Your Hidden Waste Hauler Contract Problems: What they are and what you can do about them - Part 2
Most hauler contracts are written to ensure that haulers make money - and keep making more.
Typical hauler contracts:
Allow for unlimited price spikes
Have inaccurate service levels
Charges you for additional fees
Makes it nearly impossible to cancel
Has no provision for bad service
If your contract was not adjusted and has these default specifications, you will almost certainly pay more than you need to for your waste expenses.
Today, we’re going to talk about the last two contract specifications that cut into your bottom line.
Waste Contract is Nearly Impossible to Cancel
What’s worse than a bad contract? Being completely stuck in it.
There are two aspects of contracts that make them difficult to exit. First, most contracts automatically renew for long terms - usually five years. So you may realize you want to change your contract, but it can be almost impossible to do so if you are in the middle of a five year term.
Second, contract termination is de-incentivized since it typically includes hefty associated fees. On rare occasions, it may be worth it for your company to terminate their contract and pay the fee so that they can hire a cheaper (or more reliable) hauler. These fees are usually equal to the past six months of charges, which is likely no small amount.
If you do chose to terminate, you have to send a termination letter within a very specific time frame prior to your contact renewing. Most of the time, this termination letter has to arrive at your hauler no more than 180-90 days prior to your contract renewing.
You must send a certified letter - not an email - specifying that you are terminating the contract and/or cancelling the auto-renewal clause.
Cancelling the auto-renewal clause allows you to create a contract with the same vendor with more favorable terms.
Has no provision for bad service
When there are service issues, you should be able to get them resolved quickly and promptly.
When a hauler misses a pick-up, it should be easy to get in touch with them to resolve it. If they’re leaving stacks of garbage around the dumpsters or make a mess every time they service them, the hauler should only need one request to service more conscientiously. But this isn’t often the case.
Why pay someone for a service who is actually making your life (and your staff’s lives) more difficult? If you had multiple hauler problems with no resolution in sight, you need to know that you have an out if you need one.
A thorough contract will include steps for resolution - and what will happen if you continue to be dissatisfied with service levels.
You Don’t Have to Overpay for Waste Services
By default, your haulers are going to let these things happen to your contract. But you don’t have to let them. You can solve current problems and prevent new ones from happening - all it takes is effort, and some persistence.
We help companies across the nation find waste solutions and implement changes on their behalf. Don’t be part of the 95% of companies that are overspending on their waste disposal! Drop us a line to learn how you can fix your contract.
Your Hidden Waste Hauler Contract Problems: What they are and what you can do about them - Part 1
Most waste hauler contracts have hidden problems. Why? Because your haulers don’t have incentive to help you save.
And unfortunately, many vendors in the waste industry are out to make more and more profits. So they’re willing to have you sign contracts that help them do exact that. And many of you have unwittingly signed them.
A typical contract will include the following expensive specifications:
Allow for unlimited price spikes
Has inaccurate service levels
Charges you for additional fees
Makes it nearly impossible to cancel
Has no provision for bad service
Most people simply don’t know that they can ask for additional contract language. They don’t know that they can ask that certain clauses be removed. They don’t know they can edit existing language. So they don’t.
And as a result, they overspend by 10-30% on their waste every month.
This article will help you start saving on your waste expenses by identifying some of the most common contract problems. We’ll go over 1-3 today, and 4 and 5 later in the week.
(Psst! Want to quickly know how good your contract really is? Download our free Waste Hauler Scorecard!)
Price Spikes Allowed On Contract
This is a good example of a contract problem that requires additional language in order to fix. If your contract does not include language that prohibits or limits price hikes, you will almost certainly get them.
Price spikes can occur 1-4 times a year, at rates of 10-15% each time. Most haulers will only increase prices once a year, but some will chose to do so more. And if your contract doesn’t expressly prohibit this there’s nothing to stop them from taking advantage of the opportunity.
If price spikes compound over time, you will pay more than you should. If this happens at multiple properties in a portfolio, you can overpay by thousands of dollars. Don’t let that happen to you.
Take a look in the notes section in one of your contracts. Does it have notes that limit or completely eliminate price hikes? If not, scan the rest of your contract for any similar denotations.
You can read more about these waste issues and others right here.
Inaccurate Service Levels
Service levels tend to be “off” for two main reasons.
First, 70% of companies in the US are paying for too many pick-ups. Why? Because haulers err on the side of too many pickups since more pickups mean more revenue. The more trips to your property that they make, the more they get paid.
So when they’re first evaluating for your needed service levels, they have financial incentive to over-estimate your real needs. Some haulers do this intentionally. Others err on the side of too many pick-ups because too few pick-ups are going to cause major problems quickly.
Second, most haulers don’t tend to re-evaluate your real needs over time. When was the last time your hauler said they should drop service down to twice a week? Or that if you switch out equipment, you could have fewer pickups?
You may have had the correct service levels when your contract began, but your needs may have changed. There may be unnoticed savings opportunities at one or more of your properties because your services have not been thoroughly evaluated in a long, long time - or ever. (This is one of the major reasons why 90% of companies are paying too much for their waste services.)
Haulers simply don’t have the financial motivation to proactively find the solutions that are right for you. They’re there to pick up trash, and they know that more pickups means more revenue.
To make sure you have the right services, find an independent waste consultant who will objectively evaluate every waste stream and find where you’re currently overspending.
Contract Includes Additional Fees
Most haulers will pass on the cost any number of administrative and overage charges to you. A lot companies pay these outright because they think they have to. You don’t.
But unless your contract specifically caps or eliminates these fees, you will need to pay them.
Look for these on your current hauler contract:
Fuel/environment fees: This fee supposedly helps recoup the cost of gas, but is actually a huge profit center.
Recycling recovery fee: Covers the fees incurred by hauler to transfer recyclable, but again, is typically a profit center.
Minimum tonnage fees: Fee charged by the hauler (typically on roll-off or open-top accounts) when a container’s weight upon pickup is below a specific threshold.
Administrative fees: typically charged if a client elects to receive paper invoices instead of electronic delivery of invoices.
Regulatory Cost recovery fee: Some haulers, (like Waste Management) will charge this fee to cover costs in other regions - not necessarily yours. They explain it like this:
“This charge is not specifically tied to such costs to service your account, but instead helps us cover Waste Management’s enterprise-wide costs for host community fees, waste disposal taxes and similar charges to service all WM operating company customers in the United States and Canada, and to achieve an acceptable operating margin.” (From Waste Management, retrieved July 23, 2019.)
The regulatory cost recovery fee is not “tied to . . . your account.” In other words, you’re helping cover their costs to service other companies. Why should you pay for what you don’t benefit from?
You can reduce or eliminate all of these fees; you don’t have to pay them. But you have to do it prior to renewing a contract, or getting a new one. It’s extremely difficult to negotiate these fees in the middle of a contract.
Your Hidden Waste Problems are Costing You
Too many companies don’t realize how prices hikes, inaccurate service levels, and ancillary fees are costing them.
Price hikes are built into the fabric of the vast majority of waste contracts. Inaccurate service levels go unnoticed in most contracts. Ancillary fees are paid without question.
Take the time you need to take to carefully review your contract or contracts. You are likely sitting on significant savings.
Have you ever thoroughly reviewed your contract? Ever heard of any of these waste issues? Let me know in the comments below!
5 Ways You're Overpaying for Dumpsters (and How to Stop!)
Of the hundreds we’ve worked with over the past 18 years, we estimate that over 60% of our clients have benefited from equipment changes.
