What We Don't Do - Part 1

What we do is pretty unique - we are independent waste auditors that find every savings opportunity you’re sitting on.

We do this through our audits, a remote, detailed analysis of your waste and recycling processes.

But there are some important things we don’t do as waste consultants. We’ve made deliberate decisions to offer services that benefit you and your bottom line.

This is why we don’t:

• Obscure our pricing.

• Pay vendor bills on your behalf.

Not doing these things ensures no surprises on your end. We don’t believe in being anything less than transparent, whether it comes to our rates, our billing practices, or our services.

We don’t obscure our pricing.

We bill for 50% of the savings we find for you.

If we find $12,000 in savings every month (as we did for an Atlanta-based commercial real estate management company this past February), you’ll owe us $6,000 each month, and you’ll keep $6,000. Simple as that. 

This means that our services are not an added business expense or line item. You pay us exclusively out of the savings we find for you - our process is cash-flow positive.

This method of pricing motivates us to find your maximum savings opportunities. It’s part of what makes our audit process so thorough. We’re not going to easily overlook potential cost-cutting solutions if we know it will hurt our compensation! We find that this pricing method actually serves your best interests: more savings are found when we have a stake in the game.

We don’t get paid unless we benefit you and your bottom line. If you paid us upfront, it would not only be an added business expense for you, but we would not be as motivated to find savings.

If we don’t find any savings opportunities for you, you don’t owe us anything. After all, why pay for a service if you don’t directly benefit from it?

We don’t pay hauler invoices on your behalf.

We don’t ever pay your waste hauler, utility, or telecom bills on your behalf. We’re not waste brokers -  we think you should see your bills and know what you’re paying for. Brokers and some consultants will often package waste hauler bills and their own fees in one tidy little bill. It can be convenient for larger companies that don’t want the hassle of keeping track of multiple invoices for their many locations.

But it can obscure what exactly you’re paying for. You get one bill from the broker that will likely only have one amount listed. This amount is conglomerate of services at all properties, and will also typically include his broker fee. This method provides you no transparency. You have to rely on your broker and trust that he is being honest with you.

Suppose your broker hands you an invoice that is 30% larger than last month’s invoice. Your broker may tell you that waste hauler fees have gone up, or that you had a standard price hike at two locations. (Brokers are not financially motivated to negotiate contracts that are in your best interest. They may choose to do so - but they may not.) But in reality, your broker may have decided that his fees should increase. Obscuring what you are being charged opens the possibility for unfair spikes and charges to occur.

In order to prevent this, we have a different standard billing practice. We set up ideal contracts, service levels, and waste equipment, but all of the bills for every waste, recycling, and valet vendor are sent to the appropriate party or parties at your companies. They don’t go through us beforehand, so you’ll never get a hauler bill from us.

We will, however, audit those invoices. For most clients, we can obtain online log-on information from you or your staff that allows us to see these invoices on the hauler website. We find hauler invoices contain errors about 10% of the time, so we are careful to ensure that the line items on your invoice match the pricing or service levels dictated in your contract.

What We Don't Do - Part 1

What we do is pretty unique - we are independent waste auditors that find every savings opportunity you’re sitting on.

We do this through our audits, a remote, detailed analysis of your waste and recycling processes.

But there are some important things we don’t do as waste consultants. We’ve made deliberate decisions to offer services that benefit you and your bottom line.

This is why we don’t:

• Obscure our pricing.

• Pay vendor bills on your behalf.

Not doing these things ensures no surprises on your end. We don’t believe in being anything less than transparent, whether it comes to our rates, our billing practices, or our services.

We don’t obscure our pricing.

We bill for 50% of the savings we find for you.

If we find $12,000 in savings every month (as we did for an Atlanta-based commercial real estate management company this past February), you’ll owe us $6,000 each month, and you’ll keep $6,000. Simple as that. 

This means that our services are not an added business expense or line item. You pay us exclusively out of the savings we find for you - our process is cash-flow positive.

This method of pricing motivates us to find your maximum savings opportunities. It’s part of what makes our audit process so thorough. We’re not going to easily overlook potential cost-cutting solutions if we know it will hurt our compensation! We find that this pricing method actually serves your best interests: more savings are found when we have a stake in the game.

