Effective Cost Reduction – Waste Management: opportunities in a rising market

Any company producing waste is subject to a plethora of ever-increasing regulations, causing costs to rise year on year. How can your business manage waste disposal costs in this sort of environment?

First of all, find out what regulations are applicable to your organisation – you don’t want to be hit with a fine for non-compliance. Did you know that all waste has to be accompanied by a waste transfer note (WTN), that it’s your responsibility to produce the WTN (although most carriers will produce one for you) and that you must keep copies for two years? Did you know that all waste producers are required to “pre-treat” some of your waste before it goes to landfill? Do you know what “pre-treatment” entails?

Once you know how regulations affect your organisation, work out what waste you have. A good start is to walk around your premises and look to see what is in the bins. It really is worth a look, because the contents are not always as expected.

Armed with this information, consider whether you can change your processes to reduce the amount of waste produced. This is likely to reduce the volume of materials purchased as well as waste disposal costs, resulting in a cost reduction double-whammy. If you reduce the amount of packaging you use, it could also reduce your requirement to purchase PRNs – a cost reduction hat trick!

Then consider what elements of your waste can be recycled. Recycling your waste doesn’t necessarily cost more than just sending it to landfill, and will become ever more economically viable as the Landfill Tax continues to increase. Much waste that is recycled also has a value, so recycling can even result in income for your company – even better than cost reduction. Your duty of care obligations can also met by pre-treating your waste in this way.

So, there are plenty of opportunities to reduce cost in waste disposal. If you are unsure of how to tackle this on your own, or would like some expert help, please do get in touch.