What is the Industrial Recycling Process - and Can I Save?

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.

1. Recycling Oil

2. Recycling Metal Scrap

3. Recycling Construction Debris

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!

Industrial Recycling and Your Bottom Line

Many companies today are being charged more that they need to on industrial waste. Are you one of them?

These business have unnecessary fees and bad contracts that are made to take advantage of their company!

Here at WCI, we work exhaustively to examine your waste processes, contracts, and invoices.

Our consultants work hard with you to make sure that you save as much as possible. We want you to take every savings opportunity. So after examining your processes and invoices, we will come up with a recommendation list for you and your company. For many clients, this means that we recommend industrial recycling as a cost-cutting measure.  

With a 90% success rate, we believe that we can help you diminish your waste management cost and save thousands of dollars.

In this article, we will be discussing  the three different parts of industrial recycling:

1. What Industries Use Industrial Recycling

2. What materials constitute industrial recycling

3. How industrial recycling can affect your bottom line. 

Let’s dive in!

What Industries Use Industrial Recycling

Industrial wastes come from manufacturing industries, office buildings, or any other corporation that generates oil, scrap metals, lumber, masonry and concrete.

Many large corporations around the United States produce industrial waste every day. For example, companies such as Intel, Estée Lauder, Texas Instruments, and Nike are some of the highest contributing companies to Industrial waste.

Some people think that industrial waste only comes from companies that produce metallic waste, but this is not the case. Industrial waste can include waste from cafeterias, such as leftover oil, to scrap metals from an Apple product.  

What Materials Constitute Industrial Recycling

Here are some examples of industrial waste:

• Debris from construction sites (e.g. pipes, leftover gravel, lamps containing mercury, asphalt).

• Demolition materials (wood floor, screws, scrap metal, paint/lead paint).

• Wastes from car and body shops (car engine, parts, wastes created from paint, scrap metal, used oil, tires, broken batteries).

• Leftover paint, brushes, or tools from a paint or furniture store. 

• Unused or leftover chemicals from Labs (science labs, photography development, etc).

• Pesticides used in farming (agricultural waste).

• Waste from printing (leftover ink, ink cartridges, chemicals used to produce specific forms of printing).

• Wastes from clothing industries/factories (chemicals used to produce color on clothing).

These are only a few examples of industrial waste. There are many more out there, but this should give you an idea whether or not you or your company fall into this situation. 

How Industrial Recycling Helps Companies

Many industrial companies have taken the leap to better improve their waste management. For example, some companies such as Intel and Estée Lauder have decided to recycle more than half of their waste. Intel has recycled more than 75% of its waste since 2008 and Estée Lauder has had a recycling rate of roughly 89% since 2016.

Other industries, including Nike and Texas instruments, have recycled their waste to better their production efficiency. Nike has used Industrial Plastic Recycling, to produce shoes from recycled waste products. Companies like Texas Instruments are reusing the water used in fabricating their materials to feed cooling towers in their utility plant. 

Clearly, many industries have benefited from industrial recycling. Can you?

How Industrial Recycling Can Affect Your Bottom Line

When you  work with us, we’ll help you save by recycling your byproducts. We can help create alternative solutions to your waste management problems. 

Let’s look at how your company can benefit from Industrial Recycling:

• Reusing recycled materials to produce new materials can result in an emission reduction, but also waste cost reduction. You won’t need to spend more money on producing new materials.

• Industrial recycling will diminish your landfill/waste costs (e.g. disposal and material costs).

• Reduced resource extraction, resulting in a lower raw materials transporting and processing costs.

• Industrial companies will be able to save money on landfill taxes and enhance their site efficiency/logistics.

• Industrial recycling also benefits the environment. Less waste = fewer landfills

• Lastly, industrial recycling results in social benefits and a sustainable brand. This increases the value of your company to customers and prospective investors. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us and schedule a consultation. We’ll share how our services can benefit you and help you save!

5 Ways You're Overpaying for Dumpsters (and How to Stop!)

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:

1. 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. 

2. 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. 

What Our Clients Say About Our Services

Some of your top questions for Waste Consultants may be: 

• Do your services really work? 

• What’s it like to partner with you? 

• Do you always find savings?

Many of our clients have asked these questions, and I’m going to share the answers with you today. 

This post will show you what our clients appreciate about us - and why they keep renewing their service agreements. 

Our Clients Love Savings on Waste Expenses

The number one thing our clients love about what we do? Saving on waste disposal expenses. Evan clients who have been vigilant about their waste expenses find savings with us. We’re experts in the waste industry, which means we know exactly how to find the waste savings you’re sitting on.

How we find savings 

90% of companies are overspending on waste. Chances are, you’re one of them. 

We’ve saved our clients millions on their waste and recycling expenses. The waste industry is set up to charge you higher and higher prices, and to lock you into unfair contracts. We’re able to find 20-40% in savings for most clients because our audits find tailored solutions.  

We tailor our professional waste audits to your industry, your needs, and your geographic locations.  

Additionally, our process is thorough. Our exhaustive audit shows exactly where there are gaps in your current waste management process. We find and implement solutions for these gaps, and our solutions result in savings. 

We most frequently fix hauler contract terms, eliminate or regulate price hikes, and ensure your equipment and service levels are functioning at optimum efficiency. These changes often result in significant savings for you.

Our audits are risk-free and cash-flow positive. Learn more today by scheduling a time to talk with us.

What our clients think about waste savings 

Our thorough audits work - we find savings 90% of the time.

Take Anita Huffman, for instance. Her manufacturing company, TWE Nonwovens, was in need of waste solutions. 

After our audit, we found substantial savings and she was thrilled. She told us:

 “During your audit, you uncovered more than $12,000 in monthly savings opportunities. Your exhaustive process and your team’s dedication to our success has permanently changed our approach to waste management.”

Tad Dolbier of Tar Heel Capital was similarly impressed.  As the president of 75 Wendy’s restaurants, Tar Heel wanted to reign in their waste and recycling expenses.   

Tad had already tried to reign in spending, but he was still sitting on savings. He just didn’t have the market knowledge he needed to find all the opportunities, so he put our expertise to use. 

In the first month of invoice post-implementation, he saw gross savings of $6,800 a month. He wrote us: “When you came back to me with $6800 each month in savings, as well as significant refunds from over billing, I was truly impressed and grateful!”

We don’t just find savings in manufacturing and the food industries. We’ve also had huge success with multi-family housing. 

Scott Alderman of Landura Management (multi-family management), got in touch and wanted us to evaluate his waste spend. There were a lot of variables: 4,500 units in 9 states. They had different waste vendors and lots of bad contracts. The logistics were complicated. 

But even though these variables were a challenge, our approach remained the same. We looked for savings opportunities, and we found them. 

After we enacted our cost-cutting solutions, Scott reported: “The recommendations you implemented resulted in these expenses being reduce by 25%.” His gross savings? $116,000 each year. That adds up fast!  

Our savings are exceptional, and so is our service

But clients don’t only love the savings, they love our service. 

We don’t want you to just save hundreds of thousands of dollars. We want your savings experience to be easy. We want working with us to be a breeze. 

And fortunately, we find that many of our clients have this experience. 

Our clients appreciate being treated well

Patrick Theismann of Beacon Management, an affordable housing management company, wrote,

I am happy to report that we are realizing some nice cost reductions as a result of your recommendations, but I’m equally as pleased with the level of customer services that you have provided to Beacon. It’s nice to know that I can pick up the phone or shoot you a quick email with any waste and recycling service issues that may come up and get a very quick response.

Patrick appreciated the savings, but he also deeply appreciated how well he was treated.

He liked that we were quick to respond to any additional waste concerns. Anytime had had any issue with his hauler, he didn’t have to go figure out what to do. Instead, we fought for his company’s best interests - and we still do.  

Tom Driscoll of PS Business Parks noticed and appreciated the same thing: 

Your team communicated with us every step of the way, met every deadline and put in the necessary time to help answer questions. I’m confident that your solutions-oriented process will benefit our waste management for years to come.

We go beyond savings. We make sure any hauler or billing concerns are completely taken care of without you or your staff having to lift a finger. 

Our Clients Often Renew Our Partnership 

We save money and time, so our clients often renew their contract with us.

This is what one of our clients had to say when asked why they were renewing:

• Convenience for staff having one entity dealing with all our locations/haulers with service issues or service changes

• Hauler contract renewal negotiations – we have several contracts coming for renewal in early 2021

• Good knowing that the waste invoices will be reviewed, looking for errors or add on charges (we do not have the staffing to do that)

• During 2019 with the recycling industry being in flux, it was nice having Waste Consultants explain various options in order to minimize cost increases. 

We make it easy to save on waste. Then we offer on-going waste invoice and contract monitoring. And we are your first defense against service issues.

So when service issues arise, we take care of the haulers. We ask for credits when necessary. And we monitor your invoice to make sure your waste vendor is billing you per contract specifications. We take all this on so that you and your staff can rest easy - and focus on higher priorities. 

You can’t afford to not have a waste ally.  

Your time is worth protecting. Your bottom line is worth protecting. 

Give us a call today and secure a waste ally. 

We Have a Waste Contract: Can You Still Help?

Most of our clients have waste hauler contracts already in place. Yet, we’re still able to find them 20-40% in gross savings. 

And we can do the same for you. 

We can help you because:

1. We know how to renegotiate current hauler contracts

2. We have market knowledge 

3. We have equipment knowledge 

Having a current waste hauler contract is not an obstacle for us; it’s an opportunity. Let’s explore why.

We know how to renegotiate current hauler contracts

We know how and when to renegotiate hauler contracts. 