You’re overspending on your dumpsters.
How do we know? Because we’ve seen it over and over again with our clients.
Of the hundreds we’ve worked with over the past 18 years, we estimate that over 60% of our clients have benefited from equipment changes.
Prior to us coming on board, these companies were paying thousands of dollars for commercial waste equipment. But they weren’t being used efficiently! They didn’t know - but they do now.
They stopped overpaying, and you can too.
You may need:
fewer dumpsters
a compactor
more dumpsters (with fewer pickups)
larger containers
smaller containers
How will you know what your true needs are unless you get a waste audit?
Let’s take some time to dive into each of these categories. At the end of this blog post, you’ll know a few ways you’re likely overpaying for waste containers.
You Need Fewer Dumpsters
You need fewer waste or recycling dumpsters at your locations.
Are your dumpsters full each time they are serviced? Does your dumpster usage differ seasonally? Do you need every dumpster at every location?
What you don’t know is costing you
Your ideal service levels are those where you are receiving the right number of picks-ups for each dumpster. If your dumpsters aren’t full when they are picked up, you’re paying for wasted space.
Stop paying for inefficient equipment levels
If your dumpsters have different usage rates based on tourist season, for instance, you need a contract that reflects that. Why pay for additional services that you can’t use?
We often remedy this situation by evaluating your unique location needs. First, we’ll scour your invoice history. Do you have any overages? If so, how many? If you have none at all, that can be an indicator that your dumpsters are not being used at maximum capacity.
If you have a waste container that is charged by weights, we’ll look at your tonnage history. If you consistently have low container rates, this means that either you need few containers - or that you ended fewer pick-ups.
Our recommendations will take into account pricing from other market providers and your waste hauler contract specifications.
We’ll find the solution that’s right for you. And what saves you the most money.
(Psst! Equipment is only one way you’re overpaying on waste disposal. Your contracts are costing you. )
You may need a waste compactor
There are many reasons you may need a compactor, but these are the top two:
You’re a higher trash generator. Does an 8-yard dumpster picked up every day meet your service needs? If you’re generating more trash, you need equipment that can perform accordingly.
You generate food waste. You don’t need us to tell you this, but food can reek if it’s left out too long. Compactors help contain liquid and smells, keeping your location tidy and clean.
A waste compactor crushes garbage so that fewer pick-ups are necessary. The most frequently used size is 30 cubic yards. It requires an investment upfront, but it can save quite a bit of money over time.
We typically recommend compactors to clients who produce large amounts of waste and those who have space at their site.
You may need more dumpsters
You need more dumpsters but with fewer pickups.
As contrary as it sounds, you may be in a situation where it’s cheaper to pay for additional dumpsters but fewer pick-ups.
Assuming your dumpsters are being emptied when they are completely full, adding more dumpsters can be a cheaper option than paying for more pick-ups.
This solutions depends on:
What your haulers charge for pick-ups
What your waste haulers charge for dumpster rentals
If you are facing a situation where you have increased usage at a particular site or multiple site, schedule a 15 minute Discovery Call with us today.
You can’t afford not to know what options are best for you, and what money you can save.
You need larger waste containers
On the other hand, you may have the opposite waste disposal problem. Instead of needing more dumpsters, you may just need larger ones.
Suppose you have three 6-yard waste dumpsters on your site location that are picked-up 3 times a week. Our audit finds that these dumpsters are not used to capacity and that you could instead install 2 8-yard waste containers instead.
The larger size will allow you to decrease service to once a week. The rent for the larger dumpsters will be more expensive, but you’ll save more over time because you’ll be paying for fewer pick-ups.
You need smaller waste containers
More companies need this solution - and they have no idea! As a result, they’re overspending by hundreds if not thousands of dollars each year.
How to tell when you may need a smaller container
If your dumpsters are not full when serviced, you may need to downsize the containers. For each one of our audits, we get in touch with every site manager and go over waste and recycling details. We ask questions about current service levels and pick-up frequency. We ask about the equipment they have on site.
We ask these things to ensure that we have accurate information. Hauler invoices sometimes say one thing, but the reality may be something completely different!
How to tell when small waste containers really are a solution
We also find it invaluable to talk with those who have day-to-day knowledge of your current waste management process. We’ve found that they often have information that allows us to tailor our recommendations to the real needs of that location.
For instance, when our senior analyst will often ask “I’m thinking about “X” solution for this particular problem. Have you all ever tried that before? Would that work for your location from your perspective?”
Sometimes the site manager will give us really good reasons why that idea may or may not work. Maybe there’s a construction issue we don’t know about. Maybe there’s a vendor issue we haven’t heard of.
Finding out about these things from those on the ground is an invaluable part of our process.
Smaller containers vs. fewer pickups
Some of you may be asking, couldn’t you just get fewer pickups instead of pulling a few dumpsters?
The short answer? It depends. When we evaluate a location, we weigh the benefits of getting smaller containers vs. keeping the current containers and instead getting fewer pickups.
We do the math, and we figure out which solution is right for you and your locations.
Smaller trash dumpsters can mean big savings
Suppose you have four 8 yard dumpsters, but we find that they’re only half-full when they’re picked up. So long as there are no seasonal usage issues to keep in mind, we would likely recommend that you remove two of those dumpsters. Why pay for what you’re not using?
You could keep the same pick-up schedule; but you’d be paying significantly less.
Solve your waste problems today!
Solve your waste problems starting today. 90% of businesses are overpaying on waste - and you’re likely one of them.
But you can take the steps toward savings today!
Let us evaluate your locations to see if you need:
fewer dumpsters
a compactor
more dumpsters (with fewer pickups)
larger containers
smaller containers
You won’t pay us anything unless we find savings.
Schedule a 15 minute Discovery Call with us, and we’ll show how you can save.
How Hauler Contracts Make You Overpay on Waste Expenses: Part 2
What if news broke tomorrow morning that you didn’t actually have to pay your mortgage? That somehow, a swanky lawyer somewhere figured out that most Americans were not actually obligated to pay their mortgage?
What if news broke tomorrow morning that you didn’t actually have to pay your mortgage? That somehow, a swanky lawyer somewhere figured out that most Americans were not actually obligated to pay their mortgage?
You’d probably be elated at first. But give it a day or two, and you’d probably start thinking, “Man, think of how much we could have saved if we had known this two years ago!”
At the risk of bursting your bubble, you definitely have to pay your mortgage this month. But you don’t necessarily have to be trapped into paying your hauler invoices.
Read Part 1 of this series here!
It’s all in what your contract stipulates. We’ve helped a lot of companies significantly reduce or completely eliminate their ancillary waste fees. You don’t have to include them on your contract, and if they’re not on your contract, you don’t have to pay them.
I’ll show you what I mean. Let’s look at some common contract fees that can be reduced or eliminated.
Your Hauler Invoice: Deconstructed
Take a look at your most recent hauler invoice. You’ll likely see a few fees listed near the bottom of your invoice, like this one.
You’ll notice there are three fees listed in the left hand column: a container service plan, a fuel/environmental charge and a regulatory cost recovery charge.
These are just three examples of waste fees that can be reduced or avoided altogether on your contract.
Pull out your most recent invoice, and see which of the following fees you’re being charged.
Want to stop overpaying? Download our free Guide to Reducing Your Waste Expenses!
