On average, professional waste disposal for a business will cost them 4% of their annual turnover. Producing waste is unavoidable, but to help keep these future costs as low as possible and work towards a greener waste management process, Fast Skips who provide waste management and skip hire in the UK has put together 4 ways to manage business waste better.

1. Track and reduce waste

Firstly, your business needs to track the waste they are already producing to be able to reduce it. Start by speaking to your employees to understand more about the waste they are producing for their job role and even during lunch breaks. This way you can identify your waste streams and then create a more accurate plan of what waste types can be reduced.

2. Limit paper usage

Many businesses are now understanding that many working day tasks can be completed online, and documents can be sent and stored online rather than being printed and then the hard copy being filed. Cloud accounting and other cloud software are taking the office by storm, but there are still lots of workers who are guilty of printing when they might not need to.

Have conversations and send email reminders to staff as a good first step in reminding them to think twice about what they’re printing. Create policies where notes need to be taken on laptops and if printing is necessary, it should be done double-sided and a recycling bin provided for any waste.

3. Use a waste management company

Not all businesses will have the time to know the best waste management processes for their business or the best places to recycle the waste they produce. By working with a waste management company, they will help review your waste streams and the waste management process you currently have in place. They will then offer improvements that will maximise efficiency, saving you time, money and reducing your carbon footprint.

They will also ensure all of your waste is being properly recycled and limit the amount that is far too often sent to landfill.

4. Be mindful of hazardous waste

Examples of hazardous waste include:
– Asbestos
– Chemicals including printer toner
– Oils such as car oils
– Pesticides

If your business deals with any of the above, or other similar materials that are deemed as hazardous in England, there will be specialist waste management procedures you will have to follow for its proper disposal.

Your company has a Duty of Care for ensuring it is correctly disposed of, either by you or a licensed waste management company, and you should make sure it is not harming staff or the environment. It is illegal in England to mix hazardous waste with non-hazardous waste, so if you are unsure of the best way to dispose of it, or are not authorised to do so yourself, you should contact a waste management company to advise you.

Hazardous waste is most commonly found in the construction and manufacturing industry, but electrical items such as laptops also fall under hazardous waste.

Need more help?

If there are any waste streams that you need more information about correct disposal, it is always best to contact your local waste management company who will be able to offer advice and guidance.