At KCM, we completely understand that, as a busy business owner, waste is something that may not be at the top of your priority list! However, all commercial premises produce a certain amount of waste. So waste management is an often unknown field that all business owners have to deal with at some point.
Not disposing of your waste in the correct manner that adheres to waste management laws could have extremely detrimental effects on your business. It could mean that you’re actually paying more for waste disposal – or, even worse, that you could end up with a hefty fine.
As an experienced waste management company, we work with our local clients around South Yorkshire to provide clear information on how best to manage their waste from an environmentally friendly, legal, and cost-effective point of view.
Read on for all the information you need to know for waste management for businesses in our latest blog:
What is Waste Management for Businesses?
Waste management refers to the correct methods of collection, disposal, and recycling of waste.
It covers many different aspects and solutions of waste disposal and recycling. And is absolutely crucial in protecting the environment.
Waste management for businesses essentially means ensuring that waste produced is kept to a minimum. And any waste that is produced is disposed of and recycled in the correct method where it will not become harmful to the environment.
How Should I Dispose of My Commercial Waste?
Unfortunately, there isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’ process when it comes to disposing of waste. Waste must be identified and classified in order to know the best way it should be disposed of.
For example, if your business has confidential waste or hazardous waste to dispose of, then you have a legal duty of care to ensure they are disposed of in a way that is different to the disposal of general waste for example.
For that reason, it’s extremely important that all the different types of waste your business creates are stored separately to reduce the risk of contamination. Common types of commercial waste can include general waste, food waste, plastic, cardboard, glass, wood, hazardous waste, confidential waste, and more.
You should then work with a trusted waste management company who can frequently collect the waste from your commercial premises. The waste management company should provide you with a waste carrier note – and then they should dispose of it in the best possible way. To reduce the waste that is sent to landfill, a good waste management company should turn the majority of waste they collect into biomass fuels or aggregates.
What Services Can A Waste Management Company Provide My Business With?
A Waste Management Plan
First and foremost, when looking at your business’ waste management processes – it’s crucial that you focus on the 3 R’s of reduce, reuse, and recycle!
Focusing on these areas, we can help you build a waste management plan of the types of waste you will be producing and how best they should be disposed of. A plan like this could be especially useful if you’re working on a construction site for example – and need to plan ahead how many skips or vans you may require to remove your waste.
Recycling Initiatives
Once you’ve got a waste management plan together, you should look at any other internal recycling initiatives you can implement.
This could be as simple as a policy on only re-usable bottles in the office. Or external initiatives working within your local community.
Trade Waste Bins
Trade waste bins are absolutely essential in storing your waste safely and securely.
By working with a waste management company, they are able to come and collect your trade waste bins as often as you require to stop them from becoming over-flowing. The bins will also come labelled to help you store your waste types separately. And your bins can be supplied in a wide range of sizes, and even with lockable lids.
At KCM, we even provide our trade waste bins for free! All we ask is that our clients pay their collection fee. Then you can leave the rest of the work down to us. You can find out more about our trade waste bin hire services here.
Nationwide Commercial Skip Hire
Does your business produce large quantities of waste? Either continuously or as a one-off? Commercial skip hire can be a great, cost-effective solution to help dispose of your waste!
Also, if your business regularly works throughout different areas of the UK, then you also may find choosing a waste management company that offers nationwide skip hire to be a favourable choice as it means you only need to work with one supplier.
Disposal of WEEE Waste
Recycling of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is a specialist part of the waste and recycling industry and includes most items that either has a plug or need a battery.
In line with the 2012 WEEE directive – it is your legal responsibility as a business to ensure your WEEE waste is stored safely to prevent fire, that you use a registered waste carrier to dispose of it, and that you keep a waste transfer note when it leaves your site. By not following waste regulations, you can receive a fine of up to £5000 and face prosecution.
Man in a Van
Are you undergoing a revamp or office clear-out? If so, a waste management company can help you dispose of all your waste swiftly.
This is a great option if you have bulky items to dispose of where a skip wouldn’t be suitable. For a full list of items that can be collected, visit our website here.
How to Choose a Waste Management Company
When choosing a waste management provider, it’s often good to choose a local company. This means they can work closely with you and your team. And that they can provide you with the solutions to your waste management needs. This will also generally be at a lower cost.
At KCM, we’re based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. We provide waste management for businesses to all local towns and cities such as Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster, Worksop, Chesterfield, and more.
When choosing a waste management company it’s also crucial that you check that they are a licenced waste carrier and have all the relevant certifications. If your waste is disposed of by a company that isn’t licenced, then there’s a risk that this waste could be fly-tipped which you could be liable for.
Like with anything, you should make sure you also check their reviews, too! At KCM, we’re proud to have a glowing 5* review from all of our clients on both Trustpilot and Facebook.
Are you in or around South Yorkshire? And are looking for a local waste management company that you can rely on? If so, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. You can contact us on 01709 361 144 or email us at bins@kcmwaste.com