by charlotte | Apr 27, 2016
The food manufacturing industry is one of the biggest producers of waste out there, weighing in at an almost unbelievable 7.1 billion pounds annually. Of the largest food manufacturing organizations in existence – like grocery stores and international chain restaurants – the majority of this waste is diverted from landfills. With the food waste itself, there are many avenues to follow in order to reduce the amount that goes in the trash, but packaging is the real kicker. There isn’t a way to avoid packaging when you’re working in food manufacturing, so it’s time to find the most efficient way to dispose of it. First, let’s look at ways to repurpose food waste.
Recycle Food Waste
If you have foods that are not yet inedible, but rather just a tad past the date that you’re comfortable selling them, look for shelters in the area that take donations and get that food into someone’s belly. With all the hungry people in our country, it’s a shame that any food goes to waste. When food does pass the point of being edible for humans, consider animal feed. There are plenty of farmers around you who would gladly take your gallons of scraps and old food to feed their livestock. If you haven’t already considered a collaboration with farmers, many businesses work on trade in this way with their producing counterparts. Compost is another great use for food scraps, and farmers would probably be just as glad to add your food waste to their compost piles to get their fields growing.
Recycle & Reuse
When it comes to packaging, the first step should be to recycle and reuse whatever you can. Buckets and other containers are great for both freezer and cooler storage, and are typically quite durable. When you’ve used them until they’re falling apart, make sure they make it into the recycling bin where they will be broken down and made into other products, instead of in the trash where they will end up in the landfill. Most people aren’t aware that most plastic wrapping can also be recycled. Whether it’s the bags that your veggies come in or the plastic wrap you used to seal something up, get it all in that recycling bin.
Compact It
Now let’s talk trash compaction. Trash compactors are ideal for the food manufacturing industry. The RotoPac SacPac, made by KenBay, is designed specifically for food manufacturing, and will reduce your waste by six times, and take up no more room in your facility than a standard pallet. Made completely out of stainless steel, they will also stay sanitary. How many trash bags of loosely packed plastic wrapping have you thrown away? Why waste your trash can space and pay for waste removal in such an inefficient way? When your waste is sufficiently compacted, your waste removal will be less frequent and more efficient, and end up saving you money.
Don’t take waste management in your food manufacturing facility lightly. A well thought out and efficient system will make all the difference in both your production and the cleanliness of your space. For more information on the incredibly feasible option of purchasing a trash compactor for food manufacturing, call KenBay.
by charlotte | Apr 20, 2016
What’s the point of having a trash compactor if you can’t count on the bags you’re using in it? Don’t put up with unreliable trash compactor bags because you think you’ll save a little extra money by finding the cheapest deal out there. When you have something in your workspace that is breaking consistently, chances are you get it checked out and probably repaired. Why should trash compactor bags be any different? The benefit is that you don’t have to spend much time or money finding a better solution and more reliable trash compactor bags. Just do some research and talk to your provider about different options.
- Avoid Breaks
When a trash compactor has worked hard to reduce the size of your trash by a ratio from six to one, a broken bag can be a real set back sending all your nicely confined and flattened trash back to where it came from. Don’t put up with this reversal in the proper waste management order. Upgrade your trash compactor bags and keep the flow going for a clean and efficient workspace.
- No Extra Cleanup
Stopping in the middle of work to clean up an avoidable mess is a real pain, and decreases the work efficiency of your employees. There is no reason to waste their time and your money when you can simply invest in durable trash compactor bags.
- Appease Employees
No one likes to clean up garbage, especially when using a trash compactor that is supposed to do that job for you. The slightest annoyance in someone’s work environment can be the cause of much strife and potentially lead to high turnover rates. Don’t let something so small and easy to fix disrupt the peace in your workplace.
- Fit More Trash
The best trash compactor bags are both durable and pliable, able to stretch just the right amount of trash into their midst without busting open at the seams. If you haven’t found these perfect bags yet, keep looking because they’re out there! There’s absolutely no need to keep buying sub-par products when the real deal will make everyone’s life so much easier, and save you the labor costs of continually cleaning up after the mess they make.
