How to Fix Waste Disposal Service Contracts

We find that most of our clients initially don’t have waste hauler contracts that maximize savings. For most of them, their sites are being serviced too frequently. Some are paying top dollar for low-quality service. For others, their rates rise several times a year. If you don’t have a contract that prevents these problems, you’ll overpay - and most companies do.

Knowing the difference between an efficient contract and a poor one will affect your bottom line. This article will give you the tools to evaluate the quality of your contract.

We’ll discuss:

1. What is a waste hauler contract?

2. How is my contract costing me?

3. Waste contract solutions

The more you know about the potential pitfalls of your contract, the more aware you’ll be of savings opportunities that can save you thousands on your annual waste and recycling spend.

What exactly is a waste hauler contract?

A waste or recycling hauler contract is a service agreement between you and your chosen vendor to provide waste and recycling service at a location or at multiple locations. You agree to pay them at a particular rate for a 3 or 5 year term, and they will pickup and dispose of any waste and recycling onsite.

99% of haulers will not do business with you unless there is a contract in place. Larger vendors like Republic Services and Waste Management will always require a contract in order to provide service. Some regional providers will operate on a gentleman’s agreement, but this is rare.

The agreement itself is typically short - only 2 or 3 pages. The first page specifies your billing and service information, pricing, and any special terms of the agreement. The second page usually states the contract terms, any auto-renewal language, and other service information.

Below, you can see an example of a contract one of our clients had with Waste Management. It includes an automatic renewal clause that made it more difficult for them to get better pricing from other vendors (this section is in the black square).

Should I sign a waste hauler contract?

You almost certainly need a waste hauler contract for; but you need to ensure you have a good one!

Most of the contracts we’ve seen in the 18 years we’ve been in business favor the hauler, not you, their client. They can raise prices at their discretion, and there is no language limiting service issues. As a result, some of our clients have overpaid by 50% on their waste expenses.

You should only sign waste and recycling contracts that:

• Limit price spikes

• Have no auto renewal clauses

• Include the correct service levels

• Have an unresolved service clause

• Reduce or eliminate ancillary fees.

Not sure if your current hauler contracts meet this criteria? Fill out the form below to download our free Waste Hauler Contract Scorecard today and find out!

How Your Waste Contract is Costing You

We’ve mentioned a few ways most companies overspend. In this section, we’ll look at the specific ways most companies are overspending, and how this typically happens.

Through no fault of their own, most companies have terrible hauler contracts. You don’t know what you don’t know - and most companies just don’t know!

All terrible hauler contracts have at least one of the following problems:

1. They do not preclude price spikes 

2. They have inaccurate service levels

3. They charge you for additional fees

4. They make it nearly impossible to cancel 

5. They have no provisions for bad service

If your contract includes even one of these items, it’s not a question of if you’re overpaying, but by how much.

Waste Hauler Contract Solutions

In the past 18 years we’ve been in business, our contract solutions have found consistent cost-cutting solutions. We save 90% of the companies we partner with 20-40% annually on their waste savings. Can you afford not to have us evaluate your contract?

In the sections below, we will discuss:

• Our proven audit solutions

• Customer success stories

• Our partnership process and pricing

Don’t leave your savings to chance. Below, we’ll show you how people nationwide have had tremendous results using our thorough audit services.

Our Proven Audit Solutions

Our audits find savings conveniently and consistently. If you’re like 90% of companies nationwide, your waste contracts are the primary reasons you’re overspending on waste and recycling.

And to get any new contracts right - or to renegotiate old ones - we know we have to every pertinent detail about every waste and recycling stream at every location.

Fortunately, we can do that remotely, and with inconvenience to your staff being kept to an absolute minimum.

To begin our audit, we request several key documents for each location in your portfolio:

• Copies of current trash hauler contracts

• Copies of the most recent invoice

• A list of every location under review

The majority of our clients can assemble this information in just a few hours. Then, we take 60-90 day to thoroughly evaluate your current waste management process and find where your problems are.

We use google maps and google earth to look at the location of dumpsters on your property. The documentation you give usually tells us everything we need. Your current service agreement tells us about your terms, pricing, and auto-renewal clauses. Your historic invoices show us the hauler’s record of service levels, equipment, rates, and fees. 

Right off the bat, our analysts 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. Does your site really need to be serviced twice a week? Or is bi-weekly service actually ideal? We’ll also ask your site managers questions about your customer service experience. Your hauler may have great rates, but misses pick-up frequently - and doesn’t give billing credit. This is vital information, and we take it into account when we review your portfolio. 

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 exempt. We’ll also look for language that prohibits auto-renewals, and limits price increases to a certain percentage. 

Then, we’ll find other pricing options. We keep records of nationwide haulers, and we know equitable rates when we see them. Some of our clients profit from switching waste haulers, but for others, we renegotiate existing contracts for better rates. Our post-audit analysis will make it clear which option is more financially sound for you.

We make sure you don’t leave any savings opportunities on the table - which is why we have a success rate of over 90%. Read more about how our clients feel about their new found savings.

An exhaustive audit is possible with this solutions-oriented approach. Our clients know our audits are thorough and our process works - and they save big.

We Already Have a Waste Contract: Can You Still Help?

Every decision we make in our evaluation process is about what the the data shows us and how much savings you can gain as a result. We evaluate your locations, your invoice history, and all vendor options to determine what makes the most financial sense to you.

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

For the majority of our clients, we are able to renegotiate the terms of their contract with their current vendor. Most of the time, they don’t even switch vendors!

Our analysis process makes it clear whether you should renegotiate your current contract or get a new one with a different garbage or waste vendor. In both cases, we handle all negotiations and transitions on your behalf.

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

 A free consultation, or a Discovery Call, is the first step towards finding savings and peace of mind.

It’s a quick, no-obligation consult where a WCI representative will ask you questions about your current waste management system. It’s easy and informal; a time for you to ask whatever questions are on your mind and for us to learn more about your unique needs.

We typically cover these questions in a Discovery Call:

1. How much do you spend on waste and recycling? (We are able to bring the most value to the table for companies who spend a total of more than $10,000 each month) 

2. How many locations are in your portfolio?

3. How many waste streams do you currently have?

4. What problems are you currently experiencing with your waste hauler?

5. 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. This call is the best way to find out if we may be a good fit for your needs.

If there was a possibility that a 15 minute phone call could save you over $100,000 each year, would you make time for it?

Anita Huffman, the Corporate Finance Director at TWE Smart Nonwoven Solutions, did. As a result, her company will save $300,000 in the next three years.

She told us, “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!

90% of companies nationwide are overspending on their waste and recycling expenses. Stop being one of them.

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 total in waste and recycling each month.

• 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.  We provide the solutions you can’t afford not to have.

"How much will an auto-renewal clause cost me?"

Having an automatic term renewal clause in your contract can cost you thousands of dollars.

Suppose you have a location in Memphis, TN with a five year waste disposal and recycling contract. Let’s say your vendor’s service record has been mediocre, and their rates have just risen for a second time in a year (a common waste problem). The site manager has a vague idea that their contract may be expiring soon, but they are too busy to realize that they are already outside the window of time that would allow for termination.

As a result, they can’t find better pricing. They won’t ever know that they could have saved $1000 a month at that one location. They won’t ever know that there was another hauler just down the street with a better service record and more ideal service rates. And your company will have missed out on a $12,000 annual savings opportunity because no one knew about the automatic contract renewal, and no one was keeping track of the contract expiration date.

Instead, you’ll be stuck with your current contract that will likely allow rate hikes and require too many pick-ups. And you’ll be locked in for up to five years. (We limit our contract terms to three years so that we can review pricing options sooner.)

Eradicating the autorenewal clause on your contract can save you thousands of dollars. A professional waste audit and contract review will find every savings opportunity available to you. Can you afford not to have one?