We don’t get paid unless we benefit you and your bottom line. If you paid us upfront, it would not only be an added business expense for you, but we would not be as motivated to find savings.

If we don’t find any savings opportunities for you, you don’t owe us anything. After all, why pay for a service if you don’t directly benefit from it?

We don’t pay hauler invoices on your behalf.

We don’t ever pay your waste hauler, utility, or telecom bills on your behalf. We’re not waste brokers -  we think you should see your bills and know what you’re paying for. Brokers and some consultants will often package waste hauler bills and their own fees in one tidy little bill. It can be convenient for larger companies that don’t want the hassle of keeping track of multiple invoices for their many locations.

But it can obscure what exactly you’re paying for. You get one bill from the broker that will likely only have one amount listed. This amount is conglomerate of services at all properties, and will also typically include his broker fee. This method provides you no transparency. You have to rely on your broker and trust that he is being honest with you.

Suppose your broker hands you an invoice that is 30% larger than last month’s invoice. Your broker may tell you that waste hauler fees have gone up, or that you had a standard price hike at two locations. (Brokers are not financially motivated to negotiate contracts that are in your best interest. They may choose to do so - but they may not.) But in reality, your broker may have decided that his fees should increase. Obscuring what you are being charged opens the possibility for unfair spikes and charges to occur.

In order to prevent this, we have a different standard billing practice. We set up ideal contracts, service levels, and waste equipment, but all of the bills for every waste, recycling, and valet vendor are sent to the appropriate party or parties at your companies. They don’t go through us beforehand, so you’ll never get a hauler bill from us.

We will, however, audit those invoices. For most clients, we can obtain online log-on information from you or your staff that allows us to see these invoices on the hauler website. We find hauler invoices contain errors about 10% of the time, so we are careful to ensure that the line items on your invoice match the pricing or service levels dictated in your contract.

What We Don't Do

Setting expectations is a key to success in almost every area of life. 

This is why we’re upfront with our clients about what we do and don’t do. 

In this post, you’ll learn that we don’t :

• Obscure our rates

• Pay vendor bills on your behalf

• Estimate your waste needs

• Leave your savings unprotected

• Perform waste services 

Ultimately, we’ve found that we serve you best when we don’t do these things. 

Let’s look at why. 

We don’t obscure our rates

We make sure you know exactly what you’re paying before and after you’ve procured our services. 

You’re charged at a rate of 50% of the savings we find

This is our pricing, plain and simple. Our process is guaranteed cash-flow positive, meaning you pay us strictly out of the savings we find for you. We only add to your cash flow - we don’t take away from it. 

Before we even begin, you know the rate at which you’ll be charged. The exact amount itself will differ based on the savings we find.  

If we find $12,000 in savings every month (as we did for an Atlanta-based commercial real estate management company this past February), you’ll owe us $$6,000 each month, and you’ll keep $6,000. Simple as that. 

Our invoices are transparent

Our invoices are easy to understand as well. We show you:

• what you were paying for prior to our services

• what you’re paying for our services

Then we split the difference, 50-50. You’ll get invoiced for half, and the other half you keep. 

We don’t pay vendor bills on your behalf

We don’t ever pay your waste hauler, utility, or telecom bills on your behalf. We’re not brokers -  we think you should see your bills and know what you’re paying for. 

What you don’t know is costing you 

Brokers and some consultants will often package waste hauler bills and their own fees in one tidy little bill.

But this bill is a summary.

It often doesn’t show exactly what services you’re being serviced for. This isn’t in and of itself a problem.

But it opens the door for deception - unintentional or otherwise. 

If you only see one large fee, you don’t know how much you’re actually paying your broker. You don’t know how much you’re paying for waste fees. You don’t have a baseline to know if your broker is price gouging you, or if your waste fees have suspiciously gone up.

Ignorance isn’t bliss; it’s expensive.

Getting one bill from a broker or other waste management representative may actually be costing you thousands of dollars. How can you be sure this isn’t happening to you?

Get a waste ally today! Sign up for a free consultation with us.

We don’t just “estimate” your waste needs

We don’t just give your waste needs our “best guess” and move on. 

Our waste audits take a minimum of two months. Why? Because you deserve to take advantage of every savings opportunity available to you. 

Not most of those savings opportunities. Not many of them. All of them. 