- Buy in Bulk
If you are able to buy in larger quantities than just one box at a time, you will undoubtedly save money. Most providers, like KenBay, are willing to sling a great deal for people who want to purchase large quantities, saving you actual money as well as labor expenses when you’re dealing with cheap products. KenBay sells a wide array of high-quality trash compactor bags at reasonable prices and are always willing to work out a great deal for customers. Whether you’re looking for reprocessed polyethylene or 100% biodegradable bags, you can get them at KenBay.
No longer put up with the unnecessary challenges that come with subpar trash compactor bags. Make the small investment of time and money to ensure that switching out your trash compactor bags is an easy and painless experience every time.
by charlotte | Apr 13, 2016
The hazardous waste disposal industry ships in excess of 3 billion tons of regulated materials throughout the United States each year. Hazardous waste disposal can seem a looming task in your operations, but with the right information and resources, it can be an easy, safe and worry-free process. There is no reason to be overwhelmed at the rules and regulations around hazardous waste disposal, or to put yourself and your employees in unsafe situations by neglecting to handle it with care. If you’re looking for new and better ways to take care of your hazardous waste disposal you’ve come to the right place as we are waste management experts and have all the information you need to make your workplace as safe and clean as possible.
Hazardous Waste Disposal Packing Categories
The first thing you need to figure out is what packing categories your hazardous waste falls into. There are nine different classes that indicate the degree of danger of your hazardous waste. Because your hazardous waste will need to be removed from you worksite, the Department of Transportation has established guidelines for how your hazardous waste must be packaged for the safest transportation possible.
- Class 1 Explosives and pyrotechnics
- Class 2 Compressed, flammable, nonflammable, and poison gases
- Class 3 Flammable liquids
- Class 4 Flammable solids
- Class 5 Oxidizers and organic peroxides
- Class 6 Toxic and infectious materials
- Class 7 Radioactive materials
- Class 8 Corrosive materials
- Class 9 Miscellaneous dangerous substances and articles
The manner in which you store and package your hazardous waste is extremely important in order to be properly insured and as safe as possible. Find out which classes apply to your hazardous waste disposal and how you need to package all of the waste materials you are creating.
Hazardous Waste Compactors
If your hazardous waste falls into any of the solid waste classes, then a hazardous waste compactor could improve both your workflow and safety in your workplace. The HazPac for Hazardous Waste from KenBay is an excellent product capable of reducing the size of your hazardous waste while keeping it confined. Depending on the packing class of your waste, the HazPac can be customized to either package it into plastic bags or tri-wall waste boxes.
The Benefits of the HazPac
The Hazpac not only keeps your waste confined to a specific area, it also has an incredibly small footprint. This means that you can place it right at the site where your hazardous waste is created, cutting down not only on the time hazardous waste disposal takes, but also the distance it has to travel. The risks of contamination will decrease significantly. The HazPac can also contain six times as much hazardous waste as a conventional waste can, which will greatly decrease the packaging and removal costs.
Don’t take hazardous waste disposal lightly. It is a serious matter that requires a legal and thoughtful plan. There are many resources to help you make sure your hazardous waste disposal is as efficient and safe as possible, including waste management experts like KenBay. Give us a call to see how we can help you with your hazardous waste disposal plan.
by charlotte | Apr 7, 2016
As an employer, it’s your responsibility to make sure your manufacturing facility is safe. Your employees have the right to a safe workplace free of hazards and health risks. That said, running an organization doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for you to be supervising the workplace to ensure that health and safety codes are always up to date and being followed diligently. Don’t let this keep you from implementing the necessary manufacturing safety protocols, and making sure there are trustworthy people in place to see that they are adhered to. Manufacturing safety ought to be at the top of your business strategy list to ensure that you are decreasing the liability and risk of your operation.