We Track Waste Hauler Contract Specifics

Most hauler contracts are extremely difficult to exit. You are required to send a certified letter - not an email - within a very specific time frame, usually 60-180 days before your contract automatically renews. If your letter arrives one day early, or when day late, your contract will automatically renew for an additional term. This means that you won’t have the chance to find better pricing for another year, or several years (depending on your contract specifics).

This is exactly why we track contract expiration dates and will continually find better pricing options for you during our partnership.

As a waste ally, we help companies take advantage of every savings opportunity available to them. We know how to find the best pricing and the best service providers because we’ve worked with many of them for years. We cancel all automatic renewal clauses because it gives us time to ensure you’re paying the very best rates.

And if no better pricing is available, we will let the contract run month to month. This means that the pricing under your current contract will stay the same, you’ll just be able to get new service in a quicker time frame if good pricing becomes available.

For our clients, we revisit these locations annual to see if better pricing as become available, then coordinate with you as necessary.

Is your contract costing you? Find out for sure.

Fill out the form below, and we’ll immediately send you the free Waste Hauler Scorecard!

Everything You Need to Know About Valet Trash Services

You’re overpaying on your waste by 20-40%, and you don’t have to. In the 18 years we’ve been in business, we’ve found savings for multifamily complexes over 90% of the time. Translation? You’re likely sitting on thousands of dollars worth of savings.

This article will show you how exactly you’re overspending, and how you can start saving. We’ll go over:

• What are valet services?

• How you’re overpaying on them

• How to stop overpaying

The more you know about your hidden valet problems, the better equipped you’ll be to find cost-cutting solutions.

What is Trash Valet Service?

Valet services are doorstep trash pick-up. Residents in a multi-family complex leave their trash in a receptacle outside their door, and a valet employee removes and disposes of it. 

Different locations will have different frequency needs. Some will only offer valet waste once a week; others offer it every day during the week. 

Most vendors will service your location at night so that your residents aren’t disturbed - and so they have time to place their trash outside their door.  

These services have become increasingly popular in the last decade. Taking the trash out isn’t something most people enjoy, so valet services are a valuable added amenity for residents.

How You’re Overcharged for Valet Waste Services

When we complete a waste audit for a multifamily complex, we find the answers to these questions about their valet waste services:

• Are their contract terms longer than three years?

• Are there price caps on the contract?

• Are there no provisions for poor service?

• Does the base rate include additional fees?

• Is pricing unprotected for the first year of the contract?

• Are there other vendors that could provide less expensive service?

• Does the current vendor provide unreliable service?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you’re likely overpaying on your waste services. Below, we’ll go over how in detail.

Valet Waste Disposal Contract Terms

If your terms are longer than three years, you have fewer opportunities to review other area pricing. We limit all client contracts to three years instead of the more typical length of five years. Suppose you’re paying $12 per door for five days a week service on a unit with 100 doors. That means that each week, you’re paying a base rate of $1200, or $4800 every month. Over the course of a five-year contract, you’ll pay $288,000.

But suppose you have a three year contract, and you partner with us right before that contract ends. The first thing we would do is terminate the auto-renewal clause, which lets us keep your current provider while looking for better pricing options in your area. Then, we’d get a few bids from service providers. Let’s assume we find one that provides a rate of two dollars less per door - $10. For the three year contract with the cheaper vendor, you’ll pay $144,000, or $4000 each month.

If you were stuck in a five year contract and not able to sign a new three-year contract with the new vendor, you’d overpay by $115,200! In other words, you’d be stuck at the rate of $4800 every month. And instead of being able to switch to the new provider, you’d be forced to pay $57, 600 each year for an additional two years!

The bottom line? Shorter term on contracts means we have more opportunities to find savings. It gives us the chance to make sure your rates are equitable, and it minimizes your odds of overpaying. (This is also true for your waste contracts as well!)

Are there price caps on the contract?

Providers often overcharge you because they can. Many multi-family management companies don’t evaluate the valet invoices they receive, or they just don’t know how to ensure their contract is in their best interest. 

Rates can increase as much as 1-2 times a year! Every so often, you’ll see an uptick in the rates listed on your invoice. It can be as little as 5%, but it can also be much more. But even a 5% increase compacts over time! If you’re charged an extra $20 each month during a five year contract, you’ll overpay by $1200!

We recently worked with a multifamily developer/manager who offered valet services at their properties.  The WCI Project Manager noticed that the price per unit seemed to be awfully high. We were able to introduce a new vendor who was able to save them $28,800 every year at just 3 properties!  

We offer valet service audits as part of our complete waste audit. Read more about these thorough audits here!

Are there no provisions for poor service?

If your valet services suddenly start missing days of service, you need recourse. There must be consequences in place in your contract if your provider consistently does not provide quality service.

If you don’t have a provision for poor service in your service agreement, you’re leaving yourself open to persistently unresolved issues. You need to know that if your provider consistently misses entire floors or forgets to run the compactor, you can terminate the contract with no penalty. If you don’t have this clause, you’ll likely have to pay a contract buyout in order to end the contract, which usually entails paying several thousands of dollars.

Having this provision in your contract will save you this buyout fee, so it’s absolutely critical to have it.

Does the base rate include additional fees?

Many service providers will tack on additional fees that have little or nothing to do with the actual cost of service. If your contract doesn’t specify that these fees are prohibited, they can charge you for them.

Some additional fees might include an administrative fee, or an overage fee.

Is pricing unprotected for the first year of the contract?

This is another way to protect you and your residents from unexpected price hikes. You can dictate when and by how much the vendor can increase prices.

We expect that service rates will rise over time, but we also know vendor’s proclivity to raise prices as they see fit. As a result, we will ensure our clients’ base rate stays the same for the first 12 months of a contract and is then capped at a certain percentage for years two and three. This allows our clients to budget with incredible accuracy. You’ll know when to expect price increases and by how much every year.

Are there other vendors that could provide less expensive service?

If your rates are too high, you may be getting overpriced services. You could likely be getting the same services for less - in some cases, much less! When we recommend switching valet services, we calculate your contract buyout fee versus the amount you’ll save with a cheaper service. 

Because we’ve been in the waste industry so long, we have relationship capital with vendors who price their service fairly and provide high-quality service. We know who the best service choice will be based on your location and your unique needs. We do all the heavy lifting of getting bids and evaluate option - and not just during your initial contract bid. We do this repeatedly, prior to every valet contract’s expiration. So we know for sure that you’re always getting the very best pricing available to you. Not just right now, but for the duration of your partnership with us.

Does the current vendor provide unreliable service?

If your current vendor is truly awful, their services are not worth your time or money. If they have great rates, but their porters consistently “forgets” to service entire buildings, that’s a problem. If they repeatedly leave a trail of garbage down the halls, that’s also unacceptable. (Both of these things have happened to our clients). When these issues happen time and time again, you’re effectively overpaying your vendor because you’re paying them twice. First, you’re paying them for their sub-par services. But you’re also paying your staff to handle the steady stream of complaints this vendor is eliciting. No company’s service is worth that.

As industry experts, we take over all service issues on behalf of our clients. We document as need be and get resolution for each and every issue that arises. We often prove to be much more effective advocates because of our industry knowledge. We know who to talk to, and how to hold vendors accountable to contract specifics. With us, service issues are one less thing for you and your staff to worry about.

How to Reduce Valet Service Expenses

Simply put: without professional oversight of your waste management, you’ll likely overspend. But you don’t have to. Our clients have found reliable solutions and consistent savings after partnering with us, and you can too.

You need a waste ally to proactively prevent valet issues and overspending and protect your savings. 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 may have the most expensive service provider in town, and you may be locked into a contract that has truly terrible terms. Can you afford not to know for sure how much you’re overpaying?

Sign up for a free consultation to talk about your options!

"How to Get a New Waste Hauler Contract"

You may need to get a new waste hauler contract if you have found a new vendor with significantly better rates and are willing to pay the old vendor’s contract termination fee. Or, maybe your current vendor has breached their current contract due to repeated service issues. Or, your old contract may have expired and you want to get a new hauler with a better service record. Whatever the reason is, a new vendor will take over services for the previous one.

