by charlotte | Jul 30, 2016
Taking care of your trash and recycling is not only a big job when running a business, but can also be a costly one. There are countless ways to reduce the costs associated with the trash and recycling handling, while simultaneously building a more sustainable business. Whether your main waste streams are in packaging or food waste there are simple ways to alleviate your removal costs.
5 Ways to Reduce Carrying Costs of Trash and Recycling
- Educate Your Employees
The process of reducing the costs surrounding your waste management and trash and recycling hauling specifically begins with education or re-education. Once you have been caught up on all the latest policies, technologies and methodologies, begin to make a plan and spread the information throughout your company. Host informational meetings and find the people in your employ who are passionate about the cause. Use signs to help people remember what they’ve learned about your new waste management direction.
- Reduce Waste
There are many ways to reduce waste coming from your facility, and they all start with a proper audit of all your processes and the waste they produce. By auditing your waste consistently for a designated period you will discover where there are unnecessary or avoidable waste streams and know where to move from there in your goals to make less waste.
- Reduce Packaged Inventory
One waste stream you can almost always reduce no matter your industry is in packaging. Consider your purchasing practices and how you might cut down on the amount of packaging waste you produce. Packaging can come in many forms from cardboard to shrink wrap and ends up as both trash and recycling.
- Reuse Whatever You Can
There are many things that are determined waste that can be useful as opposed to discarded. Things like manilla envelopes and plastic containers can be easily stored for second use. There are also many options to sell used goods to other companies who can use or recycle them, creating yet another passive income for your company.
- Invest in a Commercial Trash Compactor
Are you looking to improve the sustainability of your business, as well as the safety of your workplace? Commercial trash compactors are the absolute best bet for achieving both of these goals for your company, as well as many more when you choose the one that is most suitable for you. With many different sizes and specialities, there are commercial trash compactors for every purpose waiting to prove their worth in investment. Not only can you improve the sustainability of your own company, but a commercial trash compactor will help you reduce the volume of waste that you are sending to your local landfill.
When companies put time, energy and money into considering how they can implement better practices for their trash and recycling handling, they are not only improving their business operations but are giving back to their community and oftentimes they’ll save money doing it. While the immediate costs and initial investments might not seem worth it, the long-term savings and improved public relations are undeniable.
If you are looking for a waste management consultant, be sure to call KenBay to learn more about our expertise.
by charlotte | May 27, 2016
Trash removal doesn’t have to be the dreary topic it presumes to be, especially when you start to think outside the box and consider the bigger picture. So many good things can come from rethinking your trash removal and all the things associated with it. If you have yet to reassess your business or home waste management practices, then take some time to consider the amount of waste you’re producing and where it’s going. There are some very simple ways to get started in completely making over your waste removal standards, be it at work or home.
Find Your Waste Removal Devotees
Chances are there are people in your midst who are already secretly playing the goal of garbage police, taking it upon themselves to monitor the trash can even if it is unofficial. These are going to be your go-to people in beginning the transformation of waste removal in your business, and will keep the entire project from falling on the shoulders of ownership and management. Bring a team together around the common goals of reducing waste to both save the company money on hauling costs and by recycling, as well as giving something back to the community like less pressure on your local landfills.
Where is Your Waste Coming From?
The first place to start in remaking your waste removal strategy is to figure out what your waste consists of. The easiest way to do this, especially if you’re in a large facility, is to take on a weakly waste audit challenge. Checking your waste at the end of each day will give you a much better idea of where in your production the most waste is coming from. When you know where your garbage is being produced, you can then consider ways to reduce its creation and therefore waste removal as well.
Recycle Anything You Can
Many recyclables go completely overlooked, or are simply more convenient to throw in the trash for lack of a nearby recycling bin. A great place to start in reducing your waste is to vamp up your recycling program through first, education and second, logistics. Make sure you and your employees are aware of absolutely everything that can go in the recycling. Then make sure that there are always visible recycling bins around. Cardboard is a huge (quite literally the largest volume of waste created) culprit of recyclable goods ending up in landfills, and is usually easily avoided with the right measures in place.
Reuse or Regift
A lot of your waste, you will find, may not be recyclable but might still have some purpose or use for another business in your area or perhaps a local junk collecting store for all those DIYers out there. It could surely take some extra time to get this project going in full force, but it will also help your business build ties with the community around it, and potentially give an employee an exciting new job to take hold of.
Don’t underestimate the power of reducing your waste removal costs by taking these few steps seriously. If you want to do even more you can call KenBay to learn about our state of the art trash compactors and how we can help you improve your waste management practices.
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.