The Most Common Waste Invoice Fees
There are dozens of waste fees that can appear on your invoices, but I’m going to focus on the ones you’re most likely to see.
Container Service Plan: This is a fee that was automatically added to most Waste Management Accounts a few years ago. Enrollment in this plan (involuntary though it may be) allows you to replace your container ev as necessary. But most people don’t need to replace their garbage container frequently - some of our customers have containers that over 5 years old and still look fine.
So do you really need to be a part of this plan? Probably not.
Container Refresh fee: This one is specific to one of the biggest haulers out there, Republic. Republic has a fee called a “Container Refresh” fee that allows the customer to get a no-cost swap out of their container every 2 years. Which sounds great - if your container gets rusted out, you can replace it for free.
But most containers are good for much longer than that. This is a good example of a service that seems like it’s there to serve you, but is actually in the haulers best interest. Haulers wouldn’t offer it if they didn’t profit from it. They know most of their customers will pay $10 a month for a service they will never use.
Fuel/environmental fee: Almost everyone gets this charge on their invoice. Basically, the hauler is charging you for the gas it takes to get to your site and deliver your trash to the dump. But here’s the thing - they charge everyone on their route a fuel fee. They are more than recouping the cost of gas.
And those fuel charges add up. The location that got the invoice above is being charged almost $60 a month, or $720 a year. Supposing this is a three year contract, that’s $2160 they could be saving!
Recycling recovery fee: This fee is charged by the hauler to transfer your recyclable material from your site to the drop off site. You may rightly ask, “Well, aren’t they charging me already for fuel? What exactly does this fee cover?” Herein lies the problem. This charge often isn’t actually covering anything - it’s just another fee that the haulers often tack on because they can.
Minimum tonnage fees: The hauler will charge you this fee when the containers weight is below a specific threshold. These fees typically only apply to roll-off or open-top accounts. In other words, they are charging you for not having enough garbage in the container.
Basically, when you incur this fee, the hauler is saying “I made up this rule, and you broke it, so you have to pay.” The dump site does not charge a minimum fee - this is just something the hauler makes up because, well, they can.
Psst! See all of our resources on how to stop overspending!
Administrative fees: Typically charged if a client elects to receive paper invoices instead of electronic delivery of invoices. Most of the time, this administrative fee is pretty small - less than ten dollars per month. But small does not equal fair! You shouldn’t pay a penny more than you need to on your waste disposal.
Regulatory Cost recovery fee: Some haulers, (like Waste Management) will charge this fee to cover costs in other regions - not necessarily yours. Your fees go towards paying other people’s garbage disposal.
You Don’t Have to Overpay on Contract Fees
The fees in the list above - and a whole lot more that we haven’t mentioned - are not required to be in your contract. Local and state governments don’t mandate these; they exist because your hauler wants to make more money.
If you aren’t interested in overpaying anymore, fill out our contact form! We’d love to hear from you. Or, let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Want to save on your waste? Watch this free video!
You want to save on your waste spend.
But it can be really intimidating to know where to start. What should you evaluate first? How should you prepare the site? What kind of team do you need in place?
We cover all that and more in our course, The Waste Review Blueprint.
Today, we’re making the first video of this course completely free! Click below to watch!
What did you learn from this video? Let us know in the comments below.
What we don't do { + Infographic}
We hold a unique niche in the industry, so there can be confusion about who we are and what we do.
To that end, here are a few examples of what we don’t do!
Our Top 3 Most Helpful Videos on YouTube
Combined, these videos have a total of 725 views on YouTube! We’ve included them all in one spot for your convenience.
The first video includes the 7 mistakes you may be making on your waste spend that is padding your hauler’s picket. This video has the most common errors companies don’t realize they’re making.
This video is one we made in our early days! In it, Tyler, our CEO, discusses the basic components of waste disposal costs. Most businesses don’t know what these are and learning about them will help you understand where you can save.
Medical waste disposal is often overpriced. In this video, Tyler talks about what it is and why some companies pay more than they need to on it.
The Top 7 Resources for Cutting Waste Expenses
There are lots of resources for you to help you reduce your waste and recycling expenses.
But the internet is a pretty big place so we’ve collected the very best resources for you below and summarized them.
Below, you’ll learn how to find and identify ways you can save on your commercial waste management expenses.
Tips for Cutting Waste Removal Costs at the Office - This article covers some of the more detailed questions you should be asking yourself that could lead to savings. Some of these questions include:
Have you right-sized your schedule and containers?
Are there options to change providers?
Do you qualify for regional or national savings?
10 Ways to Reduce Your Waste Management Costs - Here, you’ll learn some tricks of the trade to reduce your waste disposal output by reducing waste volume separating recycling waste from regular trash, garbage, or by-product refuse.
10 Ways to Cut Business Waste Disposal Costs - This blog post has specific actions to take to evaluate whether your current waste management process is truly efficient - and cost effective.
6 Ways Your Business can Cut Commercial Waste Management Costs - Learn a few additional ways to reduce your waste expenses. This is a short, concise guide that can help you quickly identify overlooked savings opportunities.
Stop Wasting! 7 Steps to Cut Costs, Reduce Waste - This one says it’s specific to Florida businesses, but don’t be deterred. The vast majority of tips discussed here are applicable to you regardless of where you live.
7 Tips for Reducing and Managing Waste on Commercial Properties - Did you know that going green and saving money can go hand it hand? This article lays out exactly how to assess your current waste management system, and how to solve hidden waste problems.
How to Save Money on Commercial Waste Management Costs - This post has some innovative ideas for reducing your waste expenses, including sharing waste costs with other businesses!
Which of these was most helpful to you? Leave a comment in the space below!
Your Hidden Waste Hauler Contract Problems: What they are and what you can do about them - Part 2
Most hauler contracts are written to ensure that haulers make money - and keep making more.
Typical hauler contracts:
Allow for unlimited price spikes
Have inaccurate service levels
Charges you for additional fees
Makes it nearly impossible to cancel
Has no provision for bad service
If your contract was not adjusted and has these default specifications, you will almost certainly pay more than you need to for your waste expenses.
Today, we’re going to talk about the last two contract specifications that cut into your bottom line.
Waste Contract is Nearly Impossible to Cancel
What’s worse than a bad contract? Being completely stuck in it.
There are two aspects of contracts that make them difficult to exit. First, most contracts automatically renew for long terms - usually five years. So you may realize you want to change your contract, but it can be almost impossible to do so if you are in the middle of a five year term.
Second, contract termination is de-incentivized since it typically includes hefty associated fees. On rare occasions, it may be worth it for your company to terminate their contract and pay the fee so that they can hire a cheaper (or more reliable) hauler. These fees are usually equal to the past six months of charges, which is likely no small amount.
If you do chose to terminate, you have to send a termination letter within a very specific time frame prior to your contact renewing. Most of the time, this termination letter has to arrive at your hauler no more than 180-90 days prior to your contract renewing.
You must send a certified letter - not an email - specifying that you are terminating the contract and/or cancelling the auto-renewal clause.
Cancelling the auto-renewal clause allows you to create a contract with the same vendor with more favorable terms.
Has no provision for bad service
When there are service issues, you should be able to get them resolved quickly and promptly.
When a hauler misses a pick-up, it should be easy to get in touch with them to resolve it. If they’re leaving stacks of garbage around the dumpsters or make a mess every time they service them, the hauler should only need one request to service more conscientiously. But this isn’t often the case.
Why pay someone for a service who is actually making your life (and your staff’s lives) more difficult? If you had multiple hauler problems with no resolution in sight, you need to know that you have an out if you need one.
A thorough contract will include steps for resolution - and what will happen if you continue to be dissatisfied with service levels.
You Don’t Have to Overpay for Waste Services
By default, your haulers are going to let these things happen to your contract. But you don’t have to let them. You can solve current problems and prevent new ones from happening - all it takes is effort, and some persistence.
We help companies across the nation find waste solutions and implement changes on their behalf. Don’t be part of the 95% of companies that are overspending on their waste disposal! Drop us a line to learn how you can fix your contract.
Your Hidden Waste Hauler Contract Problems: What they are and what you can do about them - Part 1
Most waste hauler contracts have hidden problems. Why? Because your haulers don’t have incentive to help you save.
And unfortunately, many vendors in the waste industry are out to make more and more profits. So they’re willing to have you sign contracts that help them do exact that. And many of you have unwittingly signed them.
A typical contract will include the following expensive specifications:
Allow for unlimited price spikes
Has inaccurate service levels
Charges you for additional fees
Makes it nearly impossible to cancel
Has no provision for bad service
Most people simply don’t know that they can ask for additional contract language. They don’t know that they can ask that certain clauses be removed. They don’t know they can edit existing language. So they don’t.
And as a result, they overspend by 10-30% on their waste every month.
This article will help you start saving on your waste expenses by identifying some of the most common contract problems. We’ll go over 1-3 today, and 4 and 5 later in the week.
(Psst! Want to quickly know how good your contract really is? Download our free Waste Hauler Scorecard!)
Price Spikes Allowed On Contract
This is a good example of a contract problem that requires additional language in order to fix. If your contract does not include language that prohibits or limits price hikes, you will almost certainly get them.
Price spikes can occur 1-4 times a year, at rates of 10-15% each time. Most haulers will only increase prices once a year, but some will chose to do so more. And if your contract doesn’t expressly prohibit this there’s nothing to stop them from taking advantage of the opportunity.
If price spikes compound over time, you will pay more than you should. If this happens at multiple properties in a portfolio, you can overpay by thousands of dollars. Don’t let that happen to you.
Take a look in the notes section in one of your contracts. Does it have notes that limit or completely eliminate price hikes? If not, scan the rest of your contract for any similar denotations.
You can read more about these waste issues and others right here.
Inaccurate Service Levels
Service levels tend to be “off” for two main reasons.
First, 70% of companies in the US are paying for too many pick-ups. Why? Because haulers err on the side of too many pickups since more pickups mean more revenue. The more trips to your property that they make, the more they get paid.
So when they’re first evaluating for your needed service levels, they have financial incentive to over-estimate your real needs. Some haulers do this intentionally. Others err on the side of too many pick-ups because too few pick-ups are going to cause major problems quickly.
Second, most haulers don’t tend to re-evaluate your real needs over time. When was the last time your hauler said they should drop service down to twice a week? Or that if you switch out equipment, you could have fewer pickups?
You may have had the correct service levels when your contract began, but your needs may have changed. There may be unnoticed savings opportunities at one or more of your properties because your services have not been thoroughly evaluated in a long, long time - or ever. (This is one of the major reasons why 90% of companies are paying too much for their waste services.)
Haulers simply don’t have the financial motivation to proactively find the solutions that are right for you. They’re there to pick up trash, and they know that more pickups means more revenue.
To make sure you have the right services, find an independent waste consultant who will objectively evaluate every waste stream and find where you’re currently overspending.
Contract Includes Additional Fees
Most haulers will pass on the cost any number of administrative and overage charges to you. A lot companies pay these outright because they think they have to. You don’t.
But unless your contract specifically caps or eliminates these fees, you will need to pay them.
Look for these on your current hauler contract:
Fuel/environment fees: This fee supposedly helps recoup the cost of gas, but is actually a huge profit center.
Recycling recovery fee: Covers the fees incurred by hauler to transfer recyclable, but again, is typically a profit center.
Minimum tonnage fees: Fee charged by the hauler (typically on roll-off or open-top accounts) when a container’s weight upon pickup is below a specific threshold.
Administrative fees: typically charged if a client elects to receive paper invoices instead of electronic delivery of invoices.
Regulatory Cost recovery fee: Some haulers, (like Waste Management) will charge this fee to cover costs in other regions - not necessarily yours. They explain it like this:
“This charge is not specifically tied to such costs to service your account, but instead helps us cover Waste Management’s enterprise-wide costs for host community fees, waste disposal taxes and similar charges to service all WM operating company customers in the United States and Canada, and to achieve an acceptable operating margin.” (From Waste Management, retrieved July 23, 2019.)
The regulatory cost recovery fee is not “tied to . . . your account.” In other words, you’re helping cover their costs to service other companies. Why should you pay for what you don’t benefit from?
You can reduce or eliminate all of these fees; you don’t have to pay them. But you have to do it prior to renewing a contract, or getting a new one. It’s extremely difficult to negotiate these fees in the middle of a contract.
Your Hidden Waste Problems are Costing You
Too many companies don’t realize how prices hikes, inaccurate service levels, and ancillary fees are costing them.
Price hikes are built into the fabric of the vast majority of waste contracts. Inaccurate service levels go unnoticed in most contracts. Ancillary fees are paid without question.
Take the time you need to take to carefully review your contract or contracts. You are likely sitting on significant savings.
Have you ever thoroughly reviewed your contract? Ever heard of any of these waste issues? Let me know in the comments below!
5 Easy Waste Tips That Will Reduce Your Waste Expenses
If you take the time to do even one of these steps, you’ll save money on your waste expense in the long run.
Most companies have waste problems they just don’t know about. Their contracts are poor quality, their equipment is inefficient, and their service levels are inaccurate.
But the tips below will address each of these issues and help you stop overspending.
Track your contract expiration date.
Eliminate your auto-renewal clause.
See if you can lower your service levels.
Ask your hauler for pricing options on other equipment.
Get a waste review.
The little extra bit of time it will take to put these tips into action can translate into thousands of dollars in savings.
Track your contract expiration date.
Most companies don’t know when their contract expires and they let their contract renew under the same terms they currently have. You should only allow this to happen if you know for a fact that your contract terms are stellar (spoiler alert: most aren’t).
If you don’t know your contract expiration date, you won’t have time to evaluate your services. You won’t have time to see if other haulers have less expensive prices. And you won’t save what you could have saved.
Eliminate your auto-renewal clause.
This tip goes hand in hand with the one above. You need to know when your current terms of service expire, but you also need to cancel your auto-renewal clause.
Most contracts have this clause. It allows your services to renew for another contract term. But, as we mentioned above, most contract terms aren’t great. They’re costing you. If your contract renews, they’ll keep costing you - sometimes for an additional five year term!
When you cancel your auto-renewal clause, you don’t have to renew services with your current waste disposal provider. You can, but only if you are assured that your bottom line is protected and that your contract will include all the clauses it needs to do so.
See if you can lower your service levels.
We estimate that 70% of companies get too much service. The reason is simple - the more you get garbage service, the more you get charged.
If your dumpsters are half empty when they are serviced, you’re getting too many pick-ups. See if you can reduce your service days, or the number of pick-ups. This is one of the easiest ways to start saving almost immediately.
If you get charged $100 for each pick up, and you get service four times a week, you’re paying $400 each week. But you may only actually need two of those pick-ups. That’s $200 a month ($2400 a year!) that you could be saving!