Getting a new hauler can seem like a daunting process, but these step-by-step instructions below will show you exactly what to do. 

You’ll need to:

• Cancel your auto-renewal clause

• Make a list of questions for potential haulers

• Compare bids

• Set up a new contract

• Let your current hauler know you are terminating service (if applicable and only after determining that there are other waste hauler options in your area). 

A reliable hauler who offers fair pricing will prevent a lot of future waste issues. Conducting a careful search will help you find a vendor that is right for you - and does their job well. 

Cancel your auto-renewal clause.

Cancelling this clause will give you the time you need to find new service and get a new contract in place. If you don’t cancel this clause, your contract will almost certainly renew with your current terms. This is likely not ideal because your current contract probably guarantees you’ll overspend on your waste expenses. Most contracts don’t have clauses that limit price hikes, or ancillary fees. And they don’t typically include service provisions and term limits of 3 years. Having these specifics ensures you maximize your savings opportunities.

Ask Potential Waste Hauler Thorough Questions

Before you do anything else, make a list of everything that bothers you about your current waste management situation. 

Do you want someone who will promptly pick up your trash? Want a contract that precludes price spikes? Whatever concerns you have, you want to make sure that they don’t become a part of your new contract going forward. 

Once you have a list, you can then ask potential haulers what their approach is to each of the issues you have. Whoever you partner with will need to be willing to listen to your needs and act accordingly. 

Compare Waste Hauler Bids

To find other area haulers, try googling “waste haulers near me.” Contact them and ask them to provide bids for servicing your locations. You’ll need to tell them:

• The number of locations you have

• The types of equipment at each site and their size 

• How frequently each site and equipment should get serviced

Most waste sales representatives will get back to you with estimates in under a week. 

Alternatively, you can also ask other businesses or companies in your area for recommendations. Since waste haulers can have spotty service records, it’s a really good practice to employ someone you know who has a good service record. 

You’ll want to go over your list of service issues or questions with the haulers and see what their responses are. Some may be a bit cagey about their service reliability. Others may not care to limit their price hikes. Asking questions will root out the bad apples.

Pick the Vendor that is Right for You

The more bids you have, the more you can compare services and find the one that’s right for you. You’ll obviously compare prices, but you’ll also need to compare service levels. You don’t want to go with the cheapest option if they have an awful service record!

Let the best vendor know that you’d like to employ them starting on a specific date.  Make sure to coordinate your waste schedule with your old and new waste vendors so that you don’t have a service gap! 

Your new vendor will then send you a new contract. Look over it carefully - does it include all the language it needs to? Does it prohibit price hikes or cap them at a specified, annual percentage? Does it eliminate or cap ancillary fees?

Since you have at least one other bid from an area hauler, you have a pretty good idea of the market rates for waste services. You can use this information transparently with the hauler you’re negotiating with. 

Suppose, for instance, that you’ve selected a hauler whom you know has a great service record but whose prices are a little steep. Let them know that another area vendor has underbid them and see if they would be willing to reduce their rates. 

The hauler’s aren’t guaranteed your business until the new contract is signed, and you can go elsewhere, if necessary. So they have incentive to work with you!

You may not have success every time you try, but it never hurts to ask.

Only after you have a new contract in place should you let the other vendors/bidders know that their services won’t be needed.  

Terminate the Old Service Provider

After you have found a service provider, you will need to terminate as previously described per your contract specifications. Usually, you will need to send a certified letter to them informing them that you are terminating the contract and that they will need to remove their equipment by a certain date. 

You may have to pay a termination fee (something you can find out more about on your contract), so be prepared for that in advance. 

A typical termination fee (for prior to expiration) is the average of the most recent 6 invoices X 6. So if you pay $1000 a month, you’ll owe your hauler $6000. This may sound like a lot but for many companies, this is actually the less expensive option in the long run. 

Most contracts require that you give 90-180 days notice if the standard clause is intact. Read your contract carefully to make sure that your termination notice falls within the required time allotment.

And most haulers require notice be given via certified mail and return receipt. So a simple email just isn’t going to cut it, unfortunately. 

Want to know the exact language to put in a new waste hauler contract or service agreement? Fill in your info below, and we’ll send one your way.

Learn more about how you’re overpaying on waste! Sign up for our on-demand webinar “The 7 Ways You’re Making Your Waste Hauler Rich”

How to Renew Your Waste Hauler Contract

You should only renew your contract if you meet both of the following criteria. First, your contract may be about to expire. Most hauler contracts have a length of five years, then they automatically renew for another term. Most terms are a minimum of one year, but some contracts will renew for another five year term. If you find yourself in the window of time prior to your contract renewing, you’re in luck! You have the freedom to evaluate whether there is better pricing or better service to be had.

Ensure your contract has these specifications, and you’ll maximize your savings opportunities. Want to know exactly which clauses you should include in your contract? Just give us your email address in the box below and we’ll send you a free PDF of our “Waste Contract Scorecard!”

Second, you need to know for sure that your hauler has the best available pricing. You need to know that you are receiving the best price and the best service.

In this article, we will thoroughly examine the steps to renewing your waste hauler contract with your current vendor. (Looking to get a new contract?)

To get a new waste hauler contract with your current vendor, you’ll need to:

1. Cancel your auto-renewal clause.

2. Reach out to your sales accountant.

3. Create a new contract.

In the next article, we’ll look at how to the next step of renegotiating your contract.

Carefully completing these steps will set you up for current savings and future opportunities.

Prior to Renewing a Waste Hauler Contract

Before you get a new contract with your current hauler, ask yourself these questions:

• Do I know for sure that no better pricing is available from other area haulers?

• Am I satisfied with the current vendor’s service record?

• Is the current hauler easy to work with?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, now is not the time to renew your contract! You need to know for sure that your current hauler is actually the best option for you.

Cancel your auto-renewal clause.

Cancelling this clause will give you the time you need to create a new contract. If you don’t cancel this clause, your contract will almost certainly renew with your current terms. This is likely not ideal because your current contract probably guarantees you’ll overspend on your waste expenses. Most contracts don’t have clauses that limit price hikes, or ancillary fees. And they don’t typically include service provisions and term limits of 3 years. Have these specifics ensures you maximize your savings opportunities.

To make sure these clauses make it into your contract, you must cancel the auto-renewal clause so you have time to draw up a new one.

Reach out to your account manager.

You must also reach out to your account manager to let them know that you are creating a new contract with additional specifications and that you are cancelling the auto-renewal clause.

In our experience, it can be difficult to get in touch with your account manager. You may need to call the general customer service line to get in touch with them; they may not have a direct line (you may rightly be suspicious as to why that is). You will also want to follow up with an email that details what you are going to do. It is always critical to have this information in writing, so that if anything is later called into question you can point to your documentation.

Some account managers are not going to be pleased since they know your specifications will likely cut into possible profits. In the event that you encounter resistance, you may need to remind your hauler that you want to agree on a contract that is mutually beneficial - not just one sided. Assure them that they will still retain your business as long as the pricing is comparable to area service rates and quality of service remains high.

Set up a new waste contract.

In almost every contract we negotiate, we try to have the following clauses in the contract.

1. Language limiting price spikes. This is by far the biggest way you’ll save. Depending on which hauler you employ, they may agree to limiting raises in your rates to one or two a year, and capped by a certain percentage. It may require a bit of haggling, but in the long run this contract specification will can easily save you thousands of dollars at one location. Read more about contract problems and solutions here.

2. No auto renewal clause. Eradicating this clause will give you the time you need to evaluate the very best pricing and service options for your waste disposal needs. It gives you the freedom to review and change contract specifications before the same old (often expensive) stipulations automatically renew.

3. A service provision. If you’ve ever had service issues at any one of your sites, you probably understand why this clause is so critical. If your hauler fails to perform, you need an easy out of your contract.