First, we know when it’s a good idea and when it’s not. During our exhaustive audit, we evaluate whether you will save more money by getting a new contract with a new hauler. But if we find you’ll save more by staying with your current hauler, we may renegotiate your contract. 

During the renegotiation process, we evaluate your contract and decide what ought to change.

During the evaluation process, we make a list of every “hole” we find in your contract. We may find:

• Exorbitant hauler rates

• Multiple ancillary fees

• Auto-renewal terms

• Inaccurate service levels

• No provisions for poor service. 

Every one of our contracts include language that manages and prevents each of these concerns. 

Then we consider how far you are into your contract and how many locations you have. 

If you only have a few months left on your contract and ten locations, the hauler is usually receptive to the suggestion of renegotiating the contract. 

A hauler is more likely to negotiate when:

• Their pricing is much higher than a competitor’s

• The agreement is with an old legal entity 

• If your contract has automatically renewed several times

We evaluate your situation, your contracts, and your history with the vendor to ensure the very best decision is made. 

One important note: we’ve had clients come to us who are 100% fed up with their hauler and want a new one - even if it will mean paying a bit more for waste disposal services. 

In these situations, we do our very best to find a hauler with a better service record. 

Our contract expertise ensures you have fair pricing and terms - every time. 

We have market knowledge

We have 18 years of experience renegotiating waste contracts, so we don’t leave savings opportunities on the table.

We know that persistence with haulers pay off. We know what will motivate them to come to the table. We know how to evaluate your unique situation and get you the very best contract you can have. 

We know how the waste industry works, and so we know how the haulers think and how to speak their language. And we know how not to avoid common contract pitfalls. 

Why does all this matter? Because it makes our clients contract’s fool-proof. They have fair pricing, reasonable rates, and all price hikes are regulated. Their ancillary fees are eliminated or reduced. And as a result, they gain substantial savings. 

Put our expertise to use and find the savings you’re sitting on. 

We have waste equipment and service level knowledge 

At the end of our exhaustive audit, we know what should be on your site - and what isn’t. We know if you’re getting adequate levels of service, or too much service. 

We know where you problem spots are. And we know how to fix them.

For instance, many companies we work with tend to be over-serviced. Say one particular multifamily complex may be getting picked up three times a week, but only need service once a week. We know whether making that switch is prudent (it often is). And we know how to make the transition happen smoothly. 

Or, you may need a compactor on site, which will result in fewer pick-ups. It can help you save thousands of dollars over time, and many of our clients have found it worth the initial investment. 

We evaluate all your options based on your unique company, location, and industry. Then we present solutions. 

Put our expertise to work for you.

We can still help you, even if you already have a waste hauler contract. We know how and when to renegotiate. And we know how to find and maximize savings for you. 

Give us a call and learn our expertise can help you save.

5 Reasons a Waste Audit is a No-Brainer

Not everything in life should be hard. But choosing to have a WCI audit is easy. 

Why? Because a WCI audit:

1. Is Risk-free 

2. Protects your time

3. Is cash-flow positive

4. Is non-invasive

5. Consistently finds savings

Our audits make your life - and your staff’s lives - easier. We’re in the business of solving waste problems; not adding to your already full plate.  

Our Waste Disposal Audits are Risk Free

You incur zero risk by putting our expertise to use. 

The worst case scenario? We don’t find any savings. (This has happened 5% of the time over the 18 years we’ve been in business.

And if we don’t find savings, you don’t pay us. Essentially, you get a free audit and the assurance that you’re managing your waste efficiently. 

We don’t think you should pay for something that you don’t profit from. 

You only stand to gain from a WCI waste audit. 

Our Waste Audits Protect Your Time

We protect your time in our audit process, and in our post-audit process. 

Audit Process Time Commitment is Minimal 

We know time is your greatest asset. So here’s rundown of how much time you (or your staff) can expect to contribute to our partnership. 

1. 10 minute discovery call 

2. 20 minute zoom presentation to learn about our process

3. 1-2 hours compiling invoice and service agreement information

4. 1-2 hours over 3 months verifying data, or answering questions

5. 1 hour going over audit findings and savings report

In sum, you or your staff will most likely spend a mere 4 hours contributing information to the process. 

What you have to decide is whether those 4 hours are worth it when compared to your returns. Companies who put in those 4 hours have saved $114,000, and $126,000 annually on their waste spend. 

We know that there’s a 90% chance you’re overspending - the question is whether you want to commit those 4 hours to doing something about it. 

Post-Audit Process Time Commitment is Even Less 

Or, to put it another way, is it worth it to put in those 4 hours so that you and your staff don’t have to put in the hours fixing never-ending loops of waste issues? Because the other way we protect your time is by monitoring your bills and taking care of service issues. After our audit process is complete and the savings are hitting your bottom line, we protect your savings. 

Errors occur on your invoices 10% of the time. Are you catching them?

You can get the short end of the stick when it comes to service issues. Get a waste ally who knows the industry.

Your time is valuable. Be proactive about protecting it, and make sure get returns on any time you invest. 

Our audit process makes it easy for you to do both. 

Our Waste Audit is Cash-Flow Positive

Our services are guaranteed to be cash-flow positive.

This means two things:

1. Again, you only pay us when we find savings. If we don’t find any savings whatsoever on your account, you don’t pay us a dime. You will only pay us when we find and implement precise solutions for you. 

2. Our fees are strictly derived from your savings. If we save you $12,000 every month, we get $6,000 of that. If we save you $500 every month, we get $250 of that. You’re still saving - and you pay us to continue to protect your savings. 

This means that our services are not an added budgetary expense. You don’t have to get a few thousand dollars in overhead approved so that you can employ us to get your waste expenses under control. We’re paid out of the savings we find - which motivates us to find the most savings we can for you. 

Our Process Happens Offsite

We’ve tailored what we do to require minimum time and effort from you and your staff. So for the vast majority of our clients, we complete our audit process completely remotely. There are a few reasons this is possible. 

First, we use google maps and google earth to look at the location of dumpsters on your property. We don’t necessarily have to go on site to verify certain aspects of your waste disposal and recycling process. 

Second, your documentation usually gives a clear picture of your current waste needs. Your service agreement will tells us about your terms, pricing, and auto-renewal clauses. Your invoices will show us the hauler’s record of service levels, equipment, rates, and fees. 

We typically follow up with phone calls to each site’s manager to verify service levels and equipment on site. We’ll also ask questions about seasons variance and what waste and recycling needs really are at their particular site. We often find that site managers can give a level of detail that open up other avenues of savings. 

A remove exhaustive audit is possible with this solutions-oriented approach. 

Consistently finds savings

Over the 18 years we’ve been in business, we’ve found that most mid to high level companies are overspending on their waste. The exact number hovers above 90%.

So when we partner with you, we do so knowing that there’s a high rate of success. We know we’ll likely deliver substantial savings. 

Our clients are sometimes skeptical about whether we can deliver. But we do. 

Take Tad Dolbier of Tar Heel Capital. As the owner of 75 Wendy’s restaurants, Tar Heel wanted to reign in their waste and recycling expenses.   

Tad had already tried to reign in spending, but he was still sitting on savings. He just didn’t have the market knowledge he needed to find all the opportunities, so he put our expertise to use. 

In the first month of invoice post-implementation, he saw gross savings of $6,800 a month. He wrote us: “When you came back to me with $6800 each month in savings, as well as significant refunds from over billing, I was truly impressed and grateful!”

We don’t just find savings in manufacturing and the food industries. We’ve also had huge success with multi-family housing. 

Scott Alderman of Landura Management (a multi-family management company), got in touch and wanted us to evaluate his waste spend. There were a lot of variables: 4,500 units in 9 states. They had different waste vendors and lots of bad contracts. The logistics were complicated. 

But even though these variables were a challenge, our approach remained the same. We looked for savings opportunities, and we found them. 

After they were implemented, Scott was able to report back to us: “The recommendations you implemented resulted in these expenses being reduce by 25%.” His gross savings? $116,000 each year. That adds up fast!  

Our clients know our audits are thorough and our process works. 

Getting a Waste Audit is Easy

We’ve structured our waste audit process to be easy and risk free. 

 If we don’t find savings, you’ll pay nothing. 

When we do find savings, you’ll pay us out of those savings. 

And our process involves minimal interference with you and your team. 

Schedule a short, informal consult with a WCI Sales rep? It’s the next step toward risk-free savings.

You deserve to know exactly what is and isn’t working in your waste disposal process. You deserve to know whether your utility accounts are operating at maximum efficiency. You deserve to have the relief of knowing that your savings are secure. 

But most of all, you deserve to have  a waste and utility ally. You need an objective third party to make sure what you’re paying is fair. You need someone who will fight on your behalf when needed and provide accountability measures for your vendors. 

Companies across the nation are benefiting from our services, and you should too. 

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.

How to Partner with Us

Our partnership with clients really is that: a true partnership. It’s important to us that you make the very best decisions you can about your waste disposal, so we are happy to explain why we do what we do - and show how this can positively affect your bottom line. 

Partnering with us is a sure way to maximize your waste savings potential and find waste solutions.

You deserve to have peace of mind about your waste spend. And we can help you get there. 

Partnering with us is a five step process:

1. Set up a phone call to learn about our service and see if it’s a good fit

2. Sign our service agreement

3. Share invoice copies

4. Review the Waste Savings Summary

5. Share in savings 

I’ll be honest - we love finding our clients savings.

But our ultimate goal is making sure your needs are addressed at every stage of this process. We welcome - and enjoy - addressing the questions you may have at any point during this process. 

Why not sign up for a call today?

The First Step to Finding Savings: The Discovery Call

A Discovery Call is the first step towards finding savings. It’s a quick, free consult where a WCI rep will ask you questions about your current waste management system. 

