How to Develop a Waste Management Plan for Your Small Business

how to develop waste management plan small business sustainability

The average person produces about 4.4 pounds of waste every day.

If your small business has 10 employees, you’re looking at over 40 pounds of waste every day. Over 200 pounds per week.

Without a proper waste management plan, soon enough your business will be struggling to deal with the waste.

The consequences? A filthy workplace that becomes a breeding ground for germs and other contaminants. Plus, such a workplace is bad for employee wellness, morale, and productivity.

You need to develop a waste management strategy and put it to practice before its too late. Here’s a guide on how to build this strategy.


Identify Your Waste

What kind of waste does your business produce?

Finding answers to this question is the first step to developing an effective waste management plan.

Your waste will largely depend on the nature of your business. If you’re a traditional company with an office in town, such as an insurance agency, you’ll be dealing with paper/stationery waste and perhaps food waste if your employees bring food to work or you have an office kitchen.

However, the are other types of businesses, such as healthcare practices and construction companies, with several types of waste.

Next, establish the amount of waste you produce on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. This enables you to find the right disposal plan.


Create a Disposal Plan

Your waste disposal plan will depend on the type of waste your business produces, the waste disposal policies set by the building that houses your business, and the local waste disposal regulations.

Let’s go back to the insurance agency example. Your building owner certainly has a designated waste disposal location. Perhaps there are also workers who’re responsible for picking up the trash and dumping it. But if not, you’ve to come up with an internal policy for waste disposal.

A good strategy is to hire a cleaning service provider to take care of the disposal. If your business can’t afford this service, perhaps you can ask your employees to take the waste to the designated location in turns.

What if your business is something like a construction firm?

On job sites, you’re responsible for disposing of the waste your activities generate. This would appear like a big task, but there’s a simple, effective solution. There is a dumpster rental service available near you for homes and businesses.

Once you hire the rental, the company will drop off the dumpster at your job site and haul it away once you fill it with waste.


Include Recycling in Your Waste Management Plan

Environmentally conscious companies recycle their waste – if it’s recyclable.

Recycling waste can be as simple as asking employees with gardens to take away organic waste and use it as compost. Or it can be as complex as setting up a recycling facility to handle large chunks of recyclable waste.

Your waste management plan should also focus on reducing the amount of waste the business produces.


Take Care of Your Waste

Waste can be an indicator of how efficient your business is. However, without a good company waste management plan, your waste could turn toxic, harm your people, and hurt your business’ productivity.

Use this guide to develop a proper waste strategy and keep reading our blog for more small business tips. We have plenty of other great articles on improving your company's waste management plan while increasing sustainability.

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