4. Short terms. We highly recommend getting three year contract terms instead of five year terms. You need the freedom to review your market waste disposal options as frequently as possible so that you can take advantage of better pricing. Shorter terms allow you to do just that, thus saving you money.

5. Limited or eliminated ancillary clauses. There’s no law saying that fees have to appear on your invoices. We prefer to have them included in the rate since your base rates are hopefully already capped. It’s really hard for your hauler to bump up your fuel charge if your contract prohibits you from having one.

Should I conduct a basic waste review? Pt 2

Below, we’ve distilled our audit process into just a few easy to follow steps that you can use to find savings at one or more of the locations in your portfolio. Let’s go over when and how you should conduct a review.

But first, find out for sure if you’re overspending. You can know for sure whether you’re overspending in two minutes by taking this quiz. It’s the quickest, fastest way to find out if you’re overspending.

90% of companies are overspending on waste, so it’s likely you’re one of them.

Conduct a Basic Waste Review when you’re overspending.

How many of these items in the list below has happened at one of your locations in the past six months?

• Your hauler repeatedly misses pick-ups 

• Hauler prices rise more than twice a year

• Your hauler is impossible to get a hold of

These are all signs that something is wrong.

Sure, you can keep going with the status quo, but at what cost? Consider all the costs involved - emotional and time, as well as financial. Does your staff like spending 45 minutes on hold to resolve a disposal issue? Can you afford price hikes over the term of your contract? Is it worth it to continue having these problems or ones like them?

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You can save 10-30% on your waste and recycling expenses!

If you're like most people, you probably suspect you're paying too much for waste and recycling services.

But you don't have the time or the expertise to properly and thoroughly review your waste expenses.

The Waste Review Blueprint will show you how to review your waste expenses quickly and efficiently. We break down the review process our team has honed over the past 18 years - the same process that's repeatedly found 10-30% reduction of waste expenses for our clients.

How much savings could you be sitting on?

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Complete an audit if you want to save.

90% of companies are sitting on waste expense savings, so there’s a good chance you’re one of them. If you haven’t thoroughly reviewed your waste expenses, contracts, and processes in the past year, you likely have some savings opportunities available to you.

To complete a review you’ll need to:

• Know what to evaluate

• Assemble a team

• Create a timeline for completion

We’ll show you how to do each of these in the steps below.

Thoroughly evaluate every aspect of your waste processes

You can’t fix problems you don’t know about. To make sure no savings opportunity is missed, you’ll want to do this basic audit as part of the larger waste review process. 

For those who want to do a Basic Waste Audit, we’ve outline a simple yet effective audit process below. This audit evaluates two of the biggest ways most companies overspend on their waste haulers: equipment and service levels. 

You can use the steps below to evaluate whether the service levels you’re getting are really what you need. At the end of the audit, you’ll know if you have an equipment problem, and you’ll know if your haulers are servicing your site as often as is stipulated in your contract. 

There are seven steps to a basic audit:

1. Review your contract(s). How often should your location be getting serviced? 

2. Make a list of all equipment that receives service. 

3. Pick a time to conduct the audit. (Try to avoid holidays)

4. For four weeks, at the same time each day, take pictures of the fill status of your dumpsters, toters, or compactors on all of your sites

5. Record this information in a google sheet that all parties can have access to, and upload the pictures to a shared drive, sorted by location

6. Evaluate information

7. Plan next steps

After four weeks have passed, review all of the information and pictures you have for each of your location sites. If you have the invoices for that month, take a look at those as well. 

Ask yourself two key questions:

• How often were my garbage containers or dumpsters completely full?

• How often were pick-ups missed?

If your containers weren’t completely full, you can consider making a few changes. Maybe you need smaller equipment. Maybe you need fewer pick-ups during the week. Maybe you need both! 

And if pick-ups were missed, you may need to do some follow-up work. Were pick-ups frequently missed prior to this four week period? Is there a solid history of this hauler completely bagging out? 

In either case, this audit will give you the information you need to evaluate if your service levels are really what you need. 

If you want to go one additional step,  you can also get other bids from area haulers. There is most likely another hauler near you who can provide the right service levels at the right price point. This will give you another valuable piece of information as you evaluate your waste management process. 

Basic Waste Audits Help Solve Waste Problems

Knowing exactly what the problem is is the first step towards finding a solution.

A basic audit gets at the heart of the two biggest problems in most company’s waste management: equipment and service levels. By evaluating both of these in one full swoop, you can find savings opportunities - and relief from repeated hauler issues. 

"How do I Renegotiate my Waste Hauler Contract?"

Prior to a renegotiation, you need to:

• Know what a good contract has in it, 

• Evaluate your own contract, 

• Decide what you want to change, 

• Know what market rates for services are. 

Set yourself up for success, and spend some time gathering some critical waste disposal information. 

See all of our resources on how to stop overspending!

Before you Begin the Renegotiation Process

You’ll need to know what your current contract length is. If your contract is a almost up, consider including some service or pricing addendum in the next contract. It’s much easier to negotiate a renewing contract than a current one. (This is also why those of you with month-to-month contracts actually have the best shot at renegotiating!)

And it’s also important to keep in mind that it’s incredibly difficult to renegotiate a contract that has quite a bit of time left in it. It’s not impossible, but it’s not something that we recommend doing. Haulers are simply not as likely to agree to new terms simply because you want them - there has to be some benefit in it for them as well. And since you’ve already signed a contract with them, they know they can just tell you “no” and go on their merry way. 

However, if your contract is about to expire, you have some leverage. The haulers know that if they don’t give you at least some of what you want, you’ll likely switch to a different provider. So they have incentive to bend a little more than they would otherwise. 

Determine if your contract is month to month. If it is you have more leverage and should get pricing from 1-2 other waste haulers if possible to determine the market pricing in your area.

Know What a Good Contract Looks Like

Most people don’t really know what a good contract includes. A good contract is one that has terms that are fair to the client as well as the hauler. 

Good contracts:

• Limit price spikes

• Has accurate service levels

• Limits ancillary fees

• Is easy to cancel

• Has provisions for poor service

A contract that includes these things will actually prevent waste headaches before they start. If you have a haulers who keeps missing pick-ups, you’ll already have a penalty in place. If a hauler tries to raise prices above a certain percentage, you can point to your contract and kindly say, “Not today, amigo.”

In short, you’ll have immediate recourse for when things do go wrong. 

Download our free Waste Hauler Scorecard!

Know What You Want to Change About Your Current Contract

Make a list of things you want to change about your current contract. Some of these things may include:

• Service levels (the number of pick-ups made by the hauler per week)

• Term (the length of the contract)

• Price Increase Caps - language that limits or eradicates price hikes

• Fee Caps - language that limits or eliminates ancillary fees.

• Auto-renewal - cancelling your auto renewal puts you in the driver’s seat when it comes to whom you entrust your waste disposal.

Now, prioritize that list. You have to be prepared to not get everything you want - especially if you’re trying to renegotiate in the middle of a term. Having clear top priorities will help you let smaller issues go, if need be. 

Know the Waste Market Prices

Even if you’re not intending to switch haulers, it can be exceedingly helpful to have a few bids from other area haulers. Some bids may be higher than your current service fees, but some are bound to be lower. 

Knowing waste market prices will give you an additional bargaining chip. Unfortunately, a lot of times haulers are banking that you don’t know what other haulers charge. If you’re blind, you’re more likely to accept the prices they’re charging you. 

But if you know market prices, you’ll have a pretty good idea about what’s fair and, well, what isn’t. 

If you know what you don’t like about your contract, what a good contract includes, and what area haulers charge, you’ll be well armed to renegotiate your contract. 

Renegotiating Your Contract Is a Critical Part of Your Waste Expense Reduction Strategy

Your contract can play a huge part in protecting you and your bottom line from waste expense increases. Renegotiating your contract can be time consuming, but you’ll reap the benefits for years to come. 

