Understanding the entirety of the waste supply chain and recognizing and responding to the needs of the internal stakeholders impacted by it can help elevate haulers and recyclers from the role of vendor to strategic partner.

Anthony DiIenno

 

The challenges associated with managing waste and recycling streams for large, national or regional, multi-location companies are complex and the repercussions for not executing flawlessly can be significant and far-reaching, potentially affecting an organization’s operations, reputation and bottom line. While the procurement or operations manager at an organization might be the one to hire haulers and other waste solutions providers, there are many departments within an organization that are impacted by and have a vested interest in the recycling and waste supply chain. Each of these constituents has his/her own objectives and concerns. Marketing, for instance, seeks to promote and protect the brand while supply chain is concerned with mitigating and managing obsolescence.

 

Understanding the entirety of the waste supply chain and recognizing and responding to the needs of the internal stakeholders impacted by it can help elevate haulers and recyclers from the role of vendor to strategic partner. Insight affords haulers opportunity and a seat at the table to help design holistic waste solutions for customers as opposed to simply providing waste and recycling services. Who are the likely stakeholders along the waste and recycling supply chain within a national, multi-location organization?

 

Facilities Management

The facilities management officer at a national retailer needs assurances that the organization’s waste is going to be disposed of properly and in a timely manner at each of its locations across multiple states. Facilities managers need to know who is going to train employees at each retail location on how to sort for optimal diversion and recovery. Additional concerns: How much and what type of waste is picked up each month from individual stores? How much of that material is diverted, recycled or sold as scrap? How will special projects that fall outside the scope of regular waste, such as additional pickups or weekend service to accommodate grand openings or store remodels, be handled?

 

Marketing and Legal

Brand management (positioning and maintaining the reputation of the organization) and risk management (identifying and minimizing the impact of adverse events) are not mutually exclusive; they are crucial functions to the organization and to these stakeholders in particular.

 

Who is handling the organization’s waste? What are their credentials and reputations? Do they have the proper permits and licenses? What is the method of disposal? Is it aligned with corporate sustainability goals? What local, regional and national waste, recycling and packaging legislation could impact the brand? Chief among the objectives of these two groups are promoting and protecting the brand and minimizing the organization’s exposure to legal, reputational and, by extension, financial risk.

 

Packaging Development

Containers and packaging made up the largest portion of municipal solid waste streams in 2011, according to the EPA. How much of that packaging was recycled? Composted? Stakeholders in this function frequently are designing with the end in mind—considering the packaging’s end of life, or how it will be disposed of, and selecting materials accordingly. How are customers reacting to the brand’s packaging? As online shopping increases, secondary packaging will continue to play a greater role. Is packaging cumbersome, easy to open, clearly labeled for recycling?

 

Procurement and Supply Management

Goods and materials sourced from suppliers and shipped to warehouses, distribution centers and stores generate waste. Procurement officers and supply chain managers need to efficiently and sustainably dispose of dunnage that accompanies shipments in the form of hangers, wooden pallets, plastic film, corrugated boxes, packing foam and more. They need to know what is in their waste stream. What percentage of this material is organic, fiber-based or plastic? How can they increase recycling rates and divert more waste from landfills? Are there opportunities to employ reverse logistics tactics? Can they recover revenue on scrap commodities? What should they do in the case of inventory obsolescence or food that has expired? What is the most efficient, environmentally responsible way to dispose of product and protect the brand?

 

Logistics and Transportation

Transportation managers want to right-size loads to maximize space on trucks and schedule pick-ups when bins are most likely to be full to reduce empty miles, curb fuel costs and lower carbon footprints. Stakeholders in this group are likely to think seasonally (i.e., back to school, December holidays) and want to plan accordingly for increases in volume and frequency of waste to ensure capacity. Increasing load volumes and optimizing routes are similarly important.

 

Leveraging the Insight

How can haulers and others who are allied with the waste industry leverage this insight to meet the needs of stakeholders across the recycling and waste supply chain at large, multi-location retailers? The lynchpin between haulers and national commercial customers is a managed services provider. Managed service providers understand the complexity of the waste supply chain and the interests, motivations and concerns of each constituent along the chain. By affording visibility into the supply chain—whether in the form of detailed waste audits, data and analysis or access to partners and scrap commodities markets—managed service providers enable collaboration and collective problem solving. And by giving each stakeholder a seat at the proverbial table, solutions come not at the expense of any one group to the benefit of others (i.e., putting the onus on haulers to drive costs out of the waste supply chain by lowering their prices); instead, risk and reward are shared equally by driving innovation, diversion and collaboration into national waste and recycling managed programs.

 

What other benefits do managed service providers offer? They help national and regional businesses tap into the expertise of small- to mid-size waste haulers leading local markets. Haulers and recyclers benefit from access to large, multi-location customers, long-term partnerships, and vast networks of haulers and allied partners they can leverage to optimize routes and loads and secure better rates of return on recyclable materials. Most importantly, they afford haulers a voice and perspective along the waste supply chain that elevates them from commodities providers to valued service providers. Managed service providers ensure stakeholders have insight across the chain and can collaborate to reach solutions that are equitable and help reduce costs, increase efficiencies, lower carbon footprints and boost revenue potential. Those are gains everyone can get behind.

 

Anthony DiIenno is President of Recycling and Waste Solutions at HAVI Global Solutions (Downer’s Grove, IL). Anthony is a 3rd generation recycler with 30 years of recycling and waste solutions experience. He drives the strategic direction of the Recycling and Waste Solutions business to enable HAVI Global Solutions to help more businesses grow smarter by achieving their sustainability goals, increasing efficiency while reducing costs, and keeping ahead of growing regulatory demands for greater environmental responsibility. Anthony can be reached at (610) 358-3400, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.havigs.com.

 

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