As we said previously, your waste disposal costs will be higher if there’s physically more of it, but dedicated machinery can be a good way to tackle it.
Why not look into purchasing or hiring small balers which, well really do exactly ‘what it says on the tin’! They physically reduce your waste in size by compacting it, which means, firstly, that you gain space. This also helps you take control of your refuse, cut down on transportation costs to recycling centres and reduce any landfill charges,
There are many other benefits of reducing waste at your workplace – and they include improving sustainability and cutting emissions. And we think you’ll agree those are admirable goals for any small business – alongside your core aim of reducing your costs.
