Among the concerns that come with running a business is the issue of waste management. Whether it’s a restaurant, a manufacturing facility, a workshop or even a corporate office, this remains constant. Wherever large amounts of work and people congregate waste will accumulate. This is a concern that touches upon several issues, including health, safety, environmental considerations, and efficiency. There are several approaches one could utilize to deal with the issue of waste, and each one has its advantages.
Rented dumpsters
The first solution is often the most well-established and straightforward method. It is also more affordable. The business can rent a dumpster or a skip and have a single point at which waste will be collected. This is excellent as a solution for construction and heavy industry. The waste products can be dangerous due to their weight and composition. The waste can include concrete, steel re-bar and drums, as well as drywall and insulation.
In a more corporate office setting, a skip is good for clearing out broken furniture, old electronic equipment or other properties damaged by flood or fire. These cannot be recycled given the time frame and the constitution of the materials that make up the items.
A client can take their time to fill a dumpster at their own pace. Thus, dumpsters serve a secondary role as a well-contained and safe collection point for unwanted items that others may be able to salvage. Once the dumpster is filled, its rental company can come and simply take the waste away. This means no unnecessary bagging and packing as for conventional municipal garbage pick-ups.
Reducing consumption
Attacking the issue from the opposite end of the spectrum means reducing consumption. Despite the presence of advanced and affordable information technology, many businesses still consume vast amounts of paper and paper processes daily. This is particularly true of older companies that still require hard copy documents or draft projects. Tech-related solutions are more common in start-ups and newer companies quick to embrace technology for their contracts, conveyancing, communications and record keeping.
Yet, going completely paperless is not out of reach for older companies if they have the will to make it happen. Reducing the consumption of paper and stationary gives the added benefit of cost and efficiency boosts to businesses.
Recycling
Recycling is particularly helpful in the case of restaurants and food manufacturers. These industries account for a large amount of organic waste that ends up in landfills on a regular basis. Composting is an attractive solution to their waste problem, as their kind of waste lends itself well to this. There are businesses and programs dedicated to recycling organic waste into compost that goes on to fertilize farms, which in turn grow the produce that restaurants use.
This comprises a closed-loop recycling cycle at the manufacturing stage. Higher end restaurants that have their own plots or gardens to grow produce can use this system to return some of their waste back into their own production cycle.
Reuse
Reusing and refurbishing items is a good way to delay the onset of creating waste in the first place. While reductions might be difficult for some business that need a particular rate and output; reusing waste items for their intended purpose tackles the issue by prolonging the shelf-life of items, often to the point of indefinite periods. Especially as recycling becomes more difficult due to the sheer variety of items that are single-use.
In the manufacturing sphere, cut-off materials after manufacturing and packaging material used to transport manufacturing material can be potentially reused to create other products. This is a better use for them as otherwise they would be discarded. Wasted energy used in some manufacturing processes can be recaptured and used as heating or in other forms of energy cogeneration processes.
In a more corporate setting, countless items can be reused in order to get more use out of them. Ink and toner cartridges can be refilled, waste paper can be reused for note taking, and an avoidance of disposable eating and drinking utensils can be made into company police. In addition, older equipment can be refurbished and used in less intensive departments rather than discarded, or donated to a worthy cause to satisfy corporate social responsibility requirements while gaining tax benefit.
Whether it’s a safe and convenient professional disposal method, or the often repeated trinity of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, waste disposal is a crucial component of any business. There is an abundance of methods that any business, big or small, heavy or corporate can use to ensure that their workspaces are safe, clean, and efficient.