Some of these questions typically include:

• How much do you spend on waste? (We are able to bring the most value to the table for companies who spend more than $10,000 each month) 

• How many locations are in your portfolio?

• How many waste streams do you currently have?

• What problems are you currently experiencing with your waste disposal?

• What are your growth plans over the next 1-3 years?

The purpose of these questions is to gauge how much value we can offer you. We aren’t always the best fit for every company. For instance, if you have only one location with one dumpster, we’re not going to be able to help you very much! But for most companies, our unique offering is a true opportunity.

Anita Huffman, the Corporate Finance Director at TWE Smart Nonwoven Solutions, wrote us earlier this month:

You uncovered more than $12,000 in monthly savings opportunities. Your exhaustive process and your teams dedication to our success has permanently changed our approach to waste management.

Anita took the first step toward her $12,000 savings with our Discovery Call. The questions we asked on that call made it clear that there were likely overlooked savings opportunities - and the rest is history!

Who Should Sign Up For a Discovery Call?

You should sign up for a discovery call if the following is true for you:

• You spend more than $10,000 in waste.

• You are a key decision maker for your company.

• You want to save on your waste spend. 

• You want to ensure your waste management is efficient.

• You are tired of paying too much for waste disposal

If you suspect or know that you have waste issues, you need to know exactly what they are so that they be addressed. 

You need a waste ally who will bring their market expertise and high rate of success to your portfolio. You need to someone who can find waste disposal problems, solve them, and prevent them from happening again. 

In short, you should sign up for a discovery call if you want a waste ally. 

Schedule a Discovery Call by clicking here.

Scheduling a discovery call is as easy as clicking the link above. By the end of this short call, you’ll know what your next steps are to save on your waste spend. 

Second Step to Savings: Zoom Meeting

If you and the WCI rep determine that you could benefit from an audit, you’ll schedule a Zoom video conference meeting. 

At this meeting, you’ll view a presentation that is tailored to your industry and company specifics. 

This presentation will show you:

• How exactly our remote audit works

• How much time our audit takes

• How much time your staff will need to contribute (spoiler: very little!)

Zoom Meeting: Our successful audit process

We try to distill the successes that we’ve had over the years into this short presentation. For instance, in the past eighteen years, we’ve helped hundreds of companies in every industry find waste expense savings. Our success rate is upwards of 90% - so we’re confident in our ability to find savings for you. 

We try to make it easy for you to partner with us. One of the ways we do that is by guaranteeing that the process will be to be cash-flow positive. 

This means two things.

First, it’s pretty rare when we don’t find savings, but when we do, you don’t owe us anything. You don’t pay us unless you see a reduction on your waste spend. 

Secondly, this means that when you do pay us, you do so only out of the savings that we’ve found for you. You don’t have to add another line item to your budget. We’re paid strictly out of the surplus capital you have as the result of our waste audit. 

Zoom Meeting: WCI Service Agreement

After your WCI rep has explained our process, he or she will show you a copy of our service agreement. 

It’s a simple document; only two pages long. In a nutshell, it specifies that you agree to share in the quantifiable savings we implement at a rate of 50% for service period of  of 36-60 months (depending on the scope of the engagement). 

We never expect that you’ll sign on the spot or pressure you in any way. Your WCI rep will typically follow up within a week of our meeting and see where you and other decision makers are at. 

Your rep will answer any outstanding questions you may have, and once you sign the service agreement, we move forward with data collection.  

Step Three: Pass on the audit documents

After we have the signed agreement in hand, we assign your portfolio to one of our project managers. 

They’ll schedule a Kick Off Meeting via phone and you and your teams key players will meet them and discuss what the next few weeks will look like for you and your company. 

We Need Copies of Your Waste Hauler Agreements and Invoice + A List of Locations

They’ll ask that you or one of your team members pass on the following documents:

• A copy of every location’s current service agreements

• The log-on information for your hauler’s portals or a copy of the most recent invoice

• A list of locations 

• A signed LOA (we provide the draft)

We find that most teams can assemble this information in one or two hours. 

After we have the information we need, we start our audit process. We may follow up with you or your staff to verify location and hauler information, but we make it a point to make as few demands on your team’s time as possible. 

Our audits typically take 30-90 days, after which we compile our findings and present it to you. 

Step Four: Review the Waste Savings Summary

We review the report with you, then how what we plan to do to maximize your savings. 

Our recommendations often include:

• Equipment changes

• Contract renegotiation

• Hauler changes

• Service frequency adjustments 

We’ll show you what you’re currently spending, and how much you can save. We are able to help most companies save 20-40% on their waste spend. 

Then we discuss which changes ought to take place at which of your locations or properties. 

We discuss any possible obstacles or hindrances to these changes taking effect, then make a plan to move forward - keeping your team up to date throughout the process. 

On this topic, Jackie Morelli, the Director of Operations at Evolve, told us just last week:

Great company and responsive team! They were able to audit our portfolio and provide savings for many of our communities . . . Great partnership, and I highly recommend their services.

We keep you in the know from start to finish, no matter how many locations you have.

Step Five: Share in the Savings

After we make the changes to your current waste management system, we check your new invoices. 

Many times it takes haulers a few billing cycles to catch up with whatever equipment or service changes have been made. So we look over your invoices with a fine toothed comb to make sure that they are correct. 

Once your invoices are reviewed, we send you a monthly bill for 50% of the total quantifiable savings. 

The other 50% is yours to keep. 

Bonus: Ongoing Billing Review and Service Help

Post-audit, we continue to monitor billing for errors (link to 20,000 billing error)- which we find happen about 10% of the time. 

We also keep records of when your current hauler contracts are set to expire and contact them at the appropriate time to renegotiate better rates. 

But perhaps our clients most appreciate our ability to take on service issues. We know that trying to resolve issues like missed pick-ups can take up an inordinate amount of your staff’s time. We take these on so you don’t have to. 

Stop sitting on savings. Schedule a Discovery Call today. 

90% of companies are overspending on waste. Stop being one of them.

Take your first step towards savings by scheduling a free, informal consult today.

How We Calculate Your Waste Savings

You know what most people hate talking about? Money. It makes people really uncomfortable.

But I’ve found that when we’re honest about our pricing, the opposite happens. Our clients like knowing what they’re being charged and why.

So today, I’m going to take some time explaining our pricing. It’s something I’m often asked about.

But how do we calculate what you’re charged? 

It’s a three part process:

1. We establish your waste spend baseline

2. We develop and apply recommendations

3. We compare your baseline to your new spend 

This article will show you what you can expect to be charged when  you come on board with us. 

We establish your waste spend baseline

We identify what you are spending now by categorizing the past volumes, type of equipment, and service levels along with the rates for equipment, collection, and disposal along with recycling rates. That is what we refer to as a benchmark. 

This audit process is comprehensive - no stone is left unturned. To analyze this information, we look at the following sources for every location in your portfolio:

• Past waste and recycling invoices, 

• Every current service agreements,

• Information obtained via site survey (if necessary),

• Information obtained from location managers  

This information takes time to accumulate, verify, and document - but we bear the brunt of the burden. (Our process is tailored to minimize inconvenience to you and your staff. Most teams only need an hour or two to send us the initial documents we need!) After that, we may follow up via email or phone calls to your site managers to verify certain sections of information. 

Once we have all of the required documentation, we can move into the next phase: analysis. 

We develop and apply recommendations

After our 30-step audit process, we develop recommendations. We look for alternate services, disposal and recycling options. We find better rates, and better service schedules for you. 

We compare your usage rates and any overage charges, we look at your tonnage each month, and then we look at market rates. Comparing rates and fees helps us see if you:

• Have the ideal service levels

• Have the ideal equipment in place

• Have the ideal contract. 

Where there are issues, we bring expertise-driven solutions to the table. We know what fair prices and good contracts are - and we’ll stop at nothing to make sure you get both. 

Once we have enacted the cost-reducing recommendations, we compare your baseline spend with your new spend. 

(Fun fact: we don’t charge you until our recommendations affect your bottom line. We don’t believe you should pay for something you’re not benefiting from.)

Then, we apply those recommendations to your past data to calculate what you would have paid for services if you had been using our alternative program.  This is how we determine which recommendations make financial and operational sense.

After we implement the recommendations that you approve, and for each month going forward, we provide you with three calculations based on your actual monthly volume:

1.  We use the current months actual volume to calculate precisely what you would have spent using prior equipment, collection, disposal and recycling rates and services. 

2.  We break down precisely what you spent with our new program. 

3. Our last step is to simply subtract those two calculations and the difference is obviously what was saved for that specific month. 

Before we get paid on our first savings invoice, we can go over the details of our calculations to make sure you understand them.

Once we’ve verified your account for accuracy, we send you an invoice each month. 

The breakdown for what you owe is very clear; each invoice lists what you were paying for waste services prior to our partnership. Then it lists what you are now paying. We will charge you 50% of the difference. (Read more about our pricing here!)

We Care About What You Are Charged for Waste Expenses

We’re honest about why we charge what we charge. You deserve nothing less. 

In an industry that is often rife with shady dealings, we seek to put you back in the driver’s seat. Information is power, and what you don’t know is hurting you. 

Stop being taken advantage of. Set up an appointment today to take the first step towards leveraging waste savings. 

5 Common Waste Disposal Problems for Businesses - and Their Solutions!

Waste disposal problems can seem never-ending. But there are solutions to be had.

This article will show you what your known (and unknown!) waste issues likely are and what you can do about them.

Your waste disposal problems will likely fall into one or more of these categories. 

1. Missed Trash Pick-ups

2. Overages at Waste Dumpsters

3. Poorly Performed Service of Waste Dumpsters

4. Illegal Dumping at Waste Containers

5. Wrong Container Sizes and Service Frequency

Most businesses have experienced at least one of these issues in the past - or are currently experiencing them. 

These problems can cut into your bottom line. They reduce staff efficiency and can create a poor impression for your visitors or residents. 

So it’s important to not only know the extent of these issues, but how we solve them. Today, we’ll take some time to do both. 

Missed Trash Pick-ups

Missed pick-ups don’t make anyone happy - and they rarely go unnoticed. 

Your staff, residents and/or visitors to your property rely on getting trash picked up quickly and efficiently. When this doesn’t happen, it’s abundantly obvious. 

Why missed pick ups happen

Sometimes missed pick-ups happen because haulers are human. Sometimes, they’re running behind schedule and your location gets accidentally skipped. 

But other times, haulers intentionally miss your location. Maybe they don’t feel like going all the way to your property, or they don’t feel like navigating your tricky corral. 

And still other times, haulers try to service your location but can’t access the dumpsters. Occasionally, this happens when there has been an influx in trash - perhaps after a holiday, or during a seasonal rush. Trash piles up outside the dumpster, and some haulers won’t service these dumpsters when this occurs. 

But haulers may also be prevented from accessing your dumpsters due to illegal dumping.

Most often, this happens at multi-family complexes where neighbors - those who do not live at your property - use dumpsters at your locations. (We’ve seen everything from toilets, to furniture, to mattresses!)

What you can do about missed garbage and recycling pick-ups 

Have a waste ally who will resolve waste problems on your behalf. 

No one wants to waste their time trying to figure out why their service was missed. No one wants to spend hours on the phone trying to convince their hauler that serviced was missed and that they do in fact know what they’re talking about. 

That is exactly why we exist. We take care of service issues, but we also do everything we can to prevent them in the first place. Our clients’ contracts ensure they have recourse when service is constantly sub-par. 

Overages at Waste Dumpsters

Just this past month, one of our clients got an invoice that included six overage charges. This amounted to hundreds of dollars in extra fees. As their waste ally, we’re getting to the bottom of why these charges occurred. 

I wish we could say this is an isolated incident - but most businesses have seen one or more overage charges.

What are waste overages fees?

Overages fees are charged when the waste does not fit into the confines of the dumpsters. When trash spills over the sides of your containers, you’re in trouble. 

And unfortunately, most haulers are not going to overlook it. The nicer haulers will toss the excess garbage into their truck, then empty the dumpster and go on their merry way. 

But your typical hauler will make a note of it, and an overage charge will appear on your invoice the next month. 

For some businesses, overages occur due to seasonal influxes. Restaurants and hotels, for instance, may experience an increase in trash output during the busy summer months. (We typically negotiate contracts that take seasonal fluxes into account.) Multi-family units may experience higher volumes of waste output before or after new residents move in. 

Whatever the reason they occur, when you get them repeatedly, it’s not ideal.

What You Can Do About Overage Charges on Your Waste Bill

When you see them on your bill, always ask for pictures of the overages from the hauler. If they can’t provide proof, they shouldn’t appear on your invoice. 

If you can prove you’ve mistakenly been charged for your overages, your hauler will likely provide a credit on the following month’s bill. 

Pro Tip: Always take notes when you are talking to your hauler about anything that pertains to your bill. You’d be surprised how often there are communication gaps between what your customer rep has agreed to and what your hauler’s accounting department actually sends you on your invoice. 

Poorly Performed Service of Waste Dumpsters or Compactors

This past summer, one of our multi-family complex clients had an on-going issue with their hauler. The hauler was emptying the compactor on schedule, but he was leaving behind a mess every time he emptied it. 

Piles of garbage bags were left where the compactor broke away from the main unit. And to make matter worse, the hauler left trails of garbage throughout the property after each pick-up. 

Needless to say, the residents were less than thrilled. 

The project manager for this client, Allen Banfield, knew that the compactor was being emptied incorrectly - hence the spillage issues. He was able to explain to the client exactly what was wrong, and hold the hauler accountable for emptying the bins correctly. 

This client hasn’t had another compactor issue since. 

At the end of the day, your hauler is supposed to do their job. When they do it poorly, it’s a problem - and not one that is easily ignored. 

We ensure that our clients receive their ideal service levels as contract - it’s one of the five main ways we find substantial savings.

Illegal Dumping at Waste Containers

This is mainly a problem that happens at multi-family complexes, but we’ve seen it occasionally occur at business parks as well. 

Illegal dumping, as we briefly mentioned above, happens when people who don’t work or live at your locations or properties dump their trash into your containers. 

It’s a fairly common problem, unfortunately. But there are simple solutions to it. 

What you can do about illegal dumping

You may not be able to prevent every instance of illegal dumping, but you can prevent a lot of it.

Consider one or more of these possible solutions.

• Putting a lock on your containers

• Post private property signs

• Use security cameras

• Put your dumpsters in corrals

• Use landscaping to deter dumping

An ounce of prevention will go a long way. Investing in one or more of these options can save you headaches down the road.

Wrong Container Sizes and Pick-Up Frequency

All of the problems to this point have been about obvious problems. This last one is not as obvious - but it’s one that happens on appropriately 80% of our accounts. 

Suppose you have 1 6-yard dumpster that is getting picked up 3 times a week. Pick-ups happen on time, and you rarely have overages. But, unbeknownst to you,  if you switched out this 6 yard dumpster for an 8 yard dumpster, you could drop down to twice a week service. This switch could save you an estimated $150 a month. 

But you don’t know what you don’t know. Everything is going smoothly, right? So there’s no reason you would necessarily know about the savings potential you’re sitting on. 

This is why our exhaustive audits are the backbone of what we do. We look at every possible revenue stream, and we have a 90% success rate doing so.

Waste and Recycling Audits Find Savings Opportunities 

Our waste audits are exhaustive, so they find every savings opportunity available to you. 

As Tom Driscoll, VP of PS Business Parks told us just a few days ago, “You gave us clear and actionable steps to vastly improve our waste management process.” 

On average we cut waste spend by 20-40%. You don’t have to keep throwing money and resources on overpriced, less than stellar waste service. 

Sign up for a discovery call today to take the first step towards saving big!

Guide to Waste Consultants {Updated for 2020}

Why exactly is there such a thing as a waste consultant? What is it they really do? Do I need one? 

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. 

Waste Consultants 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 $10,000 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.

If your haulers were transparent about their pricing and honest about their services, we wouldn’t be in business. And to be fair, some truly are! But they’re the exception to the rule. 

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 5 years without being able to review efficiency. If it allows price spikes, you’ll receive up to 4 each year.

Most haulers are not out to save you money. So they’re going to leave you open to waste disposal 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

Every account has their own dedicated project manager. Our PMs have over 30 years in the trash business between them, and they are expert waste and recycling auditors.  

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

You’ll send them copies of your waste and recycling agreements and invoices, or pass on your portal log-on info so that we can access it. 

Then the audit begins. Every aspect of your waste and recycling streams are reviewed by your PM. Our audits are so detailed they generally take 60-90 days to complete. 

But at the end of that time, your project manager will present their waste and recycling solutions, and the potential impact the changes will have on your bottom line.  

They’ll show you exactly where you can save at each location, and what they’ll do to implement solutions. 

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. 

Read more about our audit process here. 

How You Benefit from Our Services

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

Where there are service changes, we ensure a smooth transition. We manage contract cancellations and arbitrate any push-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. 

Your invoices will typically reflect the savings we implement on your behalf (and with your prior approval) in about 30-60 days. When that happens, we send you an invoice for 50% (LINK) of the quantifiable savings. 

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!

Your Waste Hauler Contract is Garbage - Here's How to Fix It

You’re overspending on your waste. We’re 90% sure, in fact. 

How do we know? We’ve worked with hundreds of companies in the past seventeen years, and we realized that 90% of them had waste disposal problems they didn’t know about. 

What you don’t know is costing you. 

Most of the overspending can be completely eliminated. How? By fixing your waste hauler contract. 

All of these common problems can be prevented by having the right waste service agreement:

• Waste hauler price hikes allowed

• No recourse for waste service issues

• Waste service contract auto-renewal

• Lengthy contract terms

• Ancillary fees allowed

Fix these things, and you’ll likely save upwards of 20% on your waste spend. 

Psst! Learn more about your top 5 hidden waste problems.

Let’s examine what your issues are in each of these categories - and what your solution possibilities are. 

Waste hauler price hikes must be eradicated

Haulers will increase their prices by up to 10% at least once a year. We’ve seen haulers that will increase them 4 times a year. 

When you set up your contract, they calculate their profit margin by including these price hikes. 

Over a number of years, this pricing compounds. Say you’ve employed a hauler for four years. You started paying them $1,000 a month. With rate increases, you could be paying as much $1,500 a month or more by the time your term ends. That’s a 50% increase! 

Prevent price hikes by including language in your contract that caps or limits them. It’s unlikely that the hauler will agree to completely eradicating them; after all expenses do tend to go up over time. But you can limit the increases - and in doing that, make budgeting simpler. 

Ensure recourse for waste service issues

When waste and recycling goes wrong, it doesn’t go unnoticed. Visitors or residents on your property are going to take note. So resolving - and preventing - these issues is critical.  

What does your contract specify about missed service or service that is performed poorly? If you don’t have language about this in your waste hauler contract, you’re leaving yourself open to some gnarly problems. 

We have the time and knowledge to keep your haulers in line. If there are continued issues with your hauler and their service, you need to know that you have an out if you need one. Many contracts will include a poor performance clause, but not many companies have the expertise or time needed to hold companies accountable. 

At least four communication touches have to happen before an issues is resolved. This amounts to at least 15 minutes for each waste issue. I actually find that it takes me closer to 45 total minutes to fully resolve each issue. 