10 Ways to Improve Manufacturing Safety
- Trustworthy Supervisors
Make sure that every shift has respected supervisors who have rapport with all the workers. These leaders should be revered by everyone they work with, able to motivate and correct them in productive ways, and to uphold all manufacturing safety protocols, no matter how inconvenient they might be.
- Education
Provide frequent continuing education classes for these supervisors to keep them up to date on new health and safety standards, as well as new methods of updating and optimizing manufacturing safety practices.
- Unite the Team
Hold manufacturing safety meetings whenever a risk is brought to your attention to inform employees of the seriousness of hazards in the workplace. Unite the team around the common goal of doing work with excellence, which means it is as safe as possible.
- Zero Tolerance
Do not, under any circumstances, tolerate someone who is willfully ignoring manufacturing safety regulations. These individuals put more than just themselves at risk, but also your organization and its employees.
- Frequent Monitoring
While you are certainly busy running the operation, don’t withdraw your presence from the manufacturing site. The more your employees see and interact with you, the more they know you actually care about their health and safety, and not just covering your own back.
- Checklist
If you have protocols that can be tracked on a list by day and time, initialed by the person who completes them, this can be a great way to set up accountability among the team. This way you can both commend and reprimand employees for their performance and commitment to have a risk-free work environment.
- Signage
Good signs throughout your facility is a great way to remind employees of the manufacturing safety rules in place.
- Waste Management
Waste can be central to the safety and health hazards in manufacturing facility, and ought to be properly managed. Be sure that your waste cans are optimally placed throughout your workspace to both reduce waste and to ensure that they are emptied and cleaned frequently.
- Build a Team
If your supervisors are too busy managing the other aspects of manufacturing safety, have them designate teams of people in charge of making sure that waste is disposed of properly.
- Buy a Trash Compactors
Stainless steel trash compactors are an affordable way to improve the manufacturing safety of your workplace, not only reducing potential fire hazards and obstructions, but also reducing the cost of removal.
Call KenBay if you are ready to learn more about how waste management practices can increase manufacturing safety.
by charlotte | Mar 31, 2016
Is your workplace feeling hectic and sometimes even unsafe with things like trash piling up unnecessarily because of inefficient workflows? It happens, but don’t let the problems drag on without making the necessary changes to not only increase everyone’s efficiency but also ensure that you are fostering a safe and desirable work setting. One of the most cost-effective ways to improve safety and efficiency while decreasing your waste is to invest in a small footprint stainless steel trash compactor. A small footprint trash compactor is the surest way to improve the environment of your facility whether you’re in manufacturing, the food and ingredient industry, or dealing with hazardous waste or explosives. There’s no better way to ensure your workplace has airtight safety and operations than optimizing your space with a small footprint compactor.
Small Footprint?
The small footprint RotoPac by KenBay only needs a space of 4 by 5 feet to fit comfortably in your work space. While it takes up very little room, it actually increases your space for waste as it compacts everything from food waste to general manufacturing waste. When you optimize your waste management with a small footprint compactor, you will also significantly reduce your waste removal costs, as your trash is reduced at a ratio of six to one, compacting up to 300 pounds per hour.
High Efficiency
Not only does a small footprint compactor reduce the volume of your waste, but it can also significantly increases your workflow efficiency. When you invest in a compactor, take the time to consider where the disposal points in your workflow are, and how they are impacting the efficiency of everyone producing and disposing of waste. Are your waste cans in places that are inconvenient or unsafe for employees? Is an otherwise easily overlooked thing like waste really inhibiting your productivity? Most people don’t even realize it until they start considering new waste management methods to reduce costs, but find that they are also increasing productivity and safety as well.
Nothing Safer
Waste cans can often be misused, leading to fire hazards or the potential for someone to get hurt by things getting in the way. Investing in a small footprint compactor is an easy and quick fix for any safety problems being caused by your current waste management practices. You will also decrease the number of times waste needs to be removed while motivating your employees to pay more attention to their waste practices by showing them you’re committed to making their space safe and clean.