Making this change can easily save you thousands of dollars in the long run.
Ask your hauler for pricing options on other equipment.
If you have the space capability, you may be able to get larger dumpsters. This can translate into fewer pickups, thus saving you on waste expenses.
Ask your hauler what kinds of equipment options they offer, and then ask your representative to come up with quotes for different service levels on each. You may very likely pay less for smaller dumpsters or fewer pickups, but the exact amount will differ based on what you hauler charges for pickups and equipment.
Get a waste review.
A waste review is a thorough analysis of every waste stream at every location in your portfolio. It’s typically completed by an independent waste reviewer, someone who is not affiliated with the haulers and is thus more naturally aligned with your interests.
As experts in the waste industry, our zero risk audit can only help you save. This review has a 90% success rate and it’ll find where you’re overspending and show you the exact steps to take in order to protect your bottom line.
Top 3 Commercial Waste Disposal Problems - and Their Solutions!
Business owners who don’t routinely examine their waste expenses typically pay 10-30% more than those who don’t.
You have better ways to allocate resources.
Today, we’re tackling the top three commercial problems that contribute to this overspending. If you can fix these three things, you may actually save on your waste disposal expenses.
These three problems are:
Not capping rate increases
Getting too many pick-ups
Not eliminating waste fees
These are issues we’ve fixed for many of our clients in the past 19 years, so we know that fixing these key issues will affect your bottom line positively.
Problem #1: No caps on rate increases on your waste hauler contract
Your waste hauler contract will include specifications about what you will be charged for services. Most hauler contracts will include this information on the first page of the contract.
Typical hauler contracts will not include language that caps price increases. Why? Because this is a key way that haulers make their profit. It’s not in their best interest to include this language.
Haulers will raise their prices 1-4 times a year at a 10-15% increase each time. This represents a significant threat to your bottom line.
Solution: When you contract is up for renewal (or when you get a different contract with a new vendor,) you will need to make sure that the “Notes” section on your contract includes price caps.
Below is a Waste Management contract, with the notes section highlighted. This contract does not have specifications about rate caps, but if it did this is where it would appear.
Different haulers will allow different rate caps. It depends on your region of the country and it often depends on how many competitors are in the area.
Problem # 2: Receiving Too Many Pick Ups from Your Waste Hauler.
70% of companies are getting too much service from their haulers. Why? Because haulers are compensated based on quantity of pick-ups. The more times they visit your locations, the more money they make.
Many haulers aren’t intentionally being dishonest when they set up your service for too many pick-ups. They simply don’t have the financial incentive to ensure the services you receive are truly efficient. They may estimate what they think you need based on typical service schedules for locations your size. But estimates are, by definition, not exact.
The hauler is unlike to do a thorough waste review to access your true needs. They aren’t going to look through your invoice history. They aren’t going to see if your current equipment is what you actually need. They’re simply going to give you a contract based on what your past needs have been, or based on their best estimate.
Solution: Have your waste services reviewed and reduce the number of pickups as necessary. Most companies here in the US have never had their waste needs evaluated by an independent professional. As a result, they are paying for too many pick-ups and they are robbing themselves of potential savings.
Problem #3: Allowing ancillary fees on contracts.
Waste fees are fees like “administrative fees” or “waste cost recovery fees” that appear on your invoices. Most typical waste fees don’t have to be included on your contract.
We find that when companies allow fees like these on their contracts, haulers tend to indiscriminately raise their charge rates. One month a company may be charged 5% for a fee, the next month they may be charged 6%. If your contract doesn’t cap these increases, the company can charge whatever they want for each category of fees.
And we find that most waste hauling companies do exactly that.
5 or 6% may not sound like much, but it can translate to thousands of dollars when you have multiple locations with years-long contracts.
Solution: We include all fees and waste charges in one flat rate that is capped at a certain percentage growth. In other words, we allow the haulers we select for our clients to increase the flat rate at specific intervals in the contract term. That way, the hauler can only raise his fees up to that percentage.
This solution is fair to the haulers, and it’s fair to our clients. The haulers are prevented from charging unfair rates and the clients don’t receive unplanned hikes.
This also allows the client to be able to budget accurately for the fiscal year. If they know when and by how much their rate will increase, they will know how much to allot for waste expenses with certainty.
Solutions for Your Top Three Waste Problems
90% of companies have these waste problems at their locations - regardless of industry. These simply aren’t problems that most people are aware of.
But if you do the following, you will save yourself 10-30% on your waste expense every year:
Cap price increases
Reduce the number of pick-ups
Eliminate ancillary fees
Doing these three simple things will help protect your bottom line and prevent future overspending.
Have you ever tried one of these solutions for your waste management?
5 Reasons Why You Should Overspend on Waste {+ Infographic} - Part 2
Incredibly, there are reasons to keep overspending on your waste and recycling expenses. Most companies in the US are overspending on their disposal services, but there are some who may prefer it that way. Below, we’ll go over the last two reasons why.
You like having waste problems.
You like to ignore relevant data.
In this series, we’re exploring all the reasons you should keep overspending by 10-30% on your waste expenses. In this blog post (part 2 of a 2-part series), we’ll look at the last two reasons.
You like having waste and recycling disposal problems.
You may actually enjoy the surprise of waste problems. You may love it when your staff tells you your hauler has missed pick-ups at a particular location for the third time this month. You not have a problem with recurring issues because you may think this is normal.
Additionally, you may not have a problem devoting the time and energy needed to resolve these situations. You may have lots of spare time to call your hauler, wait on hold for 20 minutes and then have a customer service rep tell you that they can’t help and that you’ll need to get in touch with your account manager. You may have the expertise to know who to navigate hauler customer “service” departments, but most people don’t.
And, more importantly, they don’t have the time to waste. Do you?
You like to ignore relevant data.
Take a look below - these are the stats we’ve found after 18 years of service in the waste industry. Bottom line? Most companies are overspending, and they have no idea. Don’t be one of them.
If you have the resources to make your hauler rich, you should keep overspending on your waste expenses. If you don’t mind having inefficient waste and recycling services and equipment, you’ll almost certainly keep overspending. And if you don’t want to take advantage of professional expertise, you can keep paying more than you need to for expenses.
But if these reasons aren’t true of you - if you value your resources and your time - then you can chose to stop overspending on waste expenses.
Are there other reasons to keep overspending on waste? Let me know in the comments below!
5 Reasons Why You Should Overspend on Waste - Part 1
As strange as it sounds, there are in fact some solid reasons to overspend on waste.
But for the majority of companies nationwide (the actual number hovers in the 90% range), these reasons aren’t actually applicable. These reasons aren’t actually good reasons to overspend! Why would you chose not to save money? Most companies simply don’t realize they’re overspending.
There are 5 reasons why you should overspend on your waste and recycling disposal expenses.
You can afford to make your waste hauler rich
You love inefficiency.
You don’t like to delegate to experts.
You like having waste problems.
You like to ignore relevant data.
In this series, we’ll explore all the reasons you should keep overspending by 10-30% on your waste expenses. In this blog post (part 1 of a 2-part series), we’ll look at reasons 1-3.
You can afford to make your waste hauler rich
You may be one of the few companies out there who has excess funds. You may be flush with extra revenue, so how much you pay for waste services at all of your locations isn’t of concern to you. You may not have to worry about budget forecasts or balancing the books at the end of the month.
