Whether you’re looking for a short-term solution for an upcoming project, or a long-term partnership spanning multiple outlets, as a business owner there are a myriad of options when it comes to hiring a commercial waste management company.
Waste management takes on many forms, including collection, removal, disposal, recycling and processing. The complications involved with this becomes a time-consuming endeavour, and are best left to professional service providers, allowing you to focus on more important things.
Furthermore, whilst you might think simply hiring a skip and doing the work yourself will suit just fine, some businesses will be legally required to evidence an appointed waste management company that regularly collects and correctly disposes of generated business waste.
With so much damage being caused to our environments by mismanaged waste, many business owners are also looking to ensure the service providers they work with are committed to reducing environmental impact and pollution.
So, whether you are obligated to hire a commercial waste management service or not, we’ve pulled together our top advice for business owners on how to hire a commercial waste management company with the environment’s best interests at heart.
1. What services are required?
Waste management can refer to many different sources of waste, including:
• Food waste;
• Redundant or faulty goods;
• Recyclable materials i.e. cardboard and glass;
• Hazardous waste from building materials, i.e. asbestos;
• Hazardous biological waste i.e. syringes;
The types of waste your business generates will decide what type of waste management company you will need to hire. Some companies will be able to manage all types of commercial waste, though some smaller service providers may not be equipped to handle more hazardous waste materials.
Additionally, some companies may only provide a generalised list of services and materials that come under each category, for example recyclables. A professional waste management service will be able to provide you an exhaustive and specific list of what can and cannot be collected under each area, for example whether milk bottle caps should be included with the recycling.
Gaining a thorough understanding of the service type you require is the essential first step to finding the right provider.
2. Find a properly licensed firm
With so many new businesses popping up all the time and requiring waste management services, there are always going to be a series of people trying to take advantage.
As such, you should always look to work with a company who have been properly licensed for the services they’re providing. It’s important as a business owner that you abide by environmental and governmental regulations to adopt ethical practices when it comes to disposing of your business waste.
Look for companies that have been fully licensed and registered for waste recycling, scrap metal collection, asbestos disposal, etc. with the Environment Agency. Companies may also have various ISO codes that they are authorised to work within, so make sure that these correspond with your business needs.
There is a public register of licensed providers available for you to cross reference.
3. Follow the journey of your waste
As an environmentally conscious business owner, you’ll want to make sure the waste collected by your service provider isn’t just being dumped in a landfill.
Any professional waste management company will be able to give you a complete breakdown of what happens to the waste they collect, allowing you to follow the journey of your waste to find out how much is recycled into new materials or used for renewable energy.
At Fletchers Metals and Waste Recycling, we’re proud to say we recycle 96% of the waste we collect. This includes 100% of street litter being recycled or used for energy generation, 60% of business waste being used for energy recovery, and the majority of remaining waste being broken down into raw material for new products.
4. Find someone local
There are many benefits to working with a local waste management company.
Not only will it reduce the cost of either transporting waste to their site, or paying for collection services, you will be supporting another local business and local jobs, encouraging regional investment, and likely have a better experience with a local service provider.
Finally, working with a local company means you can monitor how your waste is managed even more closely, ensuring ethical, environmentally friendly practices are being employed, ensuring that as a business owner you are doing your part to protect our world.