We don’t do perfunctory audits - we dig deep. We record all service information and perform history audits for every piece of equipment that is over 8yds long. We look for and record price fluctuation, increases, and fees. 

Then we analyze: 

• where you’re overspending

• what equipment is working and not working

• identifies gaps in your service

• Where there may be opportunities to introduce technology

• the best way you can stop overspending. 

Regardless of whether you have 1 location or 100 locations, we will look at every nuance to make sure no savings opportunities slip through the cracks. 

90% of companies are sitting on hidden savings. How much are you sitting on? 

We don’t leave your savings unprotected

After our initial audit is complete, we implement all recommended savings opportunities. We may make equipment switches or service changes, but we do these knowing that there will be a payoff. 

The savings we’re able to enact for you are often substantial - as much as 20-40% of your annual waste spend. 

It would be pointless to achieve these savings and then not protect them.

Accountability protects savings

Most haulers are out to make a buck. They know that most people don’t care about what they pay for waste. They know that most companies will pay whatever they charge for waste services.

In other words, haulers are rarely held accountable. As a result you’ll have price hikes several times a year, and you’ll pay ridiculous ancillary fees, and you’ll have very little recourse when things go wrong. 

This isn’t sustainable. 

So we provide the much-needed accountability haulers need to charge you fairly.   

We’re invested in protecting your savings

We protect your savings by monitoring your invoices going forward. Vendors make mistakes 10% of the time - and some of them aren’t small. 

As an independent third party, we painstakingly monitor your invoices to make sure that service is being provided as specified in your service agreement. 

And as an added bonus, we take on all the service issues you may have on site. You and your staff have enough to do, so you can leave service concerns to the experts. 

We don’t perform waste services 

We are waste solutions providers; we do not pick up the trash or service locations ourselves. 

We don’t own any dump trucks or waste equipment; you’ll never see us on your site lugging garbage around. 

We coordinate all these services on your behalf, but we don’t provide the services ourselves. 

You need waste solutions

Tired of spending too much time and money on waste issues? You need a waste ally.

Your time is valuable, and waste mistakes are expensive. Schedule a quick consult today to get the resources you need. 

3 More Ways You're Overspending On Waste Disposal

If you monitor your waste management closely, guess what? You’re likely still sitting on savings. 

And if you don’t monitor your waste management at all, guess what? You’re almost certainly sitting on savings. 

How do we know?

In the 18 years we’ve been in business, we’ve seen both scenarios countless times. 

Take Tad, for instance. He was in charge of 75 Wendy’s and had already tried to cut his waste spend - but we knew how to find $321,600 more. Scott from Landura Property Management also reached out to cut spend and we are saving him over $100,000 each year.

You’re overspending on your waste disposal management, and you don’t have to.

How?

1. You’re being serviced too frequently 

2. You don’t have rate limits

3. You don’t have monitoring in place.

We know that 90% of companies nationwide overspend on their waste disposal - odds are you’re one of them. So one or more of these issues is already happening on your site. 

Let’s take a close look at each of these. 

1. Too much service

We find that about 20% of our clients are being serviced too frequently. 

This means that your dumpster are being picked up when they’re not full. Any empty space in your dumpster is wasted space. 

If you’re paying $400 a month for two 8 yard dumpsters that are serviced 2x/week, you could be wasting $200 of that if you actually only need service 1x/week. Multiply this by several locations, and you can see how the savings accumulates. 

If you have several locations, there’s a good chance that your service levels are not accurate. 

We find that haulers are often very willing to change service rates - even if our clients have just signed new service agreements or are in the middle of a contract term. It’s one way we put our industry experience at your service!

2. No rate limits

If your contract doesn’t specifically prohibit rate limits, you’re going to get hikes. 

Most haulers will increase prices by 1-4 each year at a rate of up to 10%. Say you’ve employed a hauler for 4 years. At the beginning of the first year, you paid them $10,000 a month. At the end of the first you, you could be paying almost $5,000 more. 

You need rate limits to avoid being price gouged. 

Most haulers will charge what they can get away with. You can stop letting this happen. 

We make your contracts airtight. We know what language to include to prevent hikes. And we know how to fight rate increases when they do happen.

3. No bill review

Not monitoring your waste management is costing you. 

If you or your staff aren’t monitoring your waste disposal invoices, you’re not catching the errors that happen 10% of the time. And if you’re not catching the mistakes, you’re paying for them. 

One of our new client came on board with a contract stipulated no regulatory fees. Guess what they were being charged month after month? 

Hundreds of dollars in fees. 

They had no idea. And they weren’t doing anything wrong!

Your staff’s time is better spent tacking real priorities. With us as your waste ally, you have experts who: 

• fight on your behalf,

• know what problems to look for, 

• know how to find hidden savings

Your staff aren’t waste disposal specialists. And they shouldn’t have to be. We make your teams more efficient by doing what we do best: addressing service issues on your behalf. 

We find review your invoices, find credits, and update you and your staff accordingly. Because we believe that your time is valuable - and it should be treated as such. 

Get a waste audit and get peace of mind

You can have peace of mind about your service levels. You can be protected from rate limits. And you can have a waste industry expert on your side, reviewing your invoices and fighting on your behalf.  

Put our 18 years of experience to your service. You can’t afford not to.

Guide to Waste Consultants {2020 Updated Version}

Why exactly is there such a thing as a waste consultant? Are they really necessary? Why is this not something I’ve ever heard of before?

These are just a few of the questions we get pretty regularly. Today, I’ll answer all of them.

Simply put, most companies have a waste management problem. Those who spend more than $10,000 a month on waste disposal services are being price-gouged and have unfair waste contracts.

We exist to help companies find savings by resolving their waste problems. We find and implement solutions that saved Lisa Russell $5000 a month and Scott Alderman is saving $116,000.

At the end of the article, you’ll know exactly what we do, and how we can help you. Let’s look at:

• The problem

• How we find savings

• How you can benefit

Upwards of 90% of companies across industries are overpaying on their waste spend. Why be one of them?

The Problem with Your Waste Management Process

If you spend more than $!0,000 in waste and recycling disposal fees, you’re likely over paying. Why? Because you don’t know what you don’t know.

You don’t know what your hauler is charging other clients. You don’t know that you can include clauses on your contract to limit price spikes and stop auto-renewals. You don’t know market rates and contract practices - and you don’t realize you could have recourse when service issues arise.

In the seventeen years we’ve been in business, we’ve seen that most companies are overspending by:

• Having ancillary waste or vendor charges on their invoices

• Having a waste hauler contract that auto-renews

• Having a hauler contract that allows price hikes

• Having incorrect disposal or recycling service levels

• Having expensive service rates

• Not having a waste ally

Read more about your waste issues here.

Your waste hauler contract is the epicenter of most waste issues. If it allows for ancillary fees, you’re going to get charged for them. If it allows for auto-renewal, you’ll be locked into a bad contract for the next five years without being able to review efficiency. If it allows price spikes, you’ll receive up to four each year.

Most haulers are not out to save you money. So they’re going to leave you open to price spikes. They’re not going to periodically review your service efficiency levels. And they’re not going to have a problem charging you 20% more than the company across the street.

This is exactly why you need a waste ally. You need someone who knows how to find your waste issues and implement solutions that actually make an impact on your bottom line. We know you’re overspending, and we know how to fix it - permanently. With our expertise on their side, the vast majority of hundreds of companies we’ve helped save 20-40% on their annual waste spend.

How We Find Savings on Waste and Recycling Spend

We follow the same six basic steps for every company:

• Assign WCI Personnel

• Review Waste Expenses

• Identify Cost Reduction Opportunities

• Develop Recommendations

• Implement Recommendations

• Provide a monthly savings report

After our clients sign our official agreement, one of our Project Managers takes over your account. Tony and Allen have been working in the waste industry for almost forty years between them. That’s a lot of trash - and it’s a lot of expertise! 

You - and any other decision makers for your portfolios - will meet one of them after you sign up for our services. 

Tony and Allen have seen it all. They know all about under-performing waste vendors. They can find the holes in your contract because they’ve seen the very worst of the worst. And they know how to adapt our proven process to fit your industry, your locations, and your needs. 

Want to know if you should get a compactor? They’ll tell you. And they’ll ensure you’re getting service at market rates by requesting and vetting waste bids. Any equipment or vendor replacement is done under our supervision to ensure smooth transition.

After we have all the documents in place, we get to work. While the overall effort is collaborative, we do all the work on our end. Our process is designed to happen behind the scenes while maximizing your savings.

