Be sure your Business dealings with Waste Collectors Comply with Legislation

If your business is ready to start recycling its business waste and you feel you have the facilities to do so, you will no doubt be thinking about contacting waste collectors, who can collect and hopefully buy your waste.  This post looks at the business checks you should have in place and key questions to ask any waste collection agency you contract to pick up your recyclable materials.

Business Checks for Waste Collectors

Waste Carrier Licences

Any waste collection agency has to have a waste carrier licence to operate legally. If you deal with someone who is unlicensed you could be liable for any consequences that ensue.  So if your waste is found a middle of a field or washes up on a beach, saying you had it collected in good faith is not going to save you from incurring legal action.

Electronic Packaging Recovery Notes (ePRN) and Electronic Packaging Export Recovery Notes (ePERN).

To comply with EU legislation, waste collectors should be able to provide you with electronic notes for waste they collect.  The laws on recycling are stringent, and any waste you have collected should have a corresponding electronic note.

Key Questions to ask Waste Collectors

Once you have established the waste collection agency is legit, you can then ask key business questions to secure the best deal on your waste.

Consider:

What can and can't be recycled?

Clearly you need to know the limits of what you can recycle.  The answer to this question will determine what recycling bins you need to enable your sorted waste to be collected.

What are your collection times?

This will give you a good indication as to how many recycling bins you need, as well as give you a schedule to work to.

How frequently do you collect?

You should be able to work out if it is more cost effective to have larger bins emptied less frequently, or smaller bins emptied more often.  This varies from business to business as a lot of variables are involved.  What you are recycling, how much recycling you do and produce, together with the amount of storage space you have will all come in to the equation.

Do you provide bin signs and other communication materials?

If you can negotiate free bin signs and posters as part of the deal so much the better.  It is surprising at how much communication material cost.

Do you offer staff training?

Some waste collectors will have training schemes in place, others will not.  Generally, it relates to the size of the collection agency, and if they have seen the wisdom and long term cost savings in training their customers to recycle properly.

Do you offer incentives to maximise recycling?

Incentives to recycle could take the form of gifts for providing large volumes of recycling, to a discount if you have particularly hazardous waste to take away.  If a certain type of waste is in demand they may give you a better price for it.  Again, incentives to recycle are at the discretion of your business waste collector, so will vary from company to company.

After the 'bedding - in' period what happens if we need to amend the contract?

The best contracts to enter into are the ones that offer your business flexibility.  Contracts which fail to do this could tie you in to a long term deal where you pay for facilities you do not need.  Negotiