Are you looking to become more sustainable as a business?
When it comes to industrial waste disposal, it isn’t a topic that many businesses like to consider. It’s necessary and the right thing to do, but it can feel expensive and difficult. Many companies have kept the same waste disposal processes for decades.
It turns out upgrading your industrial waste disposal process isn’t that hard. The first thing you can do is use modern tech to better measure the scale of your waste – and what you can do with it.
You can also invest in recycling programs and equipment and rely less on landfills. Trying to be sustainable and creating as little waste as possible is the first mindset shift. After that, the rest of the upgrading process will come much easier.
Here’s how you can upgrade your industrial waste disposal process.
1. Use Tech to Measure Waste
One major advantage of modern tech is how easy it makes tracking and collecting data. When it comes to industrial waste disposal, you can use software or sensors to keep track of by-products. You can do this by weight, volume or material type.
By measuring exactly how much waste you produce, you can make a plan of action for what to do with it. It’s easy to dismiss the problem when the sample size is small. However, when you see how large yearly waste projections can get, many change their tune.
With stricter regulations on industrial waste management, it’s also legally prudent. When you know the exact figures, you can estimate the costs of various solutions. You can plan how much work it might be to set up a recycling program or invest in different equipment.
A significant amount of waste could get recycled or sold again with enough work. With all the numbers at your disposal, you could figure out if it’s worth investing in the equipment and machinery required to take advantage.
Rather than only recycling because it’s the right thing to do, it might be economically viable as well. Using modern tech to measure, you might turn what used to be garbage into gold.
2. Invest in Recycling
Investing in an in-house recycling program is a massive upgrade for any business. There are two main ways to go about it.
The first is simple sorting and collecting. This involves setting up labelled bins for things like wood, metal, and plastic waste and more biohazardous stuff. You’ll have to educate your staff and partners on your policies to make it work.
The second way is investing in a recycling apparatus, including machinery. This goes beyond sorting into bins for transport. Here, you’ll do the recycling in-house and either find a use for the product or ship it off.
In either case, it’s more sustainable than sending everything to a landfill. Doing the actual recycling in-house could also save you on external costs like transportation. In many cases, the recycled product can be used in a different product or sold on the market.
3. Work with Local Recycling Centers or Collectors
Most waste disposal methods involve outside contractors. Many of these work in local recycling centres, including the government. The industrial waste recycling sector in Europe is set to grow a ton in the coming decade.
This is because European markets are booming, especially in tech. Someone has to drive the trucks, collect the waste, and figure out where it goes.
Some collectors only throw everything into a truck and drive it to a landfill or incinerator. This isn’t all that sustainable and is what many businesses already do. Those looking to upgrade should take advantage of recycling centres and government programs.
It’s more ethical, sustainable, and not all that more expensive. Some businesses can even use third parties to recycle the waste they plan to reuse to cut down on costs. This would save you the trouble of setting up in-house equipment but might involve more long-term expenses.
4. Trash Compactors Can Help
The trash compactor or box crushers are tools well known in waste management. They come in two main types: wet and dry. Anyone who has seen a scrapyard turn a car into a metal cube already knows how they work.
The advantages of a trash compactor are many. For starters, it reduces the total volume of the waste in question. This makes it easier to store or transport for further processing.
Although landfills are not sustainable long-term solutions, they’re still in use. Anything that cuts down on wasted space stops us from having to expand them or make new ones. Making transportation easier might also reduce potential recycling costs.
Even when waste has gone through a compactor, it could still get salvaged and recycled. A cube of scrap metal could get melted down and separated. Biodegradable food waste could become compost or fertilizer.
By implementing a trash compactor, you’d be taking a step towards increasing efficiency.
5. Go As Low Waste as Possible
The ultimate key is sustainable manufacturing. This means cutting down on potential waste and inefficiencies wherever you find them. Sometimes this means upgrading your machinery or production process to waste less material.
Other times it’s the quality of ingredients that creates waste. Investing a little more in these areas could make a huge difference.
You could also create company-wide policies designed to reduce waste. This would mean educating your staff to always look for sustainable solutions.
You have to be willing to become more efficient and less wasteful. This commitment has to outweigh the potential resource costs and time commitments. Several European cities have already committed to this shift, with more to follow.
Upgrading Your Industrial Waste Disposal
There’s always a way to up your industrial waste disposal and become more sustainable. You can start by being more active in measuring waste and by-products. This would let you plan your next steps better and see the merits of recycling.
Next, you can invest more into recycling through programs and equipment. Finally, you can try to cause or create as little waste as possible and keep sustainability always in mind. Anis Trend is an industry leader that understands these issues well, so contact us today for more.
