There is a warmth in the air and international football on television, which can only mean one thing – summer’s approaching, but how does it affect your business waste?
While summer is typically the season to kick back and relax, business owners will agree this sentiment rarely applies to them, and waste management can be one of many relentless demands.
And in the epoch of Covid-19, planning and preparation remain at best difficult, and, more realistically, impossible.
But with July 19th looking set to be the rescheduled Freedom Day, it’s as important as ever to get summer ready.
What is waste management
Waste management is simply how a business deals with, and disposes of, the waste it produces.
But as with all business operations, having a relevant strategy in place is essential to managing waste successfully.
Some companies may already have an approach in place, but it can be a good idea to refresh it seasonally to ensure maximum financial and environmental benefits are attained.
How to get summer ready
As with any form of summer planning, the starting point of a waste management strategy is pinpointing exactly what is needed.
A waste audit is an evaluation of the waste a business produces as well as the disposal procedures it has in place, and performing one regularly will see optimum rewards.
Once the audit is complete, a business will be equipped with the information needed to prepare the strategy.
With summer in mind, it can be useful to factor in any anticipated changes in waste patterns, such as a rise in glass bottles, or even lateral flow tests for staff and/or customers.
It is also necessary to consider a businesses legal requirements, outlined in The Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011.
The legislation defines the Waste Hierarchy, meaning a business must do all they reasonably can to prevent waste as a priority, followed by reusing, recycling, recovery, and, as a last resort, landfill.
Therefore, a priority of summer waste management should concentrate on preventing waste in the first instance, whether that’s through wiser stock orders or a focus on reusable over disposable.
As part of their summer season, Bluestone National Park Resort in Pembrokeshire recently announced that they will no longer offer disposable water bottles, instead asking guests to bring their own reusable containers and fill up for free in a move expected to cut 25,000 plastic bottles being wasted on the site annually.
The ideas of reusing and recycling are also particularly pertinent with the government recently calling for greater business awareness after claims of Amazon destroying leftover stock.
But while it may seem challenging to incorporate the concept of reuse into a summer waste strategy, it could be something as straightforward as turning wine bottles into candle holders or revamping a summer menu to account for leftover foods.
Recycling is fundamental to any successful waste management strategy, especially in summer, with an upsurge in dining out, coronavirus-enforced staycations, wardrobe shake-ups and sunshine-ready renovations.
Adding a recycling collection onto existing services, whether it be glass, food or dry-mixed offers not only obvious environmental benefits, but money-saving ones too.
While initially incurring an additional cost, in the long-term recycling services reduce landfill taxes and the likelihood of excess weight charges.
A final summer-ready essential to include within any strategy is bin hygiene, which, much like people, can succumb to the heat and humidity.
While the definition of waste management is self-explanatory, the implementation of the strategy can be more challenging.
But, once set in place, business owners may even sneak in a siesta in the sunshine, with the worry taken out of summer waste.
CheaperWaste can help you implement your new summer waste management strategy, simply fill in the form below for a free, no obligations quote.
If you are still uncertain which services are right for you, we can suggest some tailored to your business with our quick and easy service recommendation form.