For every account, we ask that you sign a Letter of Authorization so that we can ask waste and utility vendors to work with us on your behalf. We also ask for utility invoices and current service agreements - or the account log on information so that we can access them. 

Then, the review starts. For waste reviews, we look at your invoice history, and we complete 12-month audits on any equipment that is larger than an 8 yard dumpsters. Right off the bat, our PMs will know if you’re overpaying for a dumpster based on its monthly rate, or if you need to decrease frequency of pick-ups at a certain location.

But other information is not nearly so straightforward. For anything larger than a 8 yard dumpster, we have to evaluate your tonnage, and your frequency of pickup. Do you really need to be serviced twice a week? Or is bi-weekly service ideal? We’ll also ask you questions about your customer service experience. The hauler you have may have great rates, but suppose he’s only servicing one of your locations once a week instead of twice a week. This is vital information, and we take it into account when we review your portfolio. 

Then we find other pricing options. This is really where our expertise comes in handy. Do other reputable haulers have better rates? Are you in the right utility rate structure? If your contract has less than ideal terms, we evaluate whether it’s best to try to renegotiate the contract, or terminate it altogether.

Termination is pretty rare - we only recommend doing so if it is in your immediate best interest financially. Typically, our clients stay with their current haulers and we simply renegotiate their current contract. 

How You Benefit from Our Services

Our clients benefit by having savings solutions quickly implemented, documented, and protected.

We make sure you don’t leave any savings opportunities on the table - which is why we have a success rate of over 90%. If you’re paying for waste or utilities, you’re probably overpaying. And you don’t need to. 

We provide a report that shows the amount you’ll save on a month to month basis, but we’ll also show you how those savings compounds over time.

Waste and utility expenses are recurring, so whatever you savings we implement adds up quickly. Hundreds saved each months translates to thousands - even hundreds of thousands - for the duration of your vendor contract. 

This report also shows the savings at each and every location. And it shows your bill for that month. (We share in the savings at a rate of 50%.  So we’re motivated to find all possible savings opportunities!) 

Where there are service changes, we ensure a smooth transition. We manage contract cancellations and arbitrate any kick-back we get from the haulers. When there’s a really major problem, we’ll bring it to your attention. But for the most part, we are able to do what we do with minimal inconvenience to you and your staff. 

And going forward, we audit all of your invoices. We find errors 10% of the time, and those errors can be costly! So we make sure your waste and utility vendors are upholding their end of the bargain; that they’re charging you what they’ve agreed to in your contract. 

When service issues arise, we’re your first line of defense. We stay on top of the situation until it’s resolved. We wait on hold forty-five minutes, and we make multiple calls to your site managers and your vendors. Then we make sure that whatever resolution is promised actually happens.

Companies across the nation are benefiting from our services. You can’t afford not to!

Explore your options. Schedule a short, informal consult with our CEO, Tyler Brunson. He’ll shoot you straight about how our services can benefit you - and show you how our services can protect your bottom line for years to come.

What questions do you have about what we do? Let me know in the comments below!

WCI's Audit Process

We’re serious about finding savings for our clients. So our waste audit process is exhaustive. They show every aspect of a client’s waste spend, and they show us how where to look for savings. 

We know that the more thorough the audit, the more peace of mind you’ll have.

Let’s take a few minutes to talk about what our audit process looks like, why it’s unique, and why it’s reliable. 

WCI’s Unique Waste Audit Process

A big reason our waste audit process works so well is that our project managers have over 30 years experience between them in the waste industry. They’ve seen it all, and so they know where to look for savings opportunities. 

Our teams leave no stone unturned - and we know they work. We’re disappointed if we can’t find at least 20% of savings on your annual waste spend. 

This is where we can really offer value to you, our clients. We take on all the hard work to find you the very best waste management options available to you. And it works. (Tad saved over $6,500 a month on waste expenses!) 

What Our Waste Audit Is

What exactly is so exhaustive about what we do? We go through your invoice history for every location for every piece of equipment. 

We compile data. We record all benchmark service information, and perform history audits for every piece of equipment that is over 8yds long. We look for and record price fluctuation, increases, and fees. When all the data is in, we analyze. Our analysis shows:

• where you’re overspending

• what equipment is working and not working

• identifies gaps in your service

• Where there may be opportunities to introduce technology

• the best way you can stop overspending. 