Ignoring waste problems don’t make them go away, unfortunately. Strategizing about how to stop overspending on your waste disposal and coming up with a plan of attack can yield surprising savings - and peace of mind!

Take a step towards savings: schedule a free consult today.

Do waste audits really find savings?

If you’re spending more than $10,000 a month on waste, we can likely help you save 10-35% on your annual waste and recycling spend. For some companies it will be a little less, for others, it will be more.

The actual percentage you save depends of course on the amount you’re currently spending on waste expenses.

Take Tad Dolbier, for instance. He had a gross savings of $6800 each month in savings. Scott Alderman of Landura Management (multi-family management) is saving a total of $116,000 every year. We’ve found millions of dollars in savings for our clients - how much are you sitting on?

And Lisa Russell of Ardmore? Click the video below to find out how much she saved!

Why is the average savings percentage so dependable? 

We know these percentages are reliable because it’s the average amount of savings companies have saved with us for the past 18 years. We’ve become experts in finding the gaps in your current waste management process. We know where to find your biggest hidden savings opportunities, and we know how to fix them.

Click the presentation below to see how much just a few of our clients have saved! (You can also download this file here.)

What if you don’t find any savings? 

On the rare occasion we find no savings, you don’t owe us a dime. When this happens, you get a free audit and the assurance that you’re managing your waste costs efficiently. You will only pay us when we find and implement precise solutions for you. 

Our services are guaranteed to be cash-flow positive. You only pay us out of the savings we find for you, so our services are not an added expense.

Our business model is unique, and we believe that it is one that is in your best interest. You take on zero risk to see if you are one of the 90% of companies nationwide who can stand to cut their waste expenses by 10-35%. Your odds are better than good that you’ll save - in fact, they’re great.

Schedule a free consult now!

What We Don't Do - Part 2

As waste consultants, our process is different from waste haulers or waste brokers. We believe we’ve created an audit and savings process that puts your interests first.

We don’t:

• “Estimate” your waste needs.

• Leave your savings unprotected.

• Perform waste services. 

Why? Because they are not ultimately in line with your interests. As a third-party auditor, it’s our responsibility not only to find the savings you’re sitting on, but to prevent future waste and recycling issues. Doing any one of these interferes with both of these objectives. It’s our goal to protect your interests - not undercut them.

We don’t “estimate” your waste disposal and recycling 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 that benefit your bottom line immediately or longterm. We may also adjust your service levels so they’re efficient. When the changes have been made and all transitions are complete, the savings show up on your invoices. Typically, we are able to decrease your annual waste and recycling spend by 10-35%.

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.

Haulers are rarely held accountable. As a result, you’ll likely have price hikes several times a year, and you’ll pay ridiculous ancillary fees, and you’ll have very little recourse when pick-ups are consistently missed.

This isn’t sustainable. So we provide the much-needed accountability haulers need to charge you fairly. We ensure our hauler contracts prohibit or cap price spikes, auto-renewal clauses, and terms longer than 3 years - among other specifications. So if your hauler raises prices, we can point to the contract provisions and insist on billing credits. Our contracts allow us to hold your haulers accountable for their billing practices and service quality.

We’re invested in protecting your savings.

We audit your waste 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. 

Both of these on-going services protect your time. As waste experts, we are efficient billing auditors because we know where to look for mistakes - and how to get billing credits when necessary. Likewise, we resolve service issues for you. Here are some service issues that we’ve taken care of for our clients in the past few months:

• Moving the waste and recycling dumpster to the corral from the parking lot

• Increasing pick-up due to higher trash production

• Coordinating the transition of a new hauler

• Calling and sending reminders to a hauler who would consistently “forget” to service a compactor.

Most service issues aren’t particularly difficult or challenging, they just take time. We ease this burden for your staff, who almost always have other priorities to attend to.

Every so often, we have a major service issue that needs resolution. Earlier last year, a client in North Carolina had a valet vendor that had multiple service failures. They kept losing the compactor key and forgot to service entire floors. They also dragged garbage through the hallways, leaving unsightly smells and trails of garbage residue. At our request, the company gave our client a refund, which was the right thing to do. But the situation didn’t end there.

The issues didn’t stop, and after several turnovers of valet porters, we knew we had to terminate service. We had included a service provision clause for this express purpose. If your vendors consistently don’t perform, you need to be able to exit the contract without paying any kind of fee. Because we were looking out for our client, this clause was included in their contract.

In the end, this client terminated without penalty and had a new provider with a better track record of performance by the end of the week.

We have the time and expertise to find and fight billing errors and to permanently resolve waste, recycling, and valet service issues.

We don’t perform waste services 

We are waste and recycling solutions providers - auditors. We are experts in waste streams and invoice analysis, but we are not waste haulers.

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. 

We pride ourselves on being independent, third-party auditors. This allows us to objectively look at your waste streams and find solutions that will yield savings. If we were haulers, we wouldn’t have the incentive to find solutions that would reduce your waste expenses - ultimately costing haulers revenue in the process.

Because we’re not haulers, we aren’t paid based on how frequently we service your site or how many pieces of waste equipment you’re renting from us. We aren’t monetarily incentivized to over-service the locations in your portfolio. We’re paid based on the actual savings we provide for you.

Our waste and recycling audit services protect your interests.

We protect your time and your bottom line.

To provide you the very best service, we are thorough, we monitor hauler’s invoices and resolve service issues, and we remain an independent voice in the waste industry.

Learn more about what we do - and why our audits have such a high success rate.

What We Don't Do - Part 1

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

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

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

This is why we don’t:

• Obscure our pricing.

• Pay vendor bills on your behalf.

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

We don’t obscure our pricing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

We don’t pay hauler invoices on your behalf.

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

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

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

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

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

Should I Conduct a Basic Waste Review? Part

If you’re like most companies, you have a 90% chance you could save 10-30% on your annual waste spend. 

This may sound high, but it’s the average amount that most companies save after our waste review. Below, you’ll learn what that review is and why you should consider doing your own. (In the next part of this series, we’ll look at when and how you should conduct a review.)

First, take the quiz!

You can know for sure whether you’re overspending in two minutes by taking this quiz. It’s the quickest, fastest way to find out if you’re overspending.

If you have any questions about how you may be overspending, click here for more information. Once you know for sure if you’re overspending, take a look at the sections below.

What is a Basic Waste Review?

A basic waste review is a thorough examination of every waste and recycling stream at every location in your portfolio to determine if there are savings opportunities.

The review itself analyzes your contracts, invoice history, equipment on site, actual service levels, and a waste hauler quality review. This process acts as a diagnosis. It evaluates every pertinent part of your waste and recycling streams in order to find where you’re currently overspending.

Many companies are overspending because:

• They have inefficient waste equipment

• They have inefficient service levels

• They have contracts that do not prohibit ancillary fees, price spikes, and auto-renewal clauses

Doing any one of these things means you will overspend. A basic waste review will help you know for sure if you’re overspending in any one of these areas.

A waste review can take one or several months

These reviews can take anywhere from one month to three months depending on how many locations you have. If you have complex waste streams, it can take more time. While this amount of time can seem daunting, it’s important to ask yourself two questions to help you gain perspective:

• Can I afford not to know if I’m overpaying?

• How likely is it that I’m overpaying?

If you’ve already done a recent review of your waste streams at your facilities you may not need to review your streams. But if this is something you’ve never done or if you’re constantly having waste issues, a review may be just what you need to protect your bottom line.

Doing a periodic waste review at your facilities ensures you are paying for services you actually need, at rates that are fair. It ensures that you do not continue to overspend, and will make your cost-cutting solutions clear. We recommend that companies revisit their waste and recycling streams yearly since usage trends and vendor availability can significantly change during that time.

Waste reviews are worth the investment because they consistently find savings.