And if you do have excess funds, you may have already decided to allocate them to overpriced waste expenses. You can afford to spend whatever the waste companies charge you. (An aside: most hauler contracts are designed to allow indiscriminate price hikes, so most companies pay more than they should for expenses incurred over the term of their contract.)
Or, you may just enjoy overspending. Maybe you like the idea of helping your chosen waste vendor become rich. You may like helping them increase profits by paying extraneous fees. You may enjoy the sudden price hikes that add to their bottom line.
But chances are, this isn’t true.
You love waste service and equipment inefficiency.
You may love knowing that you’re likely one of the 70% of companies who are being over-serviced by their trash vendor. You may enjoy getting too many pick-ups every week at your locations. After all, who doesn’t love paying for services they don’t need?
These extra pick-up only benefit one person - and it’s not you. Your hauler is likely incentivized to make additional pickups because more pickups almost always mean more revenue. When was the last time you heard of a hauler voluntarily reducing their service frequency?
Additionally, you may like leaving equipment inefficiency to chance. You may be satisfied with inefficient waste and service levels. (50% of companies have too much or too little waste equipment.) You may prefer not to have an expert review your current waste management process for redundant equipment or ineffective waste equipment.
You don’t like to delegate to experts.
You may think you have the resources to complete your own waste review. And some people are able to complete a cursory review on their own! But most CEOs and COOs don’t have the expertise it takes to do their own waste analysis. Waste reviews are not simple processes to complete. It can be difficult to know where to begin, what exactly to assess, and how to assess your current process in general.
And if they do have the expertise, it’s likely they don’t have the time. We provide our clients the two things they need most - a professional waste assessment or review, but with very little demand for their time. (Our reviews are almost always 100% remote). We’ve been doing waste reviews for the past 18 years, and we know how to find your hidden waste problems and solve them - for good!
You can keep overspending on waste . . . but you don’t have to.
We provide our clients the two things they need most - a professional waste assessment or review, but with very little demand for their time. If you don’t mind having inefficient waste and recycling services and equipment, you’ll almost certainly keep overspending. And if you don’t want to take advantage of professional expertise, you can keep paying more than you need to for expenses.
But if these reasons aren’t true of you - if you value your resources and your time - then you can chose to stop overspending on waste expenses.
Are there other reasons to keep overspending on waste? Let me know in the comments below!
5 Reasons Why You Should Overspend on Waste - Part 1
As strange as it sounds, there are in fact some solid reasons to overspend on waste.
But for the majority of companies nationwide (the actual number hovers in the 90% range), these reasons aren’t actually applicable. These reasons aren’t actually good reasons to overspend! Why would you chose not to save money? Most companies simply don’t realize they’re overspending.
There are 5 reasons why you should overspend on your waste and recycling disposal expenses.
You can afford to make your waste hauler rich
You love inefficiency.
You don’t like to delegate to experts.
You like having waste problems.
You like to ignore relevant data.
In this series, we’ll explore all the reasons you should keep overspending by 10-30% on your waste expenses. In this blog post (part 1 of a 2-part series), we’ll look at reasons 1-3.
You can afford to make your waste hauler rich
You may be one of the few companies out there who has excess funds. You may be flush with extra revenue, so how much you pay for waste services at all of your locations isn’t of concern to you. You may not have to worry about budget forecasts or balancing the books at the end of the month.
And if you do have excess funds, you may have already decided to allocate them to overpriced waste expenses. You can afford to spend whatever the waste companies charge you. (An aside: most hauler contracts are designed to allow indiscriminate price hikes, so most companies pay more than they should for expenses incurred over the term of their contract.)
Or, you may just enjoy overspending. Maybe you like the idea of helping your chosen waste vendor become rich. You may like helping them increase profits by paying extraneous fees. You may enjoy the sudden price hikes that add to their bottom line.
But chances are, this isn’t true.
You love waste service and equipment inefficiency.
You may love knowing that you’re likely one of the 70% of companies who are being over-serviced by their trash vendor. You may enjoy getting too many pick-ups every week at your locations. After all, who doesn’t love paying for services they don’t need?
These extra pick-up only benefit one person - and it’s not you. Your hauler is likely incentivized to make additional pickups because more pickups almost always mean more revenue. When was the last time you heard of a hauler voluntarily reducing their service frequency?
Additionally, you may like leaving equipment inefficiency to chance. You may be satisfied with inefficient waste and service levels. (50% of companies have too much or too little waste equipment.) You may prefer not to have an expert review your current waste management process for redundant equipment or ineffective waste equipment.
You don’t like to delegate to experts.
You may think you have the resources to complete your own waste review. And some people are able to complete a cursory review on their own! But most CEOs and COOs don’t have the expertise it takes to do their own waste analysis. Waste reviews are not simple processes to complete. It can be difficult to know where to begin, what exactly to assess, and how to assess your current process in general.
And if they do have the expertise, it’s likely they don’t have the time. We provide our clients the two things they need most - a professional waste assessment or review, but with very little demand for their time. (Our reviews are almost always 100% remote). We’ve been doing waste reviews for the past 18 years, and we know how to find your hidden waste problems and solve them - for good!
You can keep overspending on waste . . . but you don’t have to.
We provide our clients the two things they need most - a professional waste assessment or review, but with very little demand for their time. If you don’t mind having inefficient waste and recycling services and equipment, you’ll almost certainly keep overspending. And if you don’t want to take advantage of professional expertise, you can keep paying more than you need to for expenses.
But if these reasons aren’t true of you - if you value your resources and your time - then you can chose to stop overspending on waste expenses.
Are there other reasons to keep overspending on waste? Let me know in the comments below!
How to Overspend on Your Dumpsters This Month
Most companies in the US are overspending on their dumpsters and they’re all doing it in the following ways:
Getting too much service.
Not having the right dumpsters sizes.
Not having the right number of dumpsters.
These are the waste disposal problems we routinely fix for clients and we know just how much money and time can be saved by addressing each of these issues.
Getting too much waste disposal service.
There’s a good chance - it hovers around 70% - that you’re getting too much waste service. You’re getting pickups four times a week, when you only need two. Or you’re getting service everyday and you only need it three times a week.
There’s a simple reason this over-servicing occurs: the more service you get, the more your hauler gets paid. They’re incentivized to overestimate your real waste needs - not to save you money.
Once simple way to tell if you need to reduce service is by observing how full your dumpsters are when they’re serviced. If they’re less than half full, you need to reduce your service days.
Making this change will likely save you hundreds of dollars over the next year - and the effect will be multiplied across every location you implement this cost-cutting measure.
Not having the right size dumpsters.
Larger dumpsters can save you by further reducing the number of needed pick-ups. Alternatively, smaller dumpsters may reduce the rent you pay for their use.
The right size of dumpsters is critical, and there are a number of factors that can help you determine which size to use. Ask your hauler to give you quotes for:
larger dumpsters with less service
smaller dumpsters with more service
smaller dumpsters with less service
You’ll need to have a pretty good idea of your trash output to know what will actually work in your favor, so it’s recommended to first reduce your service days, as we mentioned in the first tip, then adjust your dumpster sizes accordingly.
Not having the right number of dumpsters.
You’ll need to simultaneously evaluate the right number of dumpsters as well as the correct size.
You may be somewhat limited by space constraints as to how many dumpsters you can have, but it is worth exploring the possibility in order to ensure you are paying what you should for waste disposal expenses.
When you ask your hauler for quotes, be sure to ask for a varying amount of sizes.
