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The New Face Of Waste

So how do facility managers handle the waste disposal needs of their companies, keep costs to a minimum, and also address potential environmental and liability issues?

By Mark Okrant

It’s certainly no secret that waste removal matters have increasingly become a potential minefield, fraught with OSHA violations, liabilities, and the associated headaches. So how do facility managers handle the waste disposal needs of their companies, keep costs to a minimum, and also address potential environmental and liability issues?

Recycling and waste reduction have become a priority for many companies that have found that corporate financial goals and environmentally friendly strategies can go hand in hand. By employing waste diversion, recycling, and reuse techniques, facility managers can provide significant cost saving benefits for their companies and exhibit environmental responsibility.

Everyone agrees on the importance of recycling and its social and environmental benefits. Recycling reduces the need for new landfills, cuts pollution, saves natural resources, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

The recently released movie “An Inconvenient Truth,” starring Al Gore, illustrates the alarming short- and long-term implications of global warming and the damaging effects of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet. The journal Science recently published a study illustrating that Greenland’s polar ice caps are melting at unprecedented rates, and by the end of the century, sea levels will eventually rise as much as 20'. That’s enough to sink New Orleans and many coastal cities worldwide.

This wake up call has caused a tremendous global awareness, both among private citizens and corporations. As a result, investment in eco-friendly products and services, alternative energy, emissions reduction, and waste reduction has surged over the past few years. Many well known companies have made a commitment, which is reflected in their mission statements and branding, to use eco-friendly business strategies. One such strategy is waste outsourcing.

Waste outsourcing is a concept quite different from traditional waste hauling. A waste outsourcing company will look at and evaluate a client’s entire waste stream and create cost effective, customized solutions that reduce waste by using diversion, recycling, and reduction techniques. Cost reduction is a primary goal, and since waste is treated as a recyclable commodity, companies will enjoy the added benefit of new revenue streams.

E-waste such as cell phones, printers, and fax machines are all commodities that can be recycled for significant profits while reducing waste delivered to landfills by up to 50%. Further, a waste outsourcing company will manage the entire waste stream and process in accordance with OSHA compliance, day in and day out, saving companies’ time and money.

So how does waste outsourcing work? Consider the example of Cost Plus World Market, a home furnishings, gourmet food, and wine company with 260 locations in 34 states. The company was experiencing problems obtaining consistent waste pickups at store locations. In addition, it was very interested in investigating recycling opportunities that could provide overall cost reduction and savings.

To address this problem, Cost Plus World Market contracted a waste outsourcing company that offered a comprehensive strategic analysis of the company’s waste stream. The outsourcing company provided a detailed waste and cost reduction proposal that incorporated money saving strategies for both the company’s waste stream and the associated invoicing procedures. The outsourcing provider offered the following services to all 260 Cost Plus stores.

  • It negotiated with vendors to get reliable, consistent, and affordable trash pickup service for non recyclables;
  • It adjusted trash container sizes and schedules that accurately reflected the real waste volumes generated at each store;
  • Cost Plus was set up with a cardboard bale recycling program that allowed for fast and efficient pickups at each store. Rebates were negotiated to reflect the actual tonnage of each pickup; and
  • The invoicing process was consolidated and streamlined for efficiency.

Within a matter of weeks, Cost Plus World Market saved 15% in trash hauling costs and another 5% per month in recycling costs. In addition, the newly streamlined invoicing and accounting system provided additional savings with reduced administrative costs.

Surprisingly, facilities that use traditional waste disposal programs typically spend anywhere between 20% to 50% more than necessary, annually. When combined with reduction, reuse, and recycling techniques administered and managed by waste outsourcing experts, facility managers can recapture these costs, reduce their liability, and even make money for their employers.

Okrant is the director of marketing at OAKLEAF Waste Management, a waste outsourcing company based in East Hartford, CT. For more information on the company’s services, visit www.oakleafwaste.com.

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