We’ve found that companies in almost every industry can benefit from a waste audit. The following industries typically save 10-30% on their waste spend:

• Manufacturing

• Multifamily

• Hospitality and Restaurants

• Assisted Living and Hospitals

• Retail

• Grocery stores

Again, 90% of companies are sitting on savings - you don’t have to be one of them.

Imagine saving 10-35% on your monthly waste and recycling expenses. Imagine knowing that your current and future rates will always be fair, and that you have recourse when service issues arise. Imagine having the peace of mind knowing that you are not spending a penny more than you should for your waste expenses. 

With a waste expense review, you can find the savings you need and the peace of mind you want. 

"What is a waste ally, and why do I need one?"

A waste ally is a waste consultant who will provide cost-cutting solutions and prevent waste and recycling problems.

Here at Waste Consultants, we:

• Conduct thorough waste audits

• Find the waste and recycling solutions that are right for you.

• Show you your very best savings options based on our analysis.

• Show you specifically what changes we recommend making to your waste and recycling service levels, contracts, and equipment.

• Implement all changes on your behalf remotely and smoothly.

• Monitor the status of your contract expiration dates.

• Audit all waste and recycling invoices.

• Obtain billing credits as necessary.

• Resolve service issues on your behalf.

At the end of the day, our goal is to ensure you find the cost-cutting waste solutions you can’t afford not to have. You and your staff likely don’t have the time or expertise to find true, permanent waste solutions. Use our expertise to find savings solutions that are tailored to your needs, your geographical location, and your industry.

Why Do I Need a Waste Ally?

You need a waste ally because you’re likely overspending.

90% of our hundreds of clients in the past 18 years have been overspending by 10-35%. Some knew something was “off” in their waste invoices, others had tried various means of reducing expenses. But every one of them benefitted from our expertise - and the responsibilities we took off their plate.

You need a waste ally because:

• Your time is valuable. You and your staff are busy. You don’t need to be spending fruitless hours trying to solve waste issues. You have higher priorities than waste management.

• Your hauler contract is poor quality. Your contract likely allows for price hikes and auto-renewal of terms. It likely has no service provisions and the service levels it stipulates may not actually be efficient. (80% of our clients have been serviced by their waste and recycling hauler too frequently. How would you know if you are?)

• Your invoices have mistakes. We estimate that billing errors happen about 10% of the time in any given year. How many of these mistakes are your staff catching? Do they have spare time to spend on the phone with the hauler attempting to get credits?

• You need industry expertise. Even if you have the time and are catching those invoice mistakes, how can you know you’re not continuing to make expensive waste mistakes? We know how to find the best rates and the best haulers. We know how to hold them accountable. And we know how to find waste solutions that are tailored to your specific needs.

Does having a waste ally really work?

We routinely find 10-35% in savings for our clients. Take a look at a few of them below.

As industry experts, we know where to find the gaps in your current waste management process and provide permanent, cost cutting solutions.

Download a free copy of “4 Reasons You Need a Waste Ally” by clicking the button below.

What Happens on a 15-Minute Discovery Call

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

A free consultation, or a Discovery Call, is the first step towards finding savings. It’s a quick, no-obligation consult where a WCI representative will ask you questions about your current waste management system.

What a Discovery Call is

At the end of the call, you’ll learn more about what we do, how we do it, and whether you’re a candidate for our waste review process.

We typically cover these questions in a Discovery Call:

• How much do you spend on waste and recycling? (We are able to bring the most value to the table for companies who spend a total of 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 hauler?

• 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 are able to best service companies with substantial waste and recycling expenses and with several locations. If you have no interest in saving or in making your streams more efficient, we aren’t the company you’re looking for. This call is the perfect way to find out if we may be a good fit for your needs.

This call is easy and informal; a time for you to ask whatever questions are on your mind and for us to learn more about your unique needs.

Questions You Can Ask Us

Many clients ask questions about:

• Timeframe for possible completion

• Unique situations that could complicate an audit (current construction, properties that are for sale, etc.)

• Specific questions about how our audits occur

• How much initial time it takes for your staff to obtain audit documents

The discovery call is a great time to ask any questions you have about what the audit process could look like for your company and at the properties or locations in your portfolio.

Is 15 Minutes Worth Your Time?

If there was a possibility that a 15 minute phone call could save you over $100,000 each year, would you make time for it? 

Anita Huffman, the Corporate Finance Director at TWE Smart Nonwoven Solutions, did. As a result, her company will save $300,000 in the next three years.

She told us, “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.”

Anita took the first step toward her 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! 

90% of companies nationwide are overspending on their waste and recycling expenses. Stop being one of them.

Schedule a free consult today!

"Why do I need a service provision in my waste hauler contract"

You need a service provision in your contract so that if your vendor repeatedly fails to resolve an issue, you can terminate the contract with no penalty.

Waste haulers vary in their ability to provide quality service to clients. Some, like GFL, have excellent customer service, are easy to get in touch with, and are quick to resolve waste issues as they arise. Others are incredibly difficult to get a hold of, won’t resolve problems in a timely manner, and or cannot permanently provide a solution.

When repeated waste issues occur - and especially when they occur in conjunction with other common waste hauler problems - you need the ability to terminate the contract.

A service provision clause keeps the hauler accountable for promptly resolving issues. If they know you have the right to cancel their contract if they don’t resolve problems, they are going to be far more motivated to quickly provide solutions.

This kind of clause ultimately ensures that you aren’t stuck paying for terrible service. If you don’t have this clause in your contract, you will have very little recourse when these issues arise. If a hauler is less than amenable to providing permanent solutions, you will be stuck with them for the remainder of your contract until it expires. Since most contracts have five year terms, you could be stuck with an ineffective, frustrating hauler for years on end.

(Psst! Learn more about your hidden waste problems here!)

How can I tell if I have a service clause?

Take a look at the first page of your contract. It may look something like the picture below.

There will almost always be a section for notes somewhere on this first page. If you have a service provision clause, it will be here. In the picture above, the notes section is in the bold black square. As you can see, no service provision exists on this contract.

This clause is not something that comes on standard hauler contracts. It will only rarely appear in the additional pages on your contract. And it is almost always something you need to proactively request. Most - though not all - haulers are not proactive about making sure you’re protected in the event that their services are less than ideal. Very few will provide you an out if they consistently miss pick-ups or if other issues repeatedly occur.

Evaluate your contract to ensure that all of its terms are in your favor. Fill out the form below, and we’ll immediately send you a free, Waste Hauler Contract Scorecard!

7 Ways You're Making Your Hauler Rich - Part 2

In this post, we’re going to talk about the last three ways most people overpay their waste and recycling disposal services. It’s a wide-spread problem, but there are simple solutions.

You’re making your waste hauler rich by not:

• Evaluating service levels

• Knowing market rates

• Having a waste ally 

Let’s take a deep dive into each of these categories so that you can understand how you’re overspending - and stop!

Not evaluating waste disposal service levels

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

Your hauler is paid to pick up your trash, not to help you pay fair rates. It’s not that they’re out to get you necessarily - they just want to increase profits like most companies. Unfortunately, you literally pay the price as a result.

One of the major ways companies are overspending is by having inaccurate service levels. Your current services may not be serving your real needs.

You may be paying for 5 pick-ups a week when you only actually need 2. Or, alternatively, your dumpsters are too big.

To find the solution that is right for you, you need to find out:

• How full your containers are when serviced

• The equipment history for all sites

• Pricing options for larger dumpsters

• Pricing options for less frequent service

• Whether the materials in these containers can be recycled

• Whether the hauler frequently misses pick ups

• If there is a history of overage fees

All of these things need to be taken into consideration so that you can pay for the service you need at a fair price point.

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. 

Market rates means the going rate of waste and recycling services in your area. 

We wish there were uniform rates throughout the country, but this just isn’t the case. A “good” rate in Virginia may be an astronomically “bad” rate in Idaho. 

Your average market rates depend on:

• The number of haulers in your area. More haulers generally means more competition, which means better rates. 

• Your geographic location. Most Southeast states tend to have much cheaper rates than the west coast states, for instance. 

