Most businesses strive to be environmentally-conscious, yet this can be challenging. Training employees on new waste management procedures and monitoring progress over time are both vital elements.
An audit is an ideal place to start in order to identify waste-generating activities, from reviewing records to conducting facility tours in order to spot problem areas.
Refuse
Step one of proper waste management is refusing any unnecessary material. This may mean something as simple as not purchasing new electronics when yours break, or as complex as developing a waste reduction plan for a manufacturing company. Reducing facility waste is key to mitigating environmental impacts and adhering to local regulations.
Once your waste has been reduced, it’s important to explore alternative disposal methods. One effective option is recycling, which involves physically reprocessing materials into usable forms again – for instance scrap paper can be recycled back into new paper products while old aluminum cans can become new aluminum products, helping conserve natural resources and lower energy usage required to manufacture new ones from virgin materials.
Composting is another environmentally-friendly option Load N Lift encourages. It involves breaking down organic materials into nutrient-rich fertilizers, while also decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing landfill requirements. By embracing composting, you contribute to sustainable waste management practices and support a greener future.
Anaerobic digestion utilizes bacteria to break down organic wastes and sludges in the absence of oxygen, similar to composting but on a larger scale. It’s especially helpful for large industrial sites that produce an abundance of waste as it can offset disposal costs.
No matter which approach is taken to manage and dispose of waste from your facility, proper procedures should be established in order to segregate and dispose of waste efficiently. A waste management action plan should be drafted and posted prominently where employees can easily see it; it should include steps for identifying all forms of waste produced at your site as well as protocols for sorting each category before scheduling disposal pickups.
Reduce
Waste minimization strategies – often known as source reduction strategies – offer the ideal approach to waste management.
This strategy is one of the most eco-friendly ways to control waste, and can save your organization money as well. It requires more deliberate material handling at each step in production so as to produce less overall waste.
Reducing waste allows you to save resources such as water and energy needed for production and transport, as well as greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Furthermore, cutting back on waste helps avoid both costs and environmental impacts associated with harvesting raw materials for new products.
As part of its waste minimization strategy, your organization should conduct a waste audit to understand all of its waste streams. This will give a clear idea of what your facility is producing and where there may be room for improvement – such as not properly labeling recycling bins so recyclables don’t get lost or sent directly into the trash; or waste transport services being inefficient and not picking up on time enough, leading to illegal accumulation and costly regulatory violations.
Once you gain an understanding of your facility’s waste streams, you can start looking for ways to lower hauling costs and negotiate more sustainable disposal solutions. Furthermore, being aware of what resources your facility produces allows you to more efficiently use resources like paper and plastics which could be recycled instead of being wasted away as waste products.
Recycle
Sustainable waste management not only reduces environmental impact, but can also lower disposal costs. Implementing a system to track and report data about your organization’s waste streams provides you with a clearer picture of its production – giving you power to seek opportunities for cost reduction and more effective negotiation with waste and recycling providers.
If your facility doesn’t already have an effective waste tracking and reporting system in place, professional waste management companies can help your facility create one. In doing so, they can identify which types of waste are produced (both hazardous and nonhazardous) so as to plan for efficient disposal practices and regulatory compliance.
One of the key advantages of recycling is reducing landfill waste. Landfill waste can have harmful environmental ramifications; taking years or decades for it to decompose completely while leaching chemicals into soil and water supplies, creating pollution which poses dangers both to animals and people. Recycling can help lessen this environmental strain.
Recycling makes products more usable – for instance, old paper can be recycled into new sheets while plastic waste can be transformed into various useful items. Furthermore, recycling saves energy since it doesn’t involve burning fossil fuels to create something from raw materials that have already been collected.
Recycling should only ever be seen as a secondary priority to waste reduction and reuse; after all, recycling still uses up resources while often not being as cost-effective than simply eliminating waste altogether.
Reuse
Reusing materials is the ideal approach to waste management because it is both environmentally friendly and cost-cutting. By recycling old products into new ones, you can reduce the need for new material production while conserving natural resources and decreasing carbon emissions. Some common examples of reuse are using old jars to store food or donating clothes/toys to resale stores/charities; using recycled paper bedding for hamster bedding; or even using newspaper as cleaning rags!
Reusing objects aims to extend their lives as much as possible before becoming waste. You can achieve this goal either by decreasing waste production at your facility, or finding ways to reuse waste products; for instance instead of throwing out old aluminum cans you could recycle them by turning them into new aluminum products, or recycling paper and plastic into products.
Recycling and reusing are excellent alternatives to landfill disposal, one of the worst waste management practices. However, not all forms of waste can be recycled or reused; composting offers another solution for organic waste that turns it into nutrient-rich fertilizer.
Apart from recycling, reusing, and reducing, another good practice for waste management is preventing its formation altogether. This can be achieved through not purchasing unnecessary items and cutting back on raw material consumption. Furthermore, mobile inspection software like Upper can be utilized to record daily processes related to waste management as well as resource usage within an organization.
Dispose
Removing waste from the environment should never be left up to chance; thus a comprehensive waste management plan must be put in place in order to maintain safety and health in our surroundings. Many modern disposal methods have adapted themselves towards sustainability with emphasis placed upon prevention, reuse, recycling, biological treatment and finally incineration as means for waste removal.
Step one in any waste disposal plan should be to identify all of your facility’s waste streams. A thorough waste audit will reveal information on the types and quantities of waste produced by each department; using this data, decisions about targeted waste reduction and disposal practices can be made more effectively; for instance, if one department produces excessive regulated medical waste, professional disposal services are available that can safely dispose of this material responsibly.
Composting and solidification/stabilization are also great methods of disposing of organic waste, as these processes reduce toxicity to the environment. For instance, the Defense Waste Processing Facility has successfully converted 36 million gallons of high-level nuclear waste into glassified solid waste that will eventually be stored safely within federal repositories. Solidification/stabilization processes can make liquid waste less mobile or toxic by altering its physical properties.
Once you have a clear picture of your facility’s current waste disposal practices, it’s time to set goals for improvement. Doing this will encourage staff members to embrace new policies while giving them a sense of accomplishment. Make sure that these goals are communicated frequently to employees as well as providing tools that they can use to track progress such as training sessions, digital checklists or induction manuals – to build ownership and accountability among staff members.