With all of this information, you’ll be able to make the best decision for the locations in your portfolio, and you’ll likely save yourself thousands of dollars in the process.
5 Easy Waste Tips That Will Reduce Your Waste Expenses
If you take the time to do even one of these steps, you’ll save money on your waste expense in the long run.
Most companies have waste problems they just don’t know about. Their contracts are poor quality, their equipment is inefficient, and their service levels are inaccurate.
But the tips below will address each of these issues and help you stop overspending.
Track your contract expiration date.
Eliminate your auto-renewal clause.
See if you can lower your service levels.
Ask your hauler for pricing options on other equipment.
Get a waste review.
The little extra bit of time it will take to put these tips into action can translate into thousands of dollars in savings.
Track your contract expiration date.
Most companies don’t know when their contract expires and they let their contract renew under the same terms they currently have. You should only allow this to happen if you know for a fact that your contract terms are stellar (spoiler alert: most aren’t).
If you don’t know your contract expiration date, you won’t have time to evaluate your services. You won’t have time to see if other haulers have less expensive prices. And you won’t save what you could have saved.
Eliminate your auto-renewal clause.
This tip goes hand in hand with the one above. You need to know when your current terms of service expire, but you also need to cancel your auto-renewal clause.
Most contracts have this clause. It allows your services to renew for another contract term. But, as we mentioned above, most contract terms aren’t great. They’re costing you. If your contract renews, they’ll keep costing you - sometimes for an additional five year term!
When you cancel your auto-renewal clause, you don’t have to renew services with your current waste disposal provider. You can, but only if you are assured that your bottom line is protected and that your contract will include all the clauses it needs to do so.
See if you can lower your service levels.
We estimate that 70% of companies get too much service. The reason is simple - the more you get garbage service, the more you get charged.
If your dumpsters are half empty when they are serviced, you’re getting too many pick-ups. See if you can reduce your service days, or the number of pick-ups. This is one of the easiest ways to start saving almost immediately.
If you get charged $100 for each pick up, and you get service four times a week, you’re paying $400 each week. But you may only actually need two of those pick-ups. That’s $200 a month ($2400 a year!) that you could be saving!
Making this change can easily save you thousands of dollars in the long run.
Ask your hauler for pricing options on other equipment.
If you have the space capability, you may be able to get larger dumpsters. This can translate into fewer pickups, thus saving you on waste expenses.
Ask your hauler what kinds of equipment options they offer, and then ask your representative to come up with quotes for different service levels on each. You may very likely pay less for smaller dumpsters or fewer pickups, but the exact amount will differ based on what you hauler charges for pickups and equipment.
Get a waste review.
A waste review is a thorough analysis of every waste stream at every location in your portfolio. It’s typically completed by an independent waste reviewer, someone who is not affiliated with the haulers and is thus more naturally aligned with your interests.
As experts in the waste industry, our zero risk audit can only help you save. This review has a 90% success rate and it’ll find where you’re overspending and show you the exact steps to take in order to protect your bottom line.
What is the Industrial Recycling Process - and Can I Save?
Different companies can benefit from recycling in different ways.
Depending on what byproducts you produce, you can either resell them, or reuse them within your company or factory.
When the word “recycling” comes to mind, most people think of paper, water bottles, and cardboard.
But recycling is more than that! It can also include industrial recycling.
Industrial recycling is different from other types of recycling. In this article, we’ll look at how different types of major industrial materials are recycled.
Different companies can benefit from recycling in different ways.
Depending on what byproducts you produce, you can either resell them, or reuse them within your company or factory.
Today, we’ll talk about three of the most common ways companies use industrial recycling, and how it affects their bottom line.
Recycling Oil
Recycling Metal Scrap
Recycling Construction Debris
Let’s dive in!
Recycling Oil
Oil has always been a controversial topic in the waste industry. Although the thoughts behind the word “oil” have always been negative, i.g. BP oil spill, recycling it can have a more positive impact on the environment and on a company’s bottom line.
Where does it come from?
Most of the oil that is being recycled comes from oil change shops, mechanic shops, and car dealerships.
Although these are the top oil recycling companies, other companies are considering recycling due to its benefits. How could you gain by recycling oil?
How does it work?
Let’s take a look at the process that goes into oil recycling.
To be recycled, all oil must be tested to see whether it is reasonable for refinement.
After the oil is approved for refinement, then it goes through three stages of refining:
Dehydration
Defueling
Vacuum distillation
These processes are used to separate water and extra chemicals that are still in the oil mixture. Then the oil enters its final processes, hydro-treating, where a sustainable process reduces the amount of carbon, acid, sulphur, nitrogen, etc.
The recycled product is often sold to lubricant manufacturers. They in turn often make their own oil-recycled mixture to benefit their company. Oftentimes, recycled oils are used to produce recycled engines and industrial oils.
How can I benefit?
Oil can save a company thousands of dollars. It does not have an expiration date, meaning they can be reused and reproduced into renewable resources. Depending on a company’s specific operational needs, you can potentially recycle oil and reuse it to generate heating and cooling. This will reduce your electric bills. Oil recycling can also diminish the energy required to produce or process raw materials. For example, recycled oils can be reused to run engines and machines that are used in the manufacturing process.
Recycling Metal Scrap
Many companies across the country recycle 30-40% of their metals. Recycling metals can be very beneficial for the company because one, it reduces extra costs that company does not need to spend more money on, and two, it allows companies to reuse their recycled materials to produce new materials. This will diminish the raw materials expenses of a company and its transportation costs.
Where does it come from?
Metals are collected from different sources (i.e. ships, railroads, cars, structures, equipment) then they are separated by metal types of chemicals that make up the metal.
How is it done?
Different types of metals have different recycling processes, but similar processing methods. The first step in metal recycling is collecting and sorting.
After separating the metals, processing begins. First, metals are shredded, making it easier for metals to be melted. After shredding, metals are melted in large furnaces then purified using a direct electric current to eliminate contaminants. Lastly, the metals enter the purification cycle, where they are cooled and solidified.
Once the process is complete, the metal recycling company or scrap yard will transport the metals to corporations that will then use the new recycled raw materials to produce new goods, such as new metal beams for construction or recycled tinned cans.
How can I benefit?
Recycling metals can save a company thousands of dollars. Not only does it diminish the disposal costs of a company, but companies who use their recycled materials to produce new products can save up to 90% of the energy required to manufacture a new material/product. If you do not own a company that reuses metals to produce products and simply just recycle your metals, you can sell your scrap metals to recycling companies who will reproduce new materials from it. This is good for your company because it will generate additional revenue. As recycling consultants, Waste Consultants can help help guide you on the current markets rates, the best available vendors, and best practices around collecting, sorting, and selling your metal recyclables.
Recycling Construction Materials
Many have wondered where all the leftover construction materials go after a demolition process or a construction. Well, many of them are sent straight to the landfill. Today, landfills are filling up by the minute and it is harder and harder to find land for landfills. By recycling construction materials, this will eliminate the need to send all of the unused materials to landfills.
Less landfills = less toxic build up in the atmosphere.
There are many recyclable materials that can be recycled from a construction site.
Some examples are:
Metals
Wood
Concrete
Glass
asphalt pavement
Gypsum (drywall material)
How can it be reused?
Wood: Untreated and clean wood can usually be reused to make boiler fuel, mulch or engineered board through the process of re-milling.
