4 Reasons to Make Reuse a Priority in Your Waste Management

ReuseIf you are trying to reduce your waste, one of the easiest things you can do is find things that are easy to reuse. With a little bit of effort, you can significantly reduce many of your waste streams with simple reuse protocols based around sorting, cleaning and storing. There are many things, like manila envelopes and plastic containers, that are determined waste that can be useful instead of thrown out. By taking the effort to save and reuse whatever you can, you will save the company from having to purchase as many as it would otherwise. There are also many opportunities to sell used goods to other companies who can use or recycle them, creating a passive income for your company.  

4 Benefits of a Habit of Reuse

  1. Save Money
    When you reuse things throughout your business operations you will undoubtedly save money in many ways. Not only will you spend less on purchasing what you have decided to reuse, but you will also save money on waste removal as you significantly diminish a waste stream. When you open your mind to the idea of reusing things you will undoubtedly begin to think more creatively about the waste you’re creating. If you want to further reduce your waste removal costs, consider purchasing a commercial trash compactor.
  2. Build Partnerships
    Another common oversight is the opportunity to find a partner in your community who would consider something that is your waste to be a valuable resource for them. Turn to your community to find partnerships like this and you just may save money in buying things you could get at discounted prices, on trade, or completely free. Not only will the habit of reuse challenge you to think more creatively about your own waste, but also about that of your partners throughout the community.
  3. Zero Landfill Initiative
    The zero landfill initiative is an ideal that many organizations and governments strive for, and the practice of reuse is central to achieving it. If you haven’t yet considered how you can contribute to this admirable common goal, a waste audit and habit of reuse are great places to start.
  4. Encourage a Charitable Community
    Many things go in the trash that could be incredibly useful to other organizations in your community. Teachers, for instance, are constantly short on supplies they need for the classroom, and some of your garbage could serve as great craft supplies or even paper products they might need for schoolwork. Don’t give in and let things get dumped at the landfill when you could be directly helping your community with what you might now be deeming trash. If you can’t reuse it yourself, chances are someone else can. Furthermore, this kind of outward-facing thoughtfulness is a great way to get your employees more engaged in their work as they aim to make it part of something bigger than themselves or even the organization, but about being a service provided to their local community.

If you haven’t yet made the habit of reuse a norm in your organization, it’s time to start working towards this goal. Begin by educating your employees on some simple changes they can make, then give them the freedom to find their own solutions to reuse in order to reduce waste streams. If you are looking for further waste management help, give KenBay a call to see how we can help you.

The 5 Best Ways to Reduce Carrying Costs of Trash and Recycling

Trash and RecyclingTaking 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.     
  4. 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.  
  5. 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.

 

3 Ways to Reduce What You Spend on Recyclable Materials

Recyclable MaterialsUsing recyclable materials is about much more than reducing your waste removal costs, though that is a nice bonus. Recyclable materials promise a brighter future for our planet and the human race by reducing our use of finite resources. When companies put time, energy and money into considering how they can implement recyclable materials into their products and packaging, they 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 are undeniable.  

Reduce Your Spending on Recyclable Materials

  1. Automated Waste Reporting
    End of Life regulations are only getting more strict as the government attempts to reduce the amount of waste being produced by industry. This is a trend that is being quickly adopted in the United States after many years of success in the European Union. These new regulations are encouraging companies to consider the entire lifespan of their products from their design and creation all the way through the end of their life and where they will end up when discarded. With the task of calculating recycling fees based on sales, shares, materials, weights and so forth, companies have turned to technology to help them keep track of their waste management expenses, often finding up to fifty percent savings with this approach.
  2. Smart Design
    A large part of reducing waste management costs, especially on recyclable materials, is smart design. Maybe your company’s brand is entirely wrapped up in its packaging and the thought of changing it is overwhelming. There are many subtle things you can change in product design by using new technologies in recyclable materials that will save your fees in the long run. On the other hand, loyal customers are typically happy if you change your packaging for a good cause, because then they get to feel they are part of it.
  3. Incentivize Recycling
    Many companies aren’t as concerned with their packaging as they are with their products themselves. In a world ruled by screens, electronics manufacturers bear a heavy burden when it comes to recyclable materials and keeping their dead products out of landfills. Companies like Apple offer end of life trade-in programs, and will even give you a small gift card for those ancient macbooks sitting around collecting dust. These programs allow them to save on fees as well as recycle old parts themselves. Customers get to feel better about where their garbage is going than simply throwing it the waste bin.

Don’t overlook the importance of implementing recyclable materials into your products and packaging. With a fresh look at your waste management practices you will find many opportunities to save money, while you might pay a little more to get the ball rolling. There are countless resources for this step towards corporate social responsibility that will not only improve the face of your brand, but will help your employees to feel part of something bigger. For more information for waste management experts on how to make a shift to a more sustainable business, give KenBay a call.

5 Ways to Make Huge Progress on Your Zero Landfill Initiative

Zero Landfill InitiativeAre you looking to start or improve upon a zero landfill initiative to do your part for the conservation of our beautiful world? You’re in luck because at KenBay we are experts in helping companies achieve their zero landfill initiative goals and have all the tools you need to see it through. A zero landfill initiative does more than simply divert waste from the landfill, it will actually end up saving your company money on waste transportation, as well as improve the overall safety in your manufacturing facility.