• Consumer tolerance for price hikes. As you know by now, price hikes generally happen 1-4 times a year, at a 10% increase each time. If consumers push back on these, or they simply aren’t common practice, they’ll occur with less frequency. 

Your market rates can also be affected by other factors like fuel and equipment prices. 

An important note: Keep in mind that market rates are average rates, but not the required rate. We find most of our savings for clients through capping price spikes, eliminating ancillary fees, and implementing ideal service levels. The “market rate” can almost always be improved by an independent auditor. We know how to work within industry constraints to find every savings opportunity available to you!  

Market Rates and Accountability Measures

Haulers know you’re not likely to consult with the restaurant across the street when you set up your service contract. They know that you’re not going to ask that restaurant what their disposal rate is, or how often they get price spikes.  They also know that you don’t know what other area haulers are charging, and so you can’t know if they’re overcharging you.

When was the last time your vendors volunteered this kind of information? Never, right? This is exactly what allows price gouging to happen. If you’re in the dark about hauler pricing, how can you tell what is fair?

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? 

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7 Ways You're Making Your Hauler Rich - Part 1

90% of companies in the US are making their haulers rich. Below, we’ll discuss the top three ways you’re likely doing this. There are 7 specific ways companies inadvertently overpay, and we’ll show you how to stop below.

Too many companies are overpaying - you don’t have to be one of 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

We’ll cover these four in this article, and the last three in part 2.

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!  

You don’t know about your hidden waste problems

The waste industry has 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. What you don’t know is likely costing you, so it’s worth it to take some time to ensure your waste management processes are really as efficient as they could be.

You have waste or garbage vendor invoice fees

Many of our clients have assumed that they simply have to pay the fees their hauler asks them to pay. But we’ve found that many haulers are willing to eradicate or significantly reduce the fees they charge companies! Not many people really know what these waste fees are - let’s take a look at some of the most common ones below.  

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 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 pay for this plan? Probably not.

Fuel/environmental fee: The hauler charges you for the gas to service your site and deliver your trash to the dump. But they typically more than recoup this since they charge everyone on the route for gas. When this occurs, the fee simply becomes an additional profit center.

Recycling recovery fee: This fee is charged by the hauler to transfer your recyclable material from your site to the drop off site. The discerning reader may ask: “Wait! Aren’t they already charging me a for fuel? Shouldn’t this fee ?” This charge often isn’t actually covering anything - it’s just another fee that the haulers often tack on because they can. 

Regulatory Cost recovery fee: Some haulers, (like Waste Management) will charge this fee to cover costs in other regions - not necessarily yours. Your fees go towards paying other people’s garbage disposal. You can see an example of this fee in the picture below.

Do any of these fees look familiar? One or more of the ones above are probably occurring on your invoices currently. If you notice that some of them seem high, or that you have multiple properties it’s a good idea to take a look at your contract specifics.

See if they have any language about “all inclusive” waste rates that include reduced fees, or if they eliminate them completely. Any reduction in recurring charges will reduce your overall waste expenses.

You have an 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 likely 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. Cancelling your auto-renewal clause gives you the time you need 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.

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 - and the main reason for this is price spikes. 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. 

Get the waste solutions you need. Download the 20+ page guide “How to Save on Waste Expenses!”

"How much can I save on my waste spend?"

We help 90% of our clients reduce their waste and recycling expenses by 10-35%. It’s likely that you’re sitting on multiple savings opportunities, which is exactly why there’s a need for independent auditors.

Waste audits reliably find savings.

Because of the way the waste industry typically operates, most companies will overspend in waste expenses in one of six ways. The most common one? 80% of our clients have overspent on their service levels. The more pick-ups waste disposal haulers make, the more profit they make. So while many haulers are not actually out to trick you, the system is set up in their favor.

They don’t have incentive to evaluate the efficiency of their services, so they rarely do.

Our gross client savings of 10-35% is reached so consistently because haulers are consistently unfair and/or indifferent to your actual needs.

In all fairness, we could go out of business in six months if all haulers everywhere decided to offer fair contracts and reliable services. But many garbage service companies are not willing - or not able - to make changes that could undercut them financially.

Unfortunately, this is how the industry functions. But you don’t have to be held hostage by it. Get recourse by using a third-party waste auditor - they’re trained to find your unique savings opportunities. See some specific client examples below.

How does your pricing work?

Different independent waste auditors have different pricing models. We use a shared savings model - we share in the savings we find at a rate of 50%. If we find you $200,000 in savings a year, you’ll keep $100,000 and we will be compensated $100,000.

Ultimately, using performance-based pricing is in your best interest. It encourages a higher discovery of savings because it motivates us to find every opportunity available for you.

What if there are no savings?

When no savings are found, we charge you nothing.

Over the years, there have only been a small percentage (about 10%) of companies that don’t benefit from our services. 

There can be any number of reasons for this. Sometimes certain markets are really tough. Other times, there are external factors that keep the companies from savings. 

On the rare occasion when this happens, the client in essence gets a free waste audit. They get the assurance that they’re not overspending - that all of their waste and recycling disposal streams are working at maximum efficiency.

Why should I care about waste and recycling expenses?

On top of everything else you’re doing, why bother looking at your waste expenses?

Because 90% of companies in the US are overspending on their waste and recycling expenses and you’re likely one of them.

You should care about your waste expenses because they’re costing you in three ways:

1. Cutting into profits

2. Stealing your time

3. Taking advantage of your industry knowledge gaps.

Not looking into your waste management process is costly. Can you afford not to get a free audit?

Unexamined waste expenses cut into profits

If you spend more than $10,000 annually on waste, there’s a good chance you’re sitting on savings. 

There are so many ways that your waste disposal is designed to entrap you. But for now, let’s just focus on the biggest one: your waste and recycling contracts. These contracts make you overpay because they don’t limit or eradicate price spikes, ancillary fees, or poor service issues. 

Price spikes will happen at least once a year, and if they’re not regulated or eliminated, they’ll just keep on happening. Year after year, these spikes compound until you’re paying an outrageous amount for something that, let’s face it, really should be simple: taking your waste to the dump. 

Ancillary fees can compound over time, too. Paying a $40 fuel fee every month may not seem like that much. But over  5 years (the typical term of a trash disposal service agreement), that’s $2400 you could have saved. 

But fuel isn’t the only ancillary fee you may see on your invoice. You can get charged for having too much weight in your dumpsters, or too little. You can get charged to cover services in other regions, or charged for not getting paperless bills. And most people will just pay these fees. But you don’t have to!

Not having provisions for bad service can also be expensive. Suppose you have a hauler who just can’t seem to remember to make a site visit on Wednesdays. Or, suppose you have a hauler who leaves a mess every time he services your compactor.

If your contract doesn’t provide recourse for service issues, you can easily get trapped into employing a less than satisfactory hauler. And if it doesn’t regulate price hikes, you’ll be paying far more than you want for severely disappointing service. 

Waste services are designed to be exorbitant. And most people don’t realize they can and should question the way their contracts are set up. 

Unexamined waste problems steal your time

Who loves spending forty-five minutes on hold waiting to yell at your hauler? Spoiler alert - absolutely no one. You and your staff shouldn’t have to babysit your hauler to ensure that he’s going to do what he’s contractually obligated to do. 

Time is one of you and your staff’s greatest resources. If you spend a lot of it constantly course correcting your hauler, you can’t spend it on attending to other more pressing responsibilities. 

Unexamined waste processes unfairly take advantage of your industry knowledge gaps.

Most of the waste industry can get away with what it does because clients just don’t know any better. Businesses think they have to pay ancillary fees and that it’s normal to have tons of hauler issues. 

The waste industry - and the haulers especially - don’t always treat their customers like people. A lot of them have pretty shady ways of operating. They may ask you to sign contracts that are in their favor; paying the prices they want for the services they decide you should have.

This isn’t okay. And it’s not fair to you, the people with whom they do business.