Don’t let your waste problems go without a solution. Not only are you wasting money, but you could be putting your business at legal or physical risk by neglecting waste management issues. Among many solutions is investing in a small footprint trash compactor for your workplace. If you’re interested in other waste management ideas contact KenBay for more information on how to improve your trash practices. Safety and cost are no small factors in operating a respectable and successful business. Take action before it’s too late!
by charlotte | Mar 24, 2016
When you’re in manufacturing you need to protect your intellectual property to stay competitive. You can’t be giving away all your great ideas to anybody – or throwing them away either. Intellectual property is a key reason to invest in a better waste management strategy because it will ensure that your ideas, inventions and designs are protected and remain unique to your company. Don’t overlook the importance of your waste in the security of your ideas. Streamlining your waste practices and investing in equipment like steel trash compactors is an easy and affordable way to tighten up your security.
What is Intellectual Property?
Often a buzz word in the technology industry, intellectual property actually exists in every industry. Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind, which range from designs and inventions to symbols and images used in commerce. Monopoly over these intellectual creations belongs to the person or entity that owns them by law, prohibiting their use by unauthorized parties. It is illegal to steal intellectual property, but it still happens and is worth taking every measure to protect against because it can always be tricky to prove in the court of law.
How Can Waste Management Help Protect Intellectual Property?
If your waste practices are unofficial at best, and a disaster at worst, your intellectual property could be in danger. The chances of the competition finding prototypes or flawed products in your waste is too risky to take a chance on. If you’re dealing with sensitive documents, be sure to always shred them before disposing of them to ensure their information can never be deciphered. In manufacturing facilities, waste can be a problem for many reasons including safety and pollution, but also security. If your employees are disposing of flawed product loosely, the chances of someone happening upon your intellectual property are significantly increased. Don’t take that chance.
Time for Change
Trash compactors are the solid waste equivalent to the paper shredder. Not only will your waste removal costs decrease with a compactor, but your intellectual property will be much safer when it is crushed into a cube, rendering it unable to be salvaged. While security is a great reason to reconsider your waste management practices, there will also be huge financial and sustainability benefits. A trash compactor will save you from the risk of loose trash for anyone to sift through, but why not look at your entire process of handling waste to streamline it while you’re at it? Your employees will appreciate the new challenge, as well as a cleaner and safer workspace. This will make them more productive in the long run, especially if you factor workflows into your rethinking waste management practices.
There is so much that goes into to having a well thought out waste management system. It can truly affect every aspect of your business operations from security to productivity. Don’t overlook the importance of securing your intellectual property that might end up in the garbage, as well as its effect as a motivator to change the way you handle waste in general.
by charlotte | Mar 17, 2016
Did you know that 7.6 billion tons of industrial waste is shipped to landfills in the United States each year? That’s a lot of garbage. What’s your contribution to that number? Although it is just a tiny fraction of those billions of pounds of waste being produced in this country, everybody can do their part to decrease the growing landfills in America by taking a few small steps to minimize waste, no matter what industry you’re in. Not only will your efforts to minimize waste be of great service to the environment, but they will also have financial and social benefits as well.
Here are some simple ways to minimize waste production:
Establish a Waste Management Team
If you don’t already have people in your place devoted to helping you minimize waste in your industrial facility, that is a great place to start. Be sure to find a group of like-minded people who are invested in pursuing the fiscal, social and environmental benefits to less waste production. Self-starters who are generally trusted in the workplace will be perfect to spur on the team mindset you need to get your employees educated and motivated around this common goal. Your new waste management plan will set standards within the workplace for what waste is and how it is handled.
Waste Mapping
Make sure that your facilities are as logically organized as possible so that you can easily identify all materials and waste products. Have your team work on optimizing all your workflows and spaces so that production and materials are easily defined. This will help you to analyze where you can cut out processes that might be producing excess or unnecessary waste. A better-ordered work environment also means that your waste will be more easily segregated for removal, which is one of the best ways to cut down on removal costs. Better workflows will also help your employees be more productive, and spend less time dealing with waste, which in turn will increase your productivity levels, and decrease payroll losses.