You can’t afford to spend this amount of time on a waste or billing issue - and neither can your staff. 

We are our clients waste ally. When service issues arise, we address them on your behalf and make sure full resolution is attained. You and your staff don’t need more to do. 

This is part of the reason why Vic Nussbaum of Southern foods wrote of his relief that he no longer has to manage his waste disposal issues: “Your thoroughness allowed me to spend time ‘managing’ the operations here at Southern Foods, instead of ‘managing’ our waste bills.”

Your time is your greatest asset - and we’re passionate about making sure yours is protected. 

Eliminate waste service contract auto-renewal

You’re making your hauler rich by not eliminating your auto-renewal clause. 

Most haulers are betting on the fact that you’re not going to remember when your contract expires three or five years from now. They know that if you do, you may choose to go with a different hauler, or start changing your contract. So they, in effect, limit the possibility of that happening. 

Your contract will automatically renew without your input. So we’ve seen a lot of our customers  get stuck with a service that may or may not be ideal. 

Waste needs often change over time, and waste service levels may need adjusting. Your waste market may change as well. More haulers may be available in your area than before. You may have the option to secure lower rates and more favorable terms with another hauler. 

The language often looks like this:

Allowing your contract to auto-renew doesn’t allow you a chance to review what is really best for your company. 

Cancel your auto-renewal clause. Or let us do it for you! 

When we cancel the autorenewal clauses for our clients, it allows us the opportunity to find better pricing or to renegotiate new contracts, both of which contributes to thousands of dollars in savings over time. Our clients never overpay for their waste and recycling spend.

Shorten waste contract terms

Shorter contract terms allow you to more frequently evaluate your contract and service needs.

To put it another way: the longer your contract is, the fewer opportunities you have to analyze your best options. 

Why? Market rates change. New vendors become available. You don’t need to lock yourself into a contract more than three years. Otherwise, you’re likely putting yourself in a position where you’re overspending. 

You’re overpaying on your waste spend because your contract term is preventing you from getting perspective. 

Limit your contract term length to three years. The norm is five years - and too much can change in that time. Leave yourself room to change when necessary. 

We manage our clients contracts and track expiration dates closely. It’s one less thing our clients have to think about. They can rest easy knowing that we’re on the lookout for better options when they arise. We present solutions and implement them - and you get the benefit to your bottom line.  

Eliminate ancillary waste hauler fees

We eliminate or reduce fees like the following on most of our client’s contracts - like Rhonda’s! 

 Here are some examples of these fees: 

Container Service Plan: Enrollment in this plan (involuntary though it may be) allows you to replace your container 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. 

Container Refresh fee: 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 again, most containers are good for much longer than that.

Fuel/environmental fee: The hauler is charging you for the gas it takes to get to your site and deliver your trash to the dump. But they don’t just charge you.They charge everyone on their route a fuel fee. What does this mean? They are more than recouping the cost of gas. 

Recycling recovery fee: This fee is charged by the hauler to transfer your recyclable material from your site to the drop off site. 

Minimum tonnage fees: The hauler will charge you this fee for not having enough garbage in the container. These fees typically only apply to roll-off or open-top accounts.

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. Your fees go towards paying other people’s garbage disposal. 

We eliminate or significantly reduce waste fees for every client we can. Some are in the middle of less than ideal contracts, so we wait until those expire, then replace them with better agreements. 

Put our expertise to work for you

You can stop overpaying by having an expert fixing your waste contract. 

We make sure every contract we touch:

• Caps price hikes

• Provides recourse for waste service issues

• Eliminates your auto-renewal clause

• Limits contract terms

• Reduces or eliminates your ancillary fees

We don’t just fix these problems for our clients; we actively look for additional ways to save. We monitor billing, and we are your first line of defense when service issues arise. 

Take the first step and see what savings opportunities you can take advantage of. Give us a call today at 828-386-4153 and ask us any questions you may have about your waste spend. 

7 Things You're Doing That Make Your Waste Hauler Rich

Companies nationwide are making their haulers rich. And they have no idea! They’re giving away thousands of dollars a year - money that could be better allocated to new hires, training, equipment, or property upgrades. 

They’re paying their waste haulers thousands of dollars more than they need to. They don’t know that there’s any other way to do business with their trash vendors. 

But you don’t have to be like them. 

In this post, you’ll learn how to stop lining your waste hauler’s pockets. You’ll learn how to spot your waste disposal problems, like costly contract issues and equipment service discrepancies. And you’ll be equipped with actionable steps to stop them. 

You’re making your waste hauler rich by not:

• Knowing about waste hauler problems 

• Eliminating waste or garbage vendor invoice fees

• Eradicating the auto-renewal clause

• Eliminating price hikes

• Evaluating service levels

• Knowing market rates

• Having a waste ally 

In the 17 years we’ve been in business, these are the issues we routinely fix for our client. Let’s take a look at these common waste disposal problems - and their solutions. We’ll take a deep dive into each one so you can start saving!  

Newsflash: You likely have waste hauler problems!

But first…some of you may be asking, “How are you so sure that I’m overspending? Just because I have dumpsters on site doesn’t mean I’m overpaying!” Or others of you may be saying, “Hey! I just finished doing my own waste audit, and I’m pretty sure there are no other savings to be found!”  

The first step to finding savings is realizing that there’s a problem! Ignorance isn’t bliss - it’s expensive. 

Most people have no idea that the waste industry is set up to make haulers rich. If you spend more than $10,000 a month on waste, we know there’s a 90% chance you’re overpaying. 

This estimate is backed by hard data - it’s the number we’ve come up with after being in business for over 17 years, and having saved our clients millions of dollars.  

We know - this is a really high number! But it really speaks to the shadiness of the waste industry. It’s created a norm where most companies are overpaying and are completely in the dark about it. A lot of professionals think that it’s normal to have price spikes, or it’s normal to have to pay all kinds of fees, for example. But it doesn’t have to be - our clients certainly don’t! 

Your waste hauler is betting that you’re going to be kept in the dark about what’s really going on in your waste management. He’s betting that you aren’t going to have the time or resources to really find and address your waste disposal problems. 

But this article is going to make it easy for you to do both. 

Not Eliminating waste or garbage vendor invoice fees

You’re making your hauler rich by paying the fees he asks you to pay. You don’t have to - if your contract stipulates this. 

Most of you are already locked into a contract that makes you pay all kinds of fees. But you don’t have to! 

We eliminate or reduce fees like the following on most of our client’s contracts - like Rhonda’s! 

 Here are some examples: 

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. 

So you’re likely paying one or more of these fees. The good news? You can renegotiate your contract. A warning: if you’re in the middle of your term, you may not have a lot of leverage with your hauler to do so. But if you’re close to the end? You’ll have a lot more leverage. 

When you’re renegotiating, (or getting a new hauler and a new contract) make sure the new contract includes a phrase limiting or completely eradicating these fees. 

Does this sound a little unrealistic? We do it on almost every contract we’ve created for our clients over the past 17 years. Haulers want your business. So you may be surprised how much they are willing to negotiate your contract terms. 

Not eradicating the auto-renewal clause on your waste contract

You’re making your hauler rich by not eliminating your auto-renewal clause. 

Most haulers are betting on the fact that you’re not going to remember when your contract expires three or five years from now. They know that if you do, you may choose to go with a different hauler, or start changing your contract. So they, in effect, limit the possibility of that happening. 

Your contract will automatically renew without your input. So we’ve seen a lot of our customers  get stuck with a service that may or may not be ideal. 

The language often looks like this:

Allowing your contract to auto-renew wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing - except it doesn’t allow you a chance to review what is really best for your company.

Waste needs often change over time, and waste service levels may need adjusting. When we cancel the autorenewal clauses for our clients, it allows us the opportunity to find better pricing or to renegotiate new contracts, both of which contributes to thousands of dollars in savings over time. 

Because contracts inherently have terms, any savings that are enacted accumulate over time. Suppose you stop your auto renewal and are able to find $1000 in savings each month by renegotiating your contract with better rates and no price spikes. Over the five year life of your contract, you’ll save over $60,000. That’s not pocket change! 

And it’s savings that are made possible by stopping contract auto-renewal. You deserve the chance to get the best rates you can on your waste disposal - and for your waste management process. 

Not eliminating price hikes in your waste management

You’re making your hauler rich by not eradicating or limiting price spikes on your contract. Most trash haulers schedule regular price hikes and service charge increases. This is a massive waste disposal problem! 

Your hauler knows that he will raise prices at least once a year. Don’t let them get away with that. 

We’ve seen haulers raise prices as much as four times a year at a 5-10% increase. (Just recently, we actually had one try to increase rates 900%!)

If price spikes happen at least one a year, think about how much you’ll be paying a year from now, or two, or ten. Again eradicating the possibility for price spikes now means you’ll be saving more later. 

Not sure if your contract limits them? Pull out your contract and let’s have a look! 

Look in the Payment Terms of your Waste Hauler contract.  It’s typically titled something like “Charges, Payments, Adjustments.”  If you do not find language that limits or prohibits spikes, you need to re-evaluate your contract ASAP. Because what this means is that a hauler could increase your rates at will - and you would have very little recourse.

In effect most price spikes make you pay higher and higher rates for the exact same services. 

Now don’t get me wrong - some price spikes are actually legitimate. As fuel prices increase, the cost of providing services increases. But most haulers are not raising prices because the cost of service is increasing. They’re raising them because they can. 

How do we know? Because we know how haulers calculate their costs. And we know the legitimate costs from the shady ones. 

It costs a lot to run a waste disposal business. Here are some of the costs they incur to provide you service. 