Regardless of the whether you have 1 location or 100 locations, we will look at every invoice to make sure no savings opportunities slip through the cracks. 

We talk with you. In order to serve you well, we ask you specific questions about how satisfied you are with your current waste and or recycling service levels. If you have a hauler with decent rates who just can’t seem to ever be available when you need him, or who consistently skips pick-ups, that’s not acceptable. In a scenario like this one, we would find a better hauler for you - one who can actually do what he’s agreed to do. 

We scour the market. We’ve been in business over 17 years, so we know good hauler rates from bad ones. We know if you’re overpaying - and by how much. We know if we can find you a better hauler, and we know where to look to find them. (Just ask Lisa from Ardmore Residential!)  

We scour your hauler contract. We know that areas most people overlook in their contracts. We look at whether your contract allows ancillary fees, whether it regulates price hikes, and how difficult it is for you to end your contract. The more we know about your contact, the easier it is for us to see what your next steps should be to eliminate your waste headaches. 

Read about how the audit fits into our Six Step Process . 

How Long It Takes

You may be thinking “Man, this must take a while!” And you would be right - it does. The average time for our waste audit completion is 60 - 90 days. We’re thorough.

We don’t do a rush job because that isn’t ultimately what’s best for you or your bottom line. And at the end, we can pinpoint your waste issues - and show you how to solve them.

Post-Waste Audit

After we’ve conducted the waste audit, we create a savings report called the Waste Savings Summary. It shows you exactly where you’re overspending and how we can fix those problems on your behalf. 

We talk you through our recommendations, and why we think they would be the best choice for you. Nothing super complicated here - it almost always comes down to a matter of who can provide the best service at the most ideal price point. We never recommend our clients get cheaper haulers who are not, in fact, reliable and trustworthy. We never suggest that they sacrifice quality for price. 

Once we’ve discussed the changes with you, we implement them. This means that we renegotiate contracts or find new haulers and services as necessary. 

After the changes affect your invoice, we share in the savings with you at a rate of 50%. 

Then, we audit your waste disposal bills to make sure they’re accurate, and continue to provide monthly reports that show the on-going effects of the service or contract updates. 

Our Audit Process Will Solve Your Waste Headaches

Our waste audit process is thorough because it’s the very best way to end your waste worries. Whether you find yourself drowning in over-priced services, or harried by constant missed pick-ups, there is a solution to your problems. 

Schedule a quick, informal call with our CEO, Tyler Brunson today to see how you can benefit from our services.

The Definitive Guide to Waste Consultants (2019 Version)

Everyone loves their waste hauler, right? You get top-notch service: your haulers always pick up your waste promptly and they never leave behind a mess or forget to service dumpsters.  And their rates are always fair and never go up.

Are you laughing yet?

The reality is, most people really don’t like dealing with their hauler. They’re hard to get a hold of when you really need them, their service often leaves much to be desired, and their fees seem exorbitant given what they actually do.

Psst! Download our free Guide to Reducing Waste Expenses!

You probably already know that you’re not getting the best service, but what can you do? Who has time to fight for better rates and service on top of everything else on their plate? You don’t, but waste consultants do!

Here at Waste Consultants Inc, (WCI) we don’t like seeing anyone paying too much for waste disposal services. We make sure that you aren’t getting raked over the coals with unfair vendor contracts or deceptive industry practices.  

Most of our clients spend at least $10,000 a month in waste fees - which is a significant recurring expense! We cut these expenses in two ways: through service improvements and renegotiating agreements. We do a free exhaustive waste audit, then recommend cost-saving measures.

Ready to learn more about how we do what we do? Let’s dive in!

Our Six Step Process

Our six step process is designed to find every waste savings opportunity available to you.

After you sign a service agreement , we partner with you to take these next steps:

1. Assign WCI personnel

2. Review waste expenses at all facilities

3. Identify cost reduction opportunities

4. Develop recommendations

5. Implement approved recommendations

6. Provide a monthly saving report.

Our proven process has helped clients in retail, food, and multi-family industries and others better manage their waste disposal.

Assign WCI Personnel

First, we set up a Kick Off Meeting between you and your project manager. This meeting usually happens by phone, but it has happened on-site on occasion. This meeting is a chance for you to get to know your project manager and discuss what the next 60-90 days will look like as they do a detailed review of your waste disposal expenses.