Recycle Reduce Reuse
Take advantage of the fact that the current workforce was raised on recycling. All you need to do is give them the specifics of which waste products can be recycled and how, and they’ll return to old habits. All you have to do is set up a convenient system and you’ll be saving money while you minimize your waste. If there are any waste products that can simply be cleaned up and reused, it can often be worth the time to do so. Don’t assume that it isn’t worth looking into it.
Do your research and make informed waste management decisions. It’s the only way you’ll manage to minimize waste in your facility. Companies don’t achieve close to zero waste by staying the same. They have to innovate and get creative by changing things up, challenging their employees, and putting in some extra leg work to see where improvements can be made. In the long run, they’re helping more than just their wallets.
If you want to learn more about waste management methods that will work for your business, call KenBay to learn more.
by charlotte | Mar 9, 2016
When you begin to assess your waste management processes, the ideal scenario is always based on a zero waste goal. For most industrial and manufacturing companies that isn’t realistic. One of the first things you want to consider when analyzing your waste systems is that pesky waste can. It might not seem like a big hindrance to your company right now, but after reading these few thoughts on the typical waste can problems, we believe we will have you convinced otherwise.
Waste Can Psychology?
There have been many studies done throughout the years about the psychology behind waste. Essentially the experts are arguing that better waste management practices – like recycling and waste reduction – can be spurred on by changing people’s beliefs. This usually takes nothing more than information and new habits. Most people, even in the workplace, are uninformed about the costs of waste removal, and the many ways to reduce the amount of waste created in a facility. The physical waste can, a black hole kind of object, is also inviting people to easily dispose of just about anything. This means that waste cans often collect objects that either aren’t waste, could be recycled, or from unauthorized parties. Reconsider your waste can, and educate your employees on what exactly waste is and more importantly, what it is not.
Waste Can Placement
The placement of your waste can in your facility can make a huge difference in production. If it’s in an inconvenient place, your workflow can become significantly slower with people going out of their way to remove waste from their work spaces, giving them more opportunities to get distracted. Poor waste can placement can also lead to hazards with encumbered work spaces and even fire hazards. Don’t let you waste can be a threat to your employees and your business by thinking its placement is no big deal. Carefully consider where exactly you put it, and maybe even experiment with different places. Changing up the environment will also challenge your workers to be more creative and innovative.
Ditch the Waste Can – Get a Trash Compactor
While you would be hard-pressed to completely do away with the waste cans in your facility, you can surely reduce their number by investing in a trash compactor for your manufacturing business. Trash compactors like KenBay’s RotoPac are ideal for industrial settings, allowing companies to reduce the volume of their trash at a ratio of six to one. The RotoPac can handle all kinds of waste from food to recyclables, and even solid hazardous waste. A trash compactor will help you cut down on your waste removal costs by reducing its weight.
Don’t let something silly like a waste can get in the way of your business operating as efficiently as possible. If you’re interested in trash compactors or finding a committed consultant to help you reduce your waste, call KenBay to learn more about how we can help you, no matter what industry you’re in, or how much waste you are creating. We can help you get back on track to more sustainable practices.
by charlotte | Mar 1, 2016
It can often take time to realize you have a trash problem. Chances are, you’re so busy running your manufacturing, food service, entertainment or other business to even give trash much of a thought until something starts to stink or you’re getting litter complaints from the neighbors. If you haven’t yet considered investing in a stainless steel trash compactor, it might be the time to do so. Commercial stainless steel trash compactors are amazing tools that will transform your physical space, as well as the way your employees do their work. While there is the initial investment to consider, you are sure to get a quick return on in!
- Increase Your Efficiency
Stainless steel trash compactors are of the highest quality, meaning you won’t be having to buy a new one anytime soon. They are able to reduce six cubic feet of trash, into just one cubic foot, making your contribution to the landfill that much smaller. If you’ve been having a problem with rats or bugs because of your trash, you can rest assured that by having an efficient way to compact and store trash, those problems will disappear quickly. This will create a healthier work environment for you and your employees spurring them on to better work. Stainless steel trash compactors can also be strategically placed in a space to improve the overall workflow, helping everyone to get more done with less time spent on waste management.
