Waste reduction is a core business strategy that can save any company money. It reduces landfill disposal costs, raw material costs, and energy expenses. Streamlined systems allow you only to service full bins, saving resources like fuel and carbon emissions from driving to empty locations. This is especially important for businesses that generate different types of materials.
Recycling Materials
When companies invest in effective waste management sustainability services, they can reduce waste disposal costs. This is because trash disposal costs are based on waste collection frequency and volume. A business can save on tipping fees and waste management services by reducing the amount of trash sent to landfills. Using recycled materials can also help reduce your company’s energy costs. For example, aluminum cans can be recycled into new ones that are much lighter and require less energy than new ones made from raw materials. This is important because using raw materials can cause pollution that adversely affects the environment.
Additionally, many companies can sell their recyclables for profit, especially in the paper industry, where there is an ample supply of paper scrap from curbside and office recycling programs that can be sold to manufacturers of corrugated cardboard, newsprint, toilet tissue, and other products as raw materials. This allows businesses to increase their revenue while lowering operating expenses.
Reducing Waste
In general, businesses can save money by reducing waste. The best way to reduce waste management costs is to purchase fewer materials and discard them less often. For instance, switching from single-use plastic cups to reusable glassware or two-sided printers can cut supply costs. Reducing waste also reduces environmental damage. Landfills pollute the soil, contaminate drinking water, and release methane, a 24 times more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
In contrast, recycling and composting divert materials from landfills and reduce these negative impacts. Lastly, a commitment to sustainable practices can help engender customer loyalty. Many consumers have said they prefer spending their money with companies prioritizing sustainability. Even small businesses can ingratiate themselves to customers through recycling, donating old technology or clothing to charity, and serving meals with ingredients once destined for a trash bin. Streamlining reporting and data collection on waste management activities can save business owners time and money. By implementing an industry-standard set of metrics, businesses can save on operational and compliance costs associated with reporting waste data.
Reusing Materials
In many cases, reusing materials extends the life of items and reduces disposal costs. It can also save businesses money by not purchasing and inventory supplies like paper, sanitizer, cleaning products, and office equipment. Reusing reusable glassware and plastic utensils can eliminate the need to purchase disposable alternatives. Reusing chemicals and solvents can save a company money by replacing the need to buy more expensive, environmentally harmful versions. Reusing industrial waste materials is a significant part of sustainable waste management. This includes materials classified as hazardous and non-hazardous waste, such as boiler slag, bottom ash, fly ash, and scrubber residue. These materials can substitute sand, gypsum, and concrete in construction projects, wallboards, cement, flowable fill and grout, soil amendment, snow and ice control, and blasting grit and abrasives. A business can reuse or recycle waste materials in various ways to create new, profitable income streams. This includes selling scrap metals, a lucrative revenue source for companies with the right equipment and know-how to do it correctly.
Energy Recovery
If waste were not managed, it would end up on land, either scattered or centralized in landfills that take up valuable space. Sustainable waste management practices ensure that all materials are correctly sorted so those that can be recycled or reused can be done. This helps reduce the need to mine or manufacture new materials. Paper and paper-related materials comprise the most significant component of municipal solid waste (MSW). This can be avoided by converting as much paperwork to digital forms as possible, such as e-billing and meeting minutes, or moving to online banking. In addition, food waste is a massive contributor to methane emissions and can be reduced by encouraging employees to buy more healthy, nutritious foods from your company cafeteria or by removing junk food from vending machines. Once reduction and reusing opportunities have been exhausted, energy recovery can help save money for businesses. This step can turn waste into heat, electricity, or fuel through incineration with energy recovery, gasification, pluralization, and anaerobic digestion. This process can help reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution, lower energy costs, and protect natural resources.
Avoiding Landfills
Most of our trash is in landfills, which aren’t the most eco-friendly disposal methods. Landfills contain chemicals and other contaminants that contaminate soil, water, and air. The toxins can even leach into groundwater, which makes them hazardous to people and animals. They also create unpleasant odors and emit air pollutants, negatively impacting nearby residents’ environment and health. Moreover, proximity to landfills can decrease property values due to concerns about odors and pollution. Avoiding landfills by reducing waste, recycling, and purchasing recycled products can save your business money. For example, using baking soda instead of commercial cleaning solutions can reduce the number of bottles and cans thrown away and reduce waste disposal costs. Another way to avoid landfills is by composting food scraps. This helps to reduce methane emissions, which is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Other ways to avoid landfills include avoiding over-packaging, using a clothesline to dry laundry rather than an electric or gas dryer, and buying ENERGY STAR compact fluorescent light bulbs that can cut energy consumption by up to 50%.