Review Waste Expenses at All Facilities

In order to conduct our comprehensive audit, we need to gather some relevant waste documents. We will need:

1. Copies of the most recent waste hauler invoices - typically just a current copy for each location we are reviewing.

2. Signed Letter of Authorization (LOA) on company Letterhead, which lets us work with your haulers

3. Copies of contracts in place with current waste and recycling vendors

4. Vendor online access credentials (if applicable)

5. List of locations with contacts/managers

We have designed our waste audit to be as non-intrusive as possible to you and those you with whom you work. This paperwork gives us a framework of what your waste needs currently are, and we often also work with our clients by phone as well to get additional information.

Identify Cost Reduction Opportunities

After looking at how you currently manage your waste, we find ways to reduce your monthly waste expenditure.

What specific things do we look at? This varies: every location has different waste needs.

Broadly speaking, we tend to find most of our savings in three ways: in renegotiating hauler contracts, in adjusting the frequency of pick-up, and in getting more efficient waste management equipment.

We may not recommend all of these at every location, but the examples below will give you an idea of some of the ways we identify cost reduction opportunities.

One of the first things we look at is hauler contracts. Is there another hauler that could perform the same services for less? Should you renegotiate your current agreement with your hauler to get better rates?

We also look at the frequency of pick-up. Many of our clients don’t actually need to have pick-ups as often as they do! A recent client, a retirement community, originally had their roll-off dumpster picked up four times a week. After our evaluation, we found that they really only needed to have their trash picked up twice a week. This saved them over $600 a month, or about $7200 a year!

We will confirm with your haulers to find out if your frequency levels are accurate,  and indicate this on our report. We also have the ability to use technology (cameras, sensors, etc) to better understand your needs and develop recommendations to reduce expenses and better manage your disposal needs.

Lastly, we examine the waste equipment you have on-site. Do you need a compactor? Do you need a larger or smaller dumpster? If your have an 8 yard dumpster onsite but it only gets half-way filled before the hauler picks it up, it’s likely a good idea to see if you can get a different dumpster size. Every little bit of monthly savings adds up!

Develop Recommendations

Based on our analysis, we create a recommendations report tailored to your industry and location. It shows what you could save, and what to implement to access those savings. We call this a Waste Savings Summary, or “WSS” for short.

The WSS lists each location and every kind of equipment that location has. We compare the existing waste disposal arrangements with our recommendations for new ones. And we also take into account all recycling streams. As you can see below, not every category has potential for savings, but those that do can be pretty significant.

At this sample location, we were able to reduce the dumpster rental at one location from $758.64 to $267.60.

This, combined with savings opportunities in other categories, resulted in a savings of 25% or $4002.53.

Implement Approved Recommendations

“We typically save our clients 20-40% in expenses per month.”

When our report is ready, your project manager will send it to you or the person responsible for its implementation. They will also set up a phone conference to go over it with you. We give you our recommendations report and explain our findings in detail.  Then, we implement the recommendations upon your approval.  

This report shows exactly what you need to change to reduce waste expenditure. It includes all the information about your current waste management arrangements and shows what your future savings can be. The average varies from location to location, but we typically save our clients 20-40% in expenses per month.

During your follow-up conversation with your program manager, you can ask any questions you want about their findings. Want to know how they were able to save you $300 a month in dumpster fees? Not sure if you should buy or rent a compactor? Want to know more about the dependability of a recommended waste hauler?

Your Project Manager is there to support you and answer all questions you have about how to best manage your waste disposal. And after you decide which recommendations to implement, we work with you to make the necessary changes.

What if there are no savings to be found? We at WCI are compensated only when we find savings for you. If we find no savings opportunity, you pay nothing. We don’t charge fees (like a broker) if our services don’t actually affect your bottom line.

Provide a Monthly Savings Report

Each month, we provide a Monthly Savings Report very similar to our Waste Savings Summary. The report lists your old expenses and your new expenses. It also shows how the waste reduction methods you’ve implemented are effecting your monthly savings.

Prior to sending you this bill, we audit all hauler invoices to make sure that you are not overcharged. We find that bills contain errors about 10% of the time, so we make it a point to review them carefully.

We Partner with You!

So many companies are overspending on their waste management, but yours doesn’t have to be one of them.