Is Industrial Recycling an Option for Me?

Industrial recycling could be an option for you if you have a qualifying product. Many manufacturing companies especially have found more profitability by selling by-product that is created in the process of creating another product.

You and your company might want to consider industrial recycling if you:

1. Have waste, recycling and landfill costs

2. Want to reduce raw material expenses

3. Produce by-product materials

Do you have waste and recycling expenses?

If you spend more than $10,000 a month on your waste and recycling expenses, there’s a 90% chance that you’re already overspending on them.

Your rates likely aren’t capped. You may need different equipment or service levels. And you may be locked into long contract lengths. Most companies we’ve worked with have overspent in at least one of these ways.

So there are almost certainly overt ways you’re unintentionally overpaying. But there are also less obvious ways.

For most of the manufacturing companies we work with, we explore adding revenue streams by adding recycling. This could be a hidden revenue opportunity worth thousands of dollars.

Too many corporations send their waste to landfills or special processing facilities because they don’t realize they can profit from that waste! They’re throwing away money, and they have no idea.

Recycling waste and reusing it can be financially beneficially in multiple ways. For example, certain kinds of waste can be recycled and be used as a renewable energy source to run your company. Or if you own a company that produces a large amount of excess oil, those oils can be used to generate electricity (heating and cooling). Once the oil is processed, it can also be used to run engines and machines that are being used during the manufacturing process.

Lower Raw Material Expenses

Manufacturing companies across many industries have recently explored ways to reuse and recycle their by-products in order to increase sustainability efforts and profitability.

Estee Lauder has recycled a whopping 85% of their waste to produce new beauty products in recent years. Nikes have been producing new shoes over the past few years from their waste materials, thus reducing their need for raw materials.

But these large companies aren’t outliers. Smaller manufacturing facilities - particularly those who process metal - have found they can save roughly $1,300/ton just by recycling by-products.

Even construction companies can benefit from industrial recycling. Recycling HDPE plastics (bottles, plastic bags, boxes) are typically paid at a rate of $250/ton. Recycling PET materials (materials from packaging, polyester, etc.) can produce $150/ton. Over the span of time, that adds up!

Many companies are taking this approach because according to a recent study, companies are saving 90% of their energy required to produce new materials/products. Finding new, sustainable solutions to old problems isn’t just more profitable - it’s smarter.

Produce Waste By-Product

It’s entirely possible that with every trip to the dump, you are throwing away hundreds of dollars. Is this something your company can afford?

Adding a recycling stream can reduce your waste output, which can doubly benefit your bottom line. First, by reducing the amount of waste, you’ll spend less on pick-ups and trips to the dump site. And by selling those by-products that were destined to go to a waste facility, you’ve created a revenue stream which ultimately adds to your bottom line.

How to Know if Industrial Recycling is Right for You

Industrial recycling options will depend on your industry, the materials you produce, and the vendors available to you.

Markets for recycling fluctuate. In recent years, China has stopped accepting US plastic for recycling, so some kinds of plastic or no longer a viable recycling option on the industrial scale. The rates for metals and oils fluctuate with market demand, product availability, ease of transport, and a host of other variables.

If you have a by-product that is marketable and several area buyers who are willing to bid for it, you’ll likely be in a situation where you can easily add a revenue stream. But some by-products are not as easily sold, or have to have specialized buyers. Again, it all depends on your industry and your waste streams - which is why our audits are thorough and uniquely tailored to your needs!

"How can I save 10% on my waste invoices?"

You can likely save 10% on your recurring waste and recycling expenses by carefully and critically examining your monthly invoices. In the 18 years we’ve been in business, we’ve found that this is the rate that errors occur on average. How much has this cost you in the past 5 years?

In this article, you’ll learn:

• Why errors happen.

• What kinds of errors happen.

• How they can cost you.

• What you can do about it.

The more you know about the billing errors, the more equipped you’ll be to spot them.

Why do waste and recycling invoice errors happen?

There are a couple of different reasons that invoice errors happen. Sometimes they happen when service changes occur at your site. Suppose we learn that you need to reduce your dumpster sizes from 8 yards to 6 yards to reduce costs. It’s possible that your hauler may continue to charge you for the 8 yard dumpsters after your 6 yard replacements are on site. If you don’t carefully check your monthly invoices, you won’t find these mistakes. In the wake of other more seemingly urgent tasks, this effort may seem superfluous. But over time, it’s likely to help you save hundreds if not thousands of dollars on your waste contract.

Other times, your hauler will charge you despite certain stipulations in your contract to the contrary. We recently worked with a client who had about a dozen hotels in the midwest. They had recently signed a new contract that prohibited regulatory fees on their waste disposal expenses. But we found out they were continuing to be charged for this fee - and were paying for it.

We documented the exact amount of overcharges and the months they occurred, then presented it to the vendor. They couldn’t deny the charges or what the contract stipulated. So they agreed to provide several hundred dollars in credits.

You can follow this exact process with your hauler. Hold them accountable when their charges are not in accordance with your contract, and you’ll protect your bottom line.

What kinds of errors can occur on waste and recycling invoices?

As in the case above, you can be charged something that is prohibited by your contract. This often occurs by oversight - we haven’t found hauling companies to be the best at communication between departments. The salesperson that draws up your original contract may not make billing aware of all of its specifications. As a result, the billing coordinator may charge you for fees not in your contract.

Typos are another example of errors. They happen to the best of us, but they’re particularly inconvenienced when they make you overpay. A misplaced decimal can be extremely costly - just ask this client whose waste invoices increased by 900% in one month!

How much can these errors cost me?

Typically, waste and invoice errors will cost you about 5% of the amount invoiced.

Waste and recycling invoice errors will actually cost you in two ways. They can be expensive monetarily, of course. But they can also drain other resources, like your time. In my experience, resolving a waste service issue will take a minimum of two communication touches. This is the case for smaller waste issues, like moving a dumpster from one spot in a parking lot to another, or requesting an additional pickup. I will typically make an initial communication to address the issue, then will follow up to ensure the request has been resolved.

These two communications can take up to an hour, depending on how long I have to wait on hold, and how many people I have to speak to to get the issue addressed. Smaller problems, like a missed pick-up, can usually be resolved by the initial representative I speak with. Other issues like adding a pick-up day or confirming the specifications of a contract term often need to be resolved by speaking to the account manager. Some haulers seem reticent to disclose their direct phone numbers, so it can be a little tricky to get in touch with them.

If the company is one of the few more responsive haulers, only two communications via phone (or email) will be necessary. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case with significant billing errors. Depending on the hauler and the significance of the error, it can take months to fully resolve.

If your trash hauler overcharges you by several hundred dollars, it’s likely going to take more than a few calls to rectify the situation. When we fight overcharges on our client’s behalf in the past, it has taken up to three months for the billing cycle to reflect the correction. Your staff may not have this kind of time, which is why it’s a service that an independent waste auditor provide.

What can you do about it?

When it comes to auditing your waste disposal and recycling invoices, there are two best practices.

First, you and your staff need to carefully review your waste hauler invoices. Look for price hikes and inexplicable fees. How different is this month’s invoice from last month’s? Are there any charges that seem high or shouldn’t be there?

When you find these errors, you’ll need to call your hauler and ask for a billing credit for the next invoice cycle. Prepare to be persistent! We have found that many haulers are reticent to provide credits to you that may adversely affect them.

Second, you’ll need to be fairly familiar with your waste hauler contract. Are you allowed to be charged ancillary fees? Does it prohibit price hikes or cap them at a certain rate? Your contract will specify what can and cannot appear on your invoices. Be sure to look for what is there in addition to what isn’t! If you don’t have certain terms included on your contract, you’ll get surprise price hikes, and your contract may automatically renew - all of which can cause overspending.

Want to know for sure how quality your waste contract really is? Use our free Waste Hauler Contract Scorecard - just fill out the form below and we’ll immediately send you a copy!