What is a Zero Landfill Initiative?

As opposed to a zero waste initiative, which constitutes absolutely no waste or recycling, a zero landfill initiative is defined by diverting the majority of waste from the landfill in favor of producing only recyclable waste. There are three degrees of landfill initiatives to strive for, the most ambitious of which is the zero landfill initiative which constitutes that 100 percent of waste is diverted from the landfill. Then there is the virtually zero landfill initiative with diversion rates of 98 percent or higher. Finally the landfill waste diversion initiative is for companies aiming to divert at least 80 percent of their waste from the landfill. Figure out which goal is the most attainable for your company and begin taking steps towards achieving it! Reducing your landfill waste is often a process that will improve over several years so don’t try to fix it all in one month and then never think about it again. It’s a long term commitment!

5 Ways to Make Progress on Your Zero Landfill Initiative

  1. Work With a Waste Management Company
    Waste management companies like KenBay are experts in helping organizations of all kinds reduce their waste. We can help you do everything from company-wide waste audits to find more efficient and safer production practices, as well as provide new equipment that will help you reduce the volume of your waste.
  2. Perform Consistent Waste Audits
    There is no way of knowing how to reduce your waste if you don’t know where it’s coming from and what kind of waste it is. You need to track your waste throughout every aspect of your business in order to make a targeted plan to both reduce and eliminate certain waste streams.
  3. Think Both Short and Long Term
    The necessity of having both a short and long term plan for achieving your zero landfill initiative is absolutely crucial to seeing results. You won’t be able to make huge amounts of progress right away, so make sure you have actionable small goals through which you can measure progress to keep yourself and the rest of the company motivated towards the long term goals. Honda has been working towards their zero landfill initiative for over a decade!
  4. Buy a Trash Compactor
    Trash compactors have the ability to reduce your waste volume at a rate of six to one meaning that, if you are still producing landfill waste, you can significantly reduce the space it will take up in the landfill as well as your own hauling costs. The same trash compactors can also be used for recycling, achieving the same ends for recycling centers.
  5. Use Biodegradable Bags
    A great way to work towards your zero landfill initiative is to use biodegradable bags that will disintegrate over time, leaving one less plastic bag in the recycling center or landfill. This is a small and easy measure to take towards achieving your goals.

A zero landfill initiative is a worthwhile goal for your organization, no matter what industry you are in. If you want to know more about how a waste management company can help you achieve a zero landfill initiative, give KenBay a call!

Unlock the Magic of Using a Crusher for Your Waste Management

CrusherWhen it comes to that point in the year when things are dialed in and it’s time to start doing some assessments that you now have time for, waste management is always a good place to start. Great things can come from rethinking your waste management practices including time and money savings. Though you don’t necessarily need to make the investment, a crusher is one of the surest ways you can have the most impact in changing your waste management by reducing its size and therefore the costs you are paying to have it hauled off.

What is a Crusher?

Also known as a trash compactor, a crusher is a mechanical device used across many industries to reduce the size of various types of waste. A crusher is made of material that is molecularly stronger than almost anything it will come in contact with. This means that the two solid surfaces of the crusher, when effected by mechanical force, can break down and reduce in size nearly anything it will compact, with few things able to dent or even scratch it. Crushers are used for everything from cardboard boxes and aluminum cans, to rocks.

Why Use a Crusher?

No matter what industry you’re in there is a crusher that will work perfectly for you without taking up any more space in your facility than a standard sized pallet. For example, the small footprint RotoPac by KenBay only needs a space of 4 by 5 feet to fit comfortably in your workspace. While it takes up very little room, it actually increases your space for waste management as it compacts everything from food waste to general manufacturing waste. When you optimize your waste management with a crusher, 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. Not only does a trash compactor reduce the volume of your waste, but it can also significantly increase your workflow efficiency.

A Crusher Can Increase Safety Too

Inefficient waste practices can also result in unsafe work environments cluttered with hazards. Without assessing your waste management practices your facility is prone to waste buildup in places where either a waste can is overflowing, or where there isn’t one at all. When considering making the investment of purchasing a crusher, start by considering the flow of waste management in your workspace. When you do this you will undoubtedly notice that there are many things you can do not only to reduce the amount of waste you’re producing, but also increase productivity by making disposal more convenient for workers, thereby decreasing the number of hazards found throughout the workplace.

Don’t let waste management in your workplace go overlooked just because you aren’t ready to invest in a crusher. There are so many other measures you can take to increase workflows, safety and efficiency when it comes to finding ways to reduce waste. Whether you need to start with a simple waste audit to see where your biggest problems lie, or are ready to bite the bullet and invest in a crusher, there is always something more you can be doing to decrease the amount of waste you are sending to the landfill each year. If you want to talk to some waste management experts, call KenBay to learn more about our extensive line of trash compactors.

What is Intellectual Property Worth if it’s Unprotected?

Intellectual PropertyWhen 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.

Is Your Waste Can Sabotaging Your Manufacturing Efficiency?

Waste CanWhen 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.