Metals: See previous section
Asphalt Pavement: leftover materials can produce energy savings. These are often re-melted and turned back into asphalt.
Glass: Leftover windows can be recycled for other projects. Glass can also be melted and reformed into a material that can be used.
Gypsum: This is drywall materials and can be reused to produce recycled drywalls, cement, or be used in the agriculture industry.
How can I benefit?
You and your company can benefit from this! In a recent study, construction companies who recycle have saved and earn profit by recycling their leftover/wasted materials.
In the study, they calculated that companies are able to gain $50/ton of profit for cardboard, $5/ton for materials containing paper, $150/ton for PET materials (which are materials from packaging/ similar to polyester), $250/ton for HDPE plastics (bottles, plastic bags, boxes), and $1,325/ton from recycling metal materials such as aluminum.
Industrial Recycling is Your Ticket to Savings
We’ve looked at specific methods of how industrial materials can be processed and recycled. Here, at WCI, we can help you and your company with your waste management so that you have the opportunity to find savings and protect your bottom line.
We will help you find the right haulers who will not take advantage of you and we’ll make sure you don’t leave any saving opportunities behind.
Want to learn more about how your company can start saving and recycling? Don’t hesitate to contact us and schedule a consultation. We’ll share how our services can benefit you and help you save!
Top 3 Commercial Waste Disposal Problems - and Their Solutions!
Business owners who don’t routinely examine their waste expenses typically pay 10-30% more than those who don’t.
You have better ways to allocate resources.
Today, we’re tackling the top three commercial problems that contribute to this overspending. If you can fix these three things, you may actually save on your waste disposal expenses.
These three problems are:
Not capping rate increases
Getting too many pick-ups
Not eliminating waste fees
These are issues we’ve fixed for many of our clients in the past 19 years, so we know that fixing these key issues will affect your bottom line positively.
Problem #1: No caps on rate increases on your waste hauler contract
Your waste hauler contract will include specifications about what you will be charged for services. Most hauler contracts will include this information on the first page of the contract.
Typical hauler contracts will not include language that caps price increases. Why? Because this is a key way that haulers make their profit. It’s not in their best interest to include this language.
Haulers will raise their prices 1-4 times a year at a 10-15% increase each time. This represents a significant threat to your bottom line.
Solution: When you contract is up for renewal (or when you get a different contract with a new vendor,) you will need to make sure that the “Notes” section on your contract includes price caps.
Below is a Waste Management contract, with the notes section highlighted. This contract does not have specifications about rate caps, but if it did this is where it would appear.
Different haulers will allow different rate caps. It depends on your region of the country and it often depends on how many competitors are in the area.
Problem # 2: Receiving Too Many Pick Ups from Your Waste Hauler.
70% of companies are getting too much service from their haulers. Why? Because haulers are compensated based on quantity of pick-ups. The more times they visit your locations, the more money they make.
Many haulers aren’t intentionally being dishonest when they set up your service for too many pick-ups. They simply don’t have the financial incentive to ensure the services you receive are truly efficient. They may estimate what they think you need based on typical service schedules for locations your size. But estimates are, by definition, not exact.
The hauler is unlike to do a thorough waste review to access your true needs. They aren’t going to look through your invoice history. They aren’t going to see if your current equipment is what you actually need. They’re simply going to give you a contract based on what your past needs have been, or based on their best estimate.
Solution: Have your waste services reviewed and reduce the number of pickups as necessary. Most companies here in the US have never had their waste needs evaluated by an independent professional. As a result, they are paying for too many pick-ups and they are robbing themselves of potential savings.
Problem #3: Allowing ancillary fees on contracts.
Waste fees are fees like “administrative fees” or “waste cost recovery fees” that appear on your invoices. Most typical waste fees don’t have to be included on your contract.
We find that when companies allow fees like these on their contracts, haulers tend to indiscriminately raise their charge rates. One month a company may be charged 5% for a fee, the next month they may be charged 6%. If your contract doesn’t cap these increases, the company can charge whatever they want for each category of fees.
And we find that most waste hauling companies do exactly that.
5 or 6% may not sound like much, but it can translate to thousands of dollars when you have multiple locations with years-long contracts.
Solution: We include all fees and waste charges in one flat rate that is capped at a certain percentage growth. In other words, we allow the haulers we select for our clients to increase the flat rate at specific intervals in the contract term. That way, the hauler can only raise his fees up to that percentage.
This solution is fair to the haulers, and it’s fair to our clients. The haulers are prevented from charging unfair rates and the clients don’t receive unplanned hikes.
This also allows the client to be able to budget accurately for the fiscal year. If they know when and by how much their rate will increase, they will know how much to allot for waste expenses with certainty.
Solutions for Your Top Three Waste Problems
90% of companies have these waste problems at their locations - regardless of industry. These simply aren’t problems that most people are aware of.
But if you do the following, you will save yourself 10-30% on your waste expense every year:
Cap price increases
Reduce the number of pick-ups
Eliminate ancillary fees
Doing these three simple things will help protect your bottom line and prevent future overspending.
Have you ever tried one of these solutions for your waste management?
Your Hidden Waste Hauler Contract Problems: What they are and what you can do about them - Part 2
Most hauler contracts are written to ensure that haulers make money - and keep making more.
Typical hauler contracts:
Allow for unlimited price spikes
Have inaccurate service levels
Charges you for additional fees
Makes it nearly impossible to cancel
Has no provision for bad service
If your contract was not adjusted and has these default specifications, you will almost certainly pay more than you need to for your waste expenses.
Today, we’re going to talk about the last two contract specifications that cut into your bottom line.
Waste Contract is Nearly Impossible to Cancel
What’s worse than a bad contract? Being completely stuck in it.
There are two aspects of contracts that make them difficult to exit. First, most contracts automatically renew for long terms - usually five years. So you may realize you want to change your contract, but it can be almost impossible to do so if you are in the middle of a five year term.
Second, contract termination is de-incentivized since it typically includes hefty associated fees. On rare occasions, it may be worth it for your company to terminate their contract and pay the fee so that they can hire a cheaper (or more reliable) hauler. These fees are usually equal to the past six months of charges, which is likely no small amount.
If you do chose to terminate, you have to send a termination letter within a very specific time frame prior to your contact renewing. Most of the time, this termination letter has to arrive at your hauler no more than 180-90 days prior to your contract renewing.
You must send a certified letter - not an email - specifying that you are terminating the contract and/or cancelling the auto-renewal clause.
Cancelling the auto-renewal clause allows you to create a contract with the same vendor with more favorable terms.
Has no provision for bad service
When there are service issues, you should be able to get them resolved quickly and promptly.
When a hauler misses a pick-up, it should be easy to get in touch with them to resolve it. If they’re leaving stacks of garbage around the dumpsters or make a mess every time they service them, the hauler should only need one request to service more conscientiously. But this isn’t often the case.
Why pay someone for a service who is actually making your life (and your staff’s lives) more difficult? If you had multiple hauler problems with no resolution in sight, you need to know that you have an out if you need one.
A thorough contract will include steps for resolution - and what will happen if you continue to be dissatisfied with service levels.
You Don’t Have to Overpay for Waste Services
By default, your haulers are going to let these things happen to your contract. But you don’t have to let them. You can solve current problems and prevent new ones from happening - all it takes is effort, and some persistence.
We help companies across the nation find waste solutions and implement changes on their behalf. Don’t be part of the 95% of companies that are overspending on their waste disposal! Drop us a line to learn how you can fix your contract.