5 ways for business owners to improve waste management in 2021.
Michael Hess
Whether we break out an unblemished calendar or merely scroll over to the month of January on our smartphones, a new year is always accompanied by the hopeful feeling of a fresh start. As many of us contemplate our new year’s resolutions and ways to toss bad habits in our personal lives, the same holds true for our business lives. As we prepare for a new year ahead, the time to re-evaluate your waste management program is now. Consider making these five adjustments to set your business up for success in 2021.
#1: Creating Transparency
The key to a transparent waste management strategy begins with an understanding of who manages your current services. Responsibilities of this role include ownership of contract details, specifications, types of equipment and waste and recycling streams. If you’re not consistently tracking your business’s waste output, you may be missing out on opportunities to customize your system—reducing costs, liability and environmental impact, among other benefits.
#2: Consolidating Services
With so many day-to-day operational duties begging for your attention, managing a variety of waste management vendors, each with their own terms of service and expiration, can be time intensive.
Partnering with a managed waste service provider (MWSP) takes the burden out of waste management by becoming a centralized source for waste and recycling needs. You have one point of contact and will receive one invoice for all waste management requests, giving you time to put back into other areas of your business.
#3: Uncovering Cost Savings Opportunities
As a successful business owner, you work hard to anticipate challenges and implement strategies that help you achieve your objectives. Whether it’s a global pandemic or busy season, being proactive in your approach and having a flexible preparedness plan in place will keep operations running smoothly.
Adjusting your waste management services to match the amount and type of waste your business is producing will help you better understand your waste streams and the proper equipment needed. Working with an MWSP, utilizing their network of vendor partners, will not only uncover upfront cost savings but will help you right-size correctly and adjust your strategy as your business’s waste needs evolve. As a result, you’ll only pay for the services you need.
#4: Integrating Technology and Data
Evaluating your company’s waste needs utilizing intelligent data is a key step to streamlining your business’s waste management. The intelligent container software simplifies and consolidates the process, allowing you to monitor and track things like container fullness, scheduled hauls, pickup and return status, activity logs and much more. You’ll receive detailed reports showing a variety of live data, including waste spend, service insights, tonnage statistics, number of hauls and other historical program data.
In addition, tracking allows you to set goals and evaluate your program’s performance, saving you considerable time and money as you evaluate what’s working and what isn’t for your company’s personalized needs.
#5: Evaluating Recycling and Sustainability Efforts
Many companies have announced moves toward a more sustainability-focused waste and recycling program. Achieving a fully sustainable program will take time and commitment from stakeholders inside and outside your business, using unconventional approaches in waste management and reduction. Partnering with an MWSP to leverage their resources and their relationships with recycling partners can help launch these efforts for your company.
Michael Hess is founder and chief executive officer of Waste Harmonics, a Rochester, New York-based company that provides customized waste and recycling management solutions for businesses across North America. Michael leads Waste Harmonics’ team of waste/recycling, technology, logistics and customer service experts who manage waste and recycling services—which deliver significant costs savings—for single- and multi-location businesses in a wide range of categories, including retail, grocery, restaurant, travel center, logistics, distribution and shipping. Prior to founding Waste Harmonics, Hess served as vice president of U.S. operations for Capital Environmental Resource Inc., a $120-million-in-revenue solid waste collection and disposal company with operations in the Northeastern U.S. and Canada. During his tenure at Capital Environment, Hess served as an integral part in the acquisition, startup and integration of 11 solid-waste companies for more than two and a half years. Michael acquired Waste Harmonics from Capital Environment in 2001 and has since grown the business from a solely Northeastern U.S. focus to serving customers throughout the U.S. and Canada. For more information, call (585) 924-9640, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.wasteharmonics.com.
Image: Annie Spratt on Unsplash