• Disposal cost to drop off waste materials at disposal facility.Waste disposal facilities charge for the garbage they receive? Haulers have to pay this fee, and this fee often gets passed onto you - and not always in part. 

• Cost of hauler equipment. Dumpsters, garbage trucks, and compactors are expensive to make and they can be extremely expensive to service. The trash business isn’t exactly gentle on equipment. Dumpsters lose tops, or get rusted out. Compactors inexplicably stop working. Since most companies rent the dumpsters or compactores from the hauler company, the haulers have to buy the equipment and service it.

• Cost for servicing account. It’s expensive for haulers to drive their trucks to and from your locations. Haulers have to take into account employee compensation, the fuel charges, and the cost of maintaining the trucks. Haulers will typically divide up the number of locations they have to service to figure out how much to charge each customer. This means you aren’t necessarily charged exactly what it takes to get from your location to another; it’s presumably divided up equally among those who are on the same route. However, it has to be said, there’s no external oversight on this. Most companies trust that their haulers are accurately and fairly charging them. But we’ve found that haulers can widely vary on how much of legitimate charges are passed on to the client - and how much is added in on top of that. Haulers should make a profit doing what they do - it’s important work! But they don’t need to overcharge simply because they can. 

And a lot of times, they do. How do we know this? Because we’ve worked inside the waste industry before. Most haulers will not enter an agreement unless they are making at least a 15% profit. (We’ve actually  seen some companies make as much as 100% or more in profit!)

Profit margins for the haulers almost always increase every year. We’re talking 99% of the time.

A vendors profit margin is also dependent on you, the client!

When these price spikes happen, the majority of businesses either don’t notice them or don’t question them. Haulers often bet that you won’t notice, or that you won’t care if you do. 

This is exactly why we make our client’s contacts airtight - and why we review your waste invoices. Our clients pay what’s fair. Make sure you aren’t making your hauler rich by getting a waste ally. 

Not evaluating waste disposal service levels

You’re making your hauler rich because you’re paying for services that you don’t need. 

I wish I could tell you this is a limited problem - that only a handful of companies we’ve audited have this issues. But it’s not. It happens to almost every account we’ve had regardless of where they’re located or what hauler they’re using. 

Companies are paying for 5 pick-ups a week when they only actually need 2. They’re paying for dumpsters that are too big. They’re paying pricey overages that could be eliminated with different equipment or additional pick-ups. Or they’re not using a compactor, but they should be. 

Haulers are not going to find ways for your to save on your service levels. Why? Because it doesn’t line their pockets. 

This is exactly why our pricing is performance based. When you win, we win. So we make sure you win. We make sure no savings are left on the table, and we evaluate every possible aspect of every waste stream at every location. 

When we perform our audits, we look closely at your service levels and the waste 

If your on-site waste dumpsters are less than half full when they are picked up, look into getting fewer or smaller sized dumpsters. 

But your problem may not be with the waste equipment you have, but with the equipment you don’t have. 

Maybe you have too much cardboard, and want to start packaging it for resale. We’d recommend a baler. Or maybe you can reduce the number of pick-ups per week with a compactor. 

Or you may have a situation where you need bigger dumpsters. If you have a six foot front loading dumpsters that is picked up every day, it may make more financial sense to upgrade to an eight foot dumpster that only gets picked up three times a week. 

You’re making your hauler rich because your waste management is operating at ineffective levels. But a waste review will find these issues and correct them. 

We find waste problems, create solutions and implement them on your behalf. It’s why our audits are so effective, and how we’ve found hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings for our clients. 

Why not sign up for a free consult today? Tyler Brunson, our CEO, will give you a crystal clear picture about what we do and how we can help you. 

Knowing waste market rates

You’re making your hauler rich because you don’t know what “normal” or average waste disposal pricing is in your area. You don’t realize, for instance, the company across the street is paying half of what you’re paying for waste services. And your haulers sure as heck isn’t going to volunteer that information. 

If you know what’s normal - and if you know what other vendors are charging - you’ll ensure that you’re not wasting valuable resources. 

But knowing the market goes beyond just knowing what most haulers waste disposal rates are. 

Sometimes, you need expertise to help you get somewhere. It’s why you went to school for the degree that you have, and it’s why some professionals have career mentors. You need guidance for your career path or direction. 

We give our clients expert market knowledge, and they stop being overcharged. We know the waste industry, and we speak its language. We know where to look for savings, and we have a 90% success rate of finding them. 

We know how to make airtight contracts, how to prevent price spikes, and how to reduce fees. These are things we do for our clients every day, in almost every industry - and it’s what we can do for you, too. 

Not having a waste ally 

You’re making your hauler rich because you don’t have a waste ally. You don’t have someone who will find billing discrepancies and fight for billing credits on your behalf - so your staff’s time and resources are taken up. Waste hauler invoices are incorrect 10% of the time. Are you catching those mistakes?

What you don’t know is costing you. You’re likely being charged at rates that are too high because your contract ensures that your rates will steadily increase, unchecked. You have equipment on site that you don’t need because your haulers don’t care that your dumpsters are half full when they’re serviced. You’re paying too much for your service, because you only need pick-ups three times a week instead of five. 

How much longer will you overspend? 

You need a waste ally - someone who knows how to find these issues and permanently resolve them. 

We give our clients the peace of mind they deserve about their waste spend. When their pricing is regulated, they know exactly what to expect to budget for years to come. When their contracts are airtight, they know that when incorrect invoices happen, they have recourse. And when service issues happen, they know that we’ll promptly resolve the issue on their behalf.

We’ve found our clients hundreds of thousands in savings. How much are you sitting on?

How long will you wait to start saving?

Our risk-free audit process requires zero capital outlay, and is guaranteed to be cash-flow positive. In other words, we’ve made sure you have nothing to lose - and everything to gain!

There’s a 90% chance that you’re sitting on savings. Why keep ignoring those opportunities. Schedule a call today with our CEO, Tyler Brunson. He’ll explain in even more detail how we do what we do and exactly why it’s effective for 90% of companies nationwide. 

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!

What We Do and How We Do It

People care less about what you do than how you do it.

Say you have a vendor who does decent work, but is an absolute pain to work with. They’ve been really disrespectful to your staff, and you can never get a hold of them when things go wrong. How long would you put up with them?

No company exists in a vacuum. There will always be other providers who can supply a product or service.

But we really believe that the way we do our jobs is unique. We’ve tailored everything we do to our clients needs. We evaluate the documents appropriate to their industry and we look at your market’s waste providers. But the way we do what we do is tailored to you, too. 

This article will show you how we intend to partner with you - and how you can expect us to treat you and your staff as long as we’re in business together. 

Let’s talk about:

• Transparency

• Experience

• Going the Extra Mile

• Taking Fiduciary responsibility

At the end of this article, you’ll know exactly what to expect when we partner with you. 

First, I want to give you a little background about what we do, so you can have a better context for how we do what we do.

What our waste and utility services are

Let’s take a minute to talk about exactly what we do. We help you find savings in your waste, recycling, and utility expenses. 

Why, you may ask, do they need to be managed? Why should people care about them? 

Simply put: without professional oversight on your management processes, chances are that you’ll overspend (Nine times out of ten, to be precise). Haulers bank on your ignorance - you don’t know what they’re charging other area clients. You don’t know that you can include clauses on your contract to limit price spikes and stop auto-renewals. And because you, like most management professionals, don’t know market rates and contract practices (and a host of other industry norms) you’ll overpay.

And even if you’re like Tad Dolbier and have done a lot to minimize overspending and put cost-reduction measures in place, you’re still likely overspending. Why?

Because you aren’t a waste industry professional. And you don’t have to be. 

You shouldn’t have to know waste and utility industry practices to make sure that you get fair rates and a good contract. Who has that kind of time?

This is exactly why thousands of locations across multiple industries have chosen to partner with us. They want us to find savings (which we do 90% of the time), but in doing so they’re actually employing one of the golden rules of management: delegation. We use our expertise to lock in excellent pricing, and you benefit from the savings. 

Remember Tad? After all that work he went through to implement cost cutting, he wasn’t so sure we would come up with any substantial reductions. But after we made some changes to his waste management vendors, he wrote us: 

When you first approached me about managing our solid waste costs, I was skeptical. When you came back to me with $6,800 per month in savings, I was truly impressed and grateful!

Having expertise on your side can have a huge impact on your bottom line. It’s worth it to have someone else review your waste management process. It’s like buying a lottery ticket, knowing there’s a 90% chance that you’ll win. Who wouldn’t like those odds?

Even better - this process is guaranteed to be cash-flow positive. You only pay us when the savings show up on your invoices. We take on all the risk - if we don’t find savings at your sites, you don’t owe us anything. We take the hit. 

We do everything we can to address any obstacles or concerns you may have when it comes to our ability to exhaustively examine your waste management processes and vendor agreements and invoices. 

How we find substantial waste and utility savings 

Some of you may be thinking, “Okay, I see why it’s a good idea to have an independent, thorough review. But how exactly do you all do that?

After our clients sign our official agreement, one of our Project Managers takes over your account. Tony and Allen are the real deal: they’ve been working in the waste industry for almost forty years between them. That’s a lot of trash. And it’s a lot of know-how. 

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’re a good candidate for industrial or commercial recycling? They’ll tell you. And they’ll get vendors and equipment in place on your behalf. Not sure why your waste disposal or waste removal fees are suddenly so high? They can tell you. 

But - more importantly - they’ll be able to see all the holes you can’t. On almost every account they manage, they have found creative savings solutions. If you’re in the hotel industry, they’ll look at seasonal occupancy rates. If you have recycling set up in place, they may check to see if your cardboard is being broken down properly (if it’s not - you’ll need more frequent pickups. Translation: you’ll likely pay more than you need to). 