- Lower Waste Costs
With less volume, your hauling costs for waste will quickly decrease. Companies who use stainless steel trash compactors are typically saving 40 to 70 percent on their hauling costs and are able to reinvest those savings into things that will help grow their company. With an efficient way to manage waste, you are saving on the labor costs associated with whoever had to deal with it before. Employees are no longer having to leave the building as often to dispose of garbage, and there are fewer opportunities for people inside or outside the company to fill up your receptacles without your authorization.
- Increase Safety
Trash can even be a safety hazard, whether it is blown about by the wind, too close to a heating element, or polluting the air you are breathing all day. A stainless steel trash compactor will not only help you keep all your trash in once place, reducing the space it consumes, but it will generally make everyone more intentional in their disposal practices. With an efficient way to manage waste that also improves the space they work in and the way they work, your employees are bound to take more ownership of how they are handling waste. This creates a safer environment for everyone, reducing fire hazards, the potential to trip over a stray piece of garbage, and having a generally more sanitary workplace.
If you are considering investing in a stainless steel trash compactor, KenBay has many different models depending on your industry and the kind of waste you produce. Whether it’s hazardous waste, food waste or just lots and lots of cardboard boxes, we are sure to have a solution for you. The benefits of stainless steel trash compactors are endless!
by charlotte | Mar 1, 2016
Plastic recycling is one of the biggest ways you can both cut down on your waste management costs, as well as the United State’s growing landfills. Accumulating 254 million tons of trash each year, the country’s sustainability depends on organizations and individuals devoting their efforts to plastic recycling to raise the percentage of solid waste recycled each year. Not only is plastic recycling important to reduce waste, but it is actually a
Not only is plastic recycling important to reduce waste, but it is actually a valuable resource with versatile manufacturing uses like new containers and packaging, fiber for clothing and carpets, car parts, and plastic lumber to name a few. If you haven’t considered improving your plastic recycling practices just yet, here are some ways to make it easy.
3 Tips to Improve Your Plastic Recycling Practices
- Sort By Type
Industrial plastic recycling is much more productive if you can sort your plastics into their chemical composition. You may have noticed that most plastic containers have a number in the middle of the recycle symbol. These numbers reference the type of polymer that was used to make the container. Separating your plastic recycling by number will increase its value, which will raise your rebate. If you don’t have enough space to sort every single kind of plastic waste that you produce, work with your provider to determine which ones will be worth the most when separated.
- Don’t Forget the Wrapping
When most people think of plastic recycling, they tend to overlook everything that isn’t a bottle or container of some sort. There are many different materials that can be recycled that aren’t containers, and that aren’t numbered. For instance, plastic drums and buckets, plastic wraps, PET Pallet Banding, Super Sacks, and PP/PE Packaging among other materials. It may seem like a pain to go to the trouble of figuring out which other waste products can be recycled, but you can save more money in the long run, especially if it is a material you have a lot of.
- Get a Compactor
Rebates are typically done by weight, and most of your plastic recycling is going to take up a lot more space than it needs to. This means that you are paying to have your recycling removed inefficiently because you’re paying for air. Compactors and balers like the Rotopac are essential to improving your plastic recycling program and making it even more worth your while. RotoPac was designed to compact multiple kinds of waste from large quantities of waste and plastic recyclables to hazardous waste and cardboard boxes. It will save you money by multiple means from labor costs in breaking down things like cardboard boxes, to reducing your waste removal costs. RotoPac is known for reducing the volume of waste at a ratio consistently greater than 6 to 1, so don’t miss out on learning about this great investment.
If you’re looking to vamp up your waste management program and make it a worthwhile endeavor for your organization, digging into your plastic recycling is a great place to start. KenBay, maker of the RotoPac, can help you get to the bottom of your strategy with years of expertise helping organizations across many industries handle their waste in a sustainable way, both environmentally and financially.