Each part of our six-step process is designed to support you in your desire to reduce waste expenditure. We exhaustively examine your waste and recycling streams, then show you opportunities for savings. And we constantly monitor your invoices for discrepancies and for additional expense reduction potential.

What other questions do you have about your waste management process? Want to know more about how we find our clients savings? Let us know in the comments below!

Three Key Differences Between Waste Consultants and Waste Brokers

One of the most significant decisions you can make about waste disposal is whether you hire a waste consultant or a waste broker. This choice can effect your P&L, so it’s important to know the facts about each profession.

Consultants and brokers are similar, but there are some crucial differences. Let’s take a look at how these differences impact their relationship with you, their client.

Waste Disposal Review

Both consultants and brokers will conduct an initial review of the disposal needs at your locations. In this review, they compile basic information like the number of dumpsters, their size, and your current pick-up frequency.

Consultants are often much more expansive in their research and analysis, whereas brokers don’t tend to be as thorough. In fact, we find that brokers typically discover only about 10% of the possible savings at any given site.

Here at Waste Consultants Inc. (WCI) after we partner with a client, one of our project managers completes a free, exhaustive audit. They review the last 6-12 months of your invoices, copies of current contracts for haulers and recycling vendors, and may even do an on-site visit. The project manager then makes a list of expense reduction recommendations.

Waste Disposal Process Implementation

Brokers make waste management choices as seems best to them but consultants let you make these decisions. Consider the way brokers and consultants select haulers.

Brokers can choose haulers based on any number of variables, but the decision is up to them. They act as middlemen to set up hauler contracts on your behalf.

Here’s an example of one such contract. It lists terms and conditions, the number and type of waste containers, pick up frequency, and rates.

Brokers negotiate agreements like the one above. Their hauler selections may align with the needs of your locations, but they may not. And since a broker’s client has little oversight, it can be difficult to tell if their selections are truly in the best interest of that client.

Consultants, on the other hand, let you make the decision not just about which hauler to employ, but the frequency of pick-up, and the waste equipment you use. Our exhaustive audit lets us see where expense reduction methods can be implemented - but we never make those choices on your behalf. We give you all the information you need to make the best decision possible, then help you implement per your direction.  

We often make recommendations like renegotiating service agreements, obtaining more efficient equipment, and increasing frequency control. This past spring, one of our manufacturing clients chose to implement these recommendations at all three of their locations. The client is now saving $12,000 a month in waste expenditures.

Waste Billing Processes

Brokers and consultants differ in how they are paid and in what their bills specify.

Brokers are paid regardless of the savings they find for you. Their broker fee remains the same if they find you $100 of monthly savings or $1000. As a result, many are not motivated to look for the maximum amount of waste reduction options for their client.

Consultants, on the other hand, are paid only when you save. We share in the profit with you only after you have implemented our recommendations. For most companies we work with, we typically share in the savings fifty-fifty.

If we don’t find savings after conducting our audit, you are not charged! This certainly happens on occasion, but for 90% of the businesses we work with, companies typically reduce their waste costs 20-40%.

But brokers and consultants also differ in billing transparency.

A broker will send you a monthly consolidated bill for all of your waste charges. This bill includes all expenses from the trash haulers who service your location or properties. It may or may not be itemized, but it will always include a hauler service fee.

For those with many properties in multiple cities or states, a consolidated bill can provide convenience. While they may be simpler to manage, they are not designed to show you price spikes or make mistakes easy to spot.

At WCI, we take a different approach. We audit all hauler invoices to ensure their accuracy and we also monitor them for unexplained price hikes. And each month, we also send you a savings summary sheet that itemizes your past and present waste expenditure. We want you to see exactly what is contributing to your monthly savings.

Summary

Consultants and brokers approach waste management from two different mindsets.

Waste brokers make decisions about your waste disposal process with little oversight. Their bills can make it difficult for you to tell what services you are paying for or if you even need all of those services.

Waste consultants, on the other hand, empower you to make the best disposal choices for your locations and are only paid when their recommendations impact your bottom line.

If you want a simple, single waste bill and are less concerned about waste management decisions, consider retaining a waste and recycling broker.

But if you value the ability to make informed decisions and having billing transparency, a waste consultant would likely be a great fit for you!

What other questions do you have about the differences between waste consultants and waste brokers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!