Tony and Allen will leave no stone unturned. (You should see the excel spreadsheet they use to calculate your costs and real needs. It’s a doozy, let me tell you). They excel at finding savings. Between them, they’ve found hundreds of thousands of dollars for companies across the US.  

The audit process looks different for each company, but we follow the same six basic steps for every industry:

• Assign WCI Personnel

• Review Waste Expenses

• Identify Cost Reduction Opportunities

• Develop Recommendations

• Implement Recommendations

• Provide a monthly savings report

Guess how much of this you are responsible for? 0%. While the overall effort is collaborative, we do all the work on our end. Do we ask clarifying questions about documentation or equipment usage? Absolutely. But we’ve fine-tuned our process so that it takes as little of your time - and your staff’s time - as possible. 

After we’ve assigned the WCI PM, the expense review of your waste or utility accounts begin. 

Again, this will look a little different for each client, but the framework remains the same. 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 can you get away with bi-weekly service? We’ll also ask you questions about your customer service experience. The hauler you have have great rates, but misses pick-up frequently. This is vital information, and we take it into account when we review your portfolio. 

For utility audits, we look at meter usage and rate structures. Are you overlooking any meters? Is your current service level in line with your business status? Are you taking advantage of every tax exemption available to you?  

For both waste and utility audits, we look for unexplained price hikes, and we look at usage trends. We also look at your service agreements. We’ll note expiration dates, and we’ll check to see if ancillary fees are limited or eradicated altogether. We’ll also look for language that prohibits auto-renewals, and limits price spikes to a certain percentage. 

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. 

We have great success at renegotiating contracts. Allen Banfield, one of our PMs  had a client that had a contract with Waste Management. It had just renewed and had another 2+ years remaining. But the pricing was really less than ideal. He told me: “I  was able to negotiate a new 5 year agreement that provided WM with the longevity they desired and generated significant savings for the client without having to liquidate the WM agreement or wait for it to expire. It was a win-win.” 

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 do an exhaustive audit and review the appropriate documentation for each and every location in your portfolio. Our process shows us the gaps - those places where you could be saving, but aren’t. So after we have evaluated all the documentation and crunched the numbers, we create a recommendations report for you. We show you the steps we’ll take to make an impact on your bottom line. Usually this happens via a teleconference. 

We’ll show the amount you’ll save on a month to month basis, but we’ll also often 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. 

After we present the report, you give us your feedback. On rare occasions, there are valid reasons for not implementing certain savings. Maybe a location is about to be sold, or perhaps  construction makes immediate implementation impossible. We want to find the solutions that are right for you, so we make it a point to listen carefully. 

But the majority of the time, our clients are thrilled and we move forward with the implementation. SInce so many of our clients have multiple sites and personnel who staff the sites, we anticipate and actively try to prevent communication gaps. We work closely with your and your team to implement our recommendations. 

Where there are service changes, we coordinate with your staff to 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. 

Then we provide a monthly savings report. It looks like this:

The summary page looks like this.

This summary shows the total savings, and our share in the savings. It 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!) 

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. 

We don’t just provide a much-needed service, we do everything we can to ease your mind about your waste and utiltiy management processes. As anyone who has worked with a disposal hauler knows, things go wrong. 

Services can be missed. There may be a sudden uptick in unfounded contamination charges. Haulers are human, too. And sometimes they just make mistakes. 

So 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.

By now, you probably have a pretty good idea of our values. We don’t believe in leaving your waste disposal problems to chance. And we don’t believe in doing things halfway. We work hard to make sure every possible problem is prevented - and when issues do arise, we’re the ones that arrange for billing credits or complete resolution, depending on the case. In all of our processes, we value transparency, experience, going the extra mile, and fiduciary responsibility. 

Transparency is vital to your waste and utility management

Transparency is important to us because no one likes to be tricked. There’s enough fishy business in the waste industry. We’re not going to add to it; we’re here to confront it. We’re upfront about our pricing - it will be no surprise to you what you’re charged on a month-to-month basis (which is critical for budget projections.) 

Our invoices themselves are made to be transparent. You can see exactly what you’re being charged at each location, and how that differs from your original waste or utility spend. 

And we’re up front when problems arise. We’re not going to hide issues from you or your staff to make ourselves look a little better. Instead, we bring them to your attention and provide solutions options. 

Our experience is your best asset for your waste and utility processes

We’ve seen it all. We know what works, and what doesn’t. And we know what it will take to find all of the savings opportunities in your reach. We know how the haulers work, and we know how to negotiate contracts that are actually in your best interest - not the haulers’. We know where to look for utility savings and what tax exemptions you could take advantage of. 

We know how to find the gaps or problems in your waste and utility accounts. And we know how to fix them. 

Our market knowledge saves our clients hundreds of thousands of dollars because we see what others don’t and provide the solutions that others can’t. 

Going the Extra Mile

By this point, you have a pretty good idea about how we do this. Our audits are exhaustive, and we don’t just find your savings, we protect them. We review your bills, and we hold your vendors accountable to the service levels they’ve agreed to provide. 

When you do get overcharged, we ensure that the situation is rectified. It may mean thirty calls to get an issue fully resolved. It may mean email strings of 60+ messages. But we do everything we can to make sure that you are not taken advantage of - and that your savings are secure. 

Another way we go above and beyond? To find you savings, sometimes our PM come up with creative waste solutions. Tony Perkins, for example, just recent worked with a client that needed an inhouse-compactor, and he figured out a way to make it work. 

Taking Fiduciary responsibility

We apply the value of transparency to our financial interactions with you. We show you exactly what you’re being charged at each location, and how that price has dropped since you’ve started using our services. We make it as easy as possible to see how your waste or utility spend is being allocated. And if you ever have any questions about our invoices or your haulers’ invoices, we’re just a phone call or email away. 

But because of how we write your utility and waste contracts, there’s another layer of fiduciary responsibility that is an added benefit to you. We make it a point to cap price increases and limit or completely eliminate ancillary fees. This means that budgeting for every location in your portfolio is simple. You can know exactly what to expect for your waste and utility expenses for the entire length of your contract term. 

Our waste and utility services are critical for your peace of mind

We’ve tailored what we do - and how we do it - to ensure you have peace of mind. You deserve to know exactly what is and isn’t working in your waste disposal process. You deserve to know whether your utility accounts are operating at maximum efficiency. You deserve to have the relief of knowing that your savings are secure. 

But most of all, you need a waste and utility ally. You need an objective third party to make sure what you’re paying is fair. You need someone who will fight on your behalf when needed and provide accountability measures for your vendors. 

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!

Why Our Team Loves Slashing Your Waste Costs

I’m not going to sugarcoat this for you: the waste industry can be really shady. 

We know because we see it all the time. Even if you’ve worked really hard to keep waste costs down (like Tad!) you’re probably still overspending - and not by a little.

Most contracts are written in the hauler’s best interest. So your contract will automatically renew. And you’ll get price hikes up to four times a year. And you’ll pay a bunch of made up fees. You won’t have recourse for poor service, and it’ll be about impossible to get out of your contract. And if you’re being over-serviced, your hauler is probably going to be the very last one to tell you. 

Are all haulers like this? No - thank goodness! We work with haulers who get the job done. But you know what else? We also make sure that our waste disposal contracts are airtight. Because that sets everything else up for success.

Read more about waste contracts here. 

Our clients never, ever, overpay on their waste management. Part of this is because we are thorough.  Our waste disposal and management audits yield results. They’re exhaustive and strategic - but they would be none of those things if it weren’t for the people who were in charge of them. 

The bigger reason our processes work is because the people who do them are professional industry experts. They know where to look for savings, and they know how to write truly stellar contracts. 

The waste industry is sneaky. But our Senior Project Managers, Tony and Allen, have seen it all. So when they’ve got your back, you’re protected. 

But who are Tony and Allen? How did they get their expertise? How do they do what they do? How do they consistently find savings at such high rates? And what are they really like?

Let’s take some time to know our senior project managers, Tony Perkins and Allen Banfield.

Tony Perkins: Waste Industry Expert and Senior Project Manager

Hi, all! I’ve been with WCI a little over two years, and I live in Missouri with my wife and two daughters. I enjoy what I do for so many reasons.

I like being able to dig in and see what business processes can be changed to affect costs. I like finding the savings and analyzing what businesses are doing and how I can improve upon it.

Breaking down your waste management process, reviewing invoices, and going over contracts with a fine-tooth comb - it gives clarity. I really enjoy our methods of finding savings.   

Our audit process is unique because it’s so thorough. And it’s rewarding, too. Seeing how big of an impact - the end result is what I like best. Negotiating favorable terms {for our clients} is also one of my favorite things. I like making sure that companies are not being taken advantage of.

The thing that makes me really good about what I do is persistence. Without it, finding savings would be near impossible. I am persistent in the audit process. and also with the haulers who can be less than forthcoming about their rates and processes.  

Persistence helps me find creative waste solutions. We recently had a client that had some hotels in California. They had super high rates for dumping trash I researched and came up with an indoor compaction, which helps reduce their overall costs. 

And when I’m not finding savings, I’m spending time with my daughters. This is really important to me! I love going to their sports games. I also play fantasy football (Editor’s note: this is true. He’s amazing at it!).

Allen Banfield: Waste Industry Expert and Senior Project Manager

Hi, everyone. I’ve been with WCI five years. I appreciate our exhaustive waste audit process. I strive to produce results for our clients and our audit process is the foundation for recognizing and achieving those results. Without our audit, savings wouldn’t be possible. 

I have thirty years of experience in the waste industry. I use my experience to try and recognize ways to recommend cost saving improvements. Not just negotiating better pricing, but identifying alternatives to what has historically been the way collections have been made to reduce costs.

{Editor’s note: Allen is incredibly detail oriented and understands every facet of the waste industry. Not sure how a compactor really works? Want to know about dumpster lock bar configurations? Allen is your man.}

Recently, for example, we had a client that had a contract with Waste Management. It had just renewed and had another 2+ years remaining. But the pricing was really less than ideal. I was able to negotiate a new 5 year agreement that provided WM with the longevity they desired and generated significant savings for the client without having to liquidate the WM agreement or wait for it to expire. It was a win-win. 

Our PMs Find Thousands of Dollars in Savings Every Year

Our PMs are really the backbone of what we do. Without their expertise, savings opportunities would go unseen, and you would continue to overpay on your waste expenses. But that doesn’t happen because they’re experienced, and they’re reliable. How much could they help you?

Let me know what questions you have in the comments below. Curious why we have such a high success rate (it hovers around 90%)? Not sure what our audit entails? Let me know what’s on your mind!

Four Reasons You Need a Waste Ally

Raise your hand if you want to spend time thinking about garbage!

Spoiler alert - no one wants more of their time to go towards managing waste or recycling. No one wants to spend hours poring over invoices. And no one wants to spend weeks unsuccessfully trying to resolve an issue with their hauler.

This is exactly why we’ve tailored our services to ensure you have an ally. When things go wrong - and they can - we have your back. We make the calls, we check the documents - and we make sure the issue gets resolved.

Psst! Check out why solving trash problems can be a waste of your time!

You need a waste ally because:

• Your time is valuable

• What you don’t know shouldn’t be held against you

• Waste mistakes are expensive

• You need market expertise

At the end of this article, you’ll know how to protect all of your resources - and prevent costly oversight.

Your time (and your staff’s) is valuable

Resolving waste and recycling disposal issues are time consuming. Why? For the same reason that it takes so long to resolve any vendor issue: haulers have less incentive to remedy a situation cooperate if you’re already paying them.

And on top of that, they don’t tend to be extremely well organized. The customer service rep we first speak with often has to get in touch with the driver or account manager to resolve this issue. This communication gap is just that - a gap. It means more time has to be spent to find out how to resolve this issue, but it also means that there’s an opportunity for the issue to fall through the cracks. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been told by a rep that they would call me back only (you guessed it) to never be called back.

For waste service or billing issues that I resolve, I often find that at least four communications touches have to happen before the issue is resolved. Touches mean that I reached out to the appropriate person at least four times via email or a phone call.This amounts to at least 15 minutes for each waste issue. I actually find that it takes me closer to 45 total minutes to fully resolve the issue. (I currently have a waste issue sitting in my inbox that has taken 55 emails to address - and it’s still not 100% resolved!)

You can’t afford to spend this amount of time on a waste or billing issue - and neither can your staff.

This is part of the reason why Vic Nussbaum of Southern Foods is so thankful he no longer has to manage his waste disposal issues: “Your thoroughness allowed me to spend time ‘managing’ the operations here at Southern Foods, instead of ‘managing’ our waste bills.”

Your time is your greatest asset - and we’re passionate about making sure yours is protected.

What you don’t know shouldn’t be held against you

Let me put this delicately - haulers do not always have your best interest in mind. In fact, they rarely do.

How do we know this? Among the thousands of clients we’ve helped, we’ve found that 90% of them were overpay on their waste. And so many of our clients aren’t passe about their waste! Many of them, like Tad for instance, are proactive about spending and monitoring their invoices. But they still are overpaying on their waste management.

Why? Because ultimately, they just didn’t know what they didn’t know. And what they didn’t know was being used against them. Their haulers write contracts in their own favor - and they had no idea. Their contracts were auto renewing, or they didn’t limit price spikes. They were paying outrageous fees, or were using the most expensive hauler in town.

Haulers have normalized these practices - but that doesn’t mean that you have to accept them.

Learn how to evaluate your waste services - and fix them.

These practices all but guarantee that you’re overpaying for waste and recycling disposal services.

You deserve to have an industry expert find the gaps in your waste and recycling management. You need an independent party to look for, find, and resolve the gaps in your current waste removal process. When it comes down to it, you can’t afford not to!

Waste mistakes are expensive

Ignorance isn’t bliss, it’s expensive.

Not knowing what a good contact looks like can cost you thousands over the period of your term or contract length.

Not knowing that waste fees are actually optional can cost quite a bit too.

And not knowing market rates for waste and recycling disposal can be exorbitant.

We had a client recently who was overpaying by $60,000 a year because they were using a pricey hauler. They thought that what they were being charged was normal. It seemed normal because they didn’t know what other area haulers were charging - or if that hauler was charging other clients the same rates.

To make matter worse in this instance, the client is a non-profit entity and the hauler actually sponsored some of their programs. The client wrongly assumed that the hauler was providing them with good pricing because they were “partners”.

When haulers contract with you, they plan on charging you increased rates over a certain period of time. Profit margins for the haulers almost always increase every year. We’re talking 99% of the time.

Get our free guide to stop overpaying and reign in your spending today!

This isn’t to say that the whole lot of them are bad, or that they’re all intentionally out to get you. On the whole, rate increases aren’t actually a bad idea. Gas prices tend to go up, dump rates increase, and any perceptive business will likely take this into account.

The problem is, these rates typically go above and beyond standard cost of service increases. We’ve seen haulers increase their rates up to two times per year - with 15% increases each time. If you’re paying $100 at the beginning of a five term, you could be paying up to $440 by the end. That’s a 340% increase!

And most companies aren’t just paying $100 for waste each month. They have by multiple pieces of waste equipment at multiple locations. (This is exactly why we always tell our clients that the more locations you have, the greater the savings typically are!)

Let’s use a real world example. Suppose you have eight locations and two dumpsters each with $100 pick-ups at each location. Initially, you’ll start out paying $1600 for all the waste expenses at all locations. But At the end of that five year term, you’ll have seen a 400% increase. Your new rate? Over $6470.00 each month!

That’s money that could have gone toward any number of costs: bonuses, apartment improvements, upgrades at your properties. But it can’t - because you didn’t know you were overpaying.

What you don’t know is hurting your bottom line. Why let that happen? Book a free, informal consult with our CEO, Tyler Brunson, and learn how our expertise can help you save big.

You need market expertise

Sometimes, you need expertise to help you understand what is going on. If you want to buy a house in the south of France (as we all do), you’d likely need a realtor who spoke both French and English, right? You’d want someone who knew the housing market - and someone who spoke both languages.

In a lot of ways, we’re like that realtor. We know the waste industry, and we speak its language. We know where to look for savings, and we have a 95% success rate of finding them.

We know how to make airtight contracts, how to prevent price spikes, and how to reduce fees. These are things we do for our clients every day, in almost every industry - and it’s what we can do for you, too.

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What questions can we answer for you about being a waste ally? Let me know in the comments below!

The 10 Most Read Articles of 2019

We’ve published almost 50 posts since April! But these ten are far and away the most popular.

10. Everything you need to know about Waste Consultants, Brokers, and Haulers

Ever wondered what the difference is between a consultant and a broker? Or a hauler and a consultant? We got you.

9. What to do about your terrible waste services

This article is for anyone who has ever spend forty-five minutes on hold with their hauler.

8. How to Conduct a Basic Waste Audit

Think your waste management could use some help? A waste audit will show you what to do.

7. How to get a new waste hauler contract

When it’s time, it’s time. This blog shows you how to get a new contract that is actually in your favor.

6. Property Management company saves 116000 annually

Ardmore Residential was getting price gouged - and they had no idea.

5. Why should I care about waste expenses?

Having lax waste management will rarely benefit you.

4. How hauler contracts make you overpay on waste expenses: Part 2

The fees on your contract are no laughing matter.

3. Wendy’s franchisee saves more than $6500 a month

Find out how one restaurant chain slashed their waste spend.

2. Four ways you are overspending on waste expenses

You’re likely doing at least one of these.

1.How hauler contracts make you overpay on waste disposal: Part 1

Spoiler alert: it’s not always just your rate stipulations.

Bonus: The most watched video on our site? Our Unique Business Model!

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What would you like to hear about this next year? I value your comments! Let me know what’s on your mind in the section below.

Retirement Group Saves 22% Annually on Waste Disposal Expenses

Imagine being able to save your company $25,000. Actually, scratch that. Imagine being able to save your company a total of $100,000 over four years. You’d feel pretty good about that, right?

Rhonda Cummons, the controller of Presbyterian Homes, did exactly that. She wanted to solve her waste problems and save, so she reached out to us. As a result, she is saving 22% annually on her waste expenses.

Rhonda had three keys to success:

1. She agreed to a detailed audit

WCI audits are exhaustive - we leave no rock unturned. In the end, Presbyterian knew not only where they were overspending, but what actions they could take to quickly remedy it.

2. She approved our recommendations

Our thorough audit process revealed that Presbyterian Homes was overspending was by being over-serviced. We showed Rhonda how much she could save by cutting back on pick-up frequency, then we negotiated the change with the hauler. 70% of our clients’ sites are being serviced too frequently, so this is not an uncommon finding for us.

3. She approved contract changes.

Like most other companies out there, Presbyterian was paying ancillary fees - and they didn’t have to. After walking Rhonda through the contract process, we eliminated every additional fee on their contract. Going forward, our contract oversight will ensure that fair rates are maintained and that service issues are quickly resolved.

Maybe you’re like Presbyterian Homes. 

Maybe you feel you should look into your waste spend, but you just don’t have the time. 

Maybe you’re tired of ineffective haulers who you can never reach in an emergency. 

Maybe you don’t know where to begin to review your real waste needs.

Get expertise on your side. Schedule a free consult today and see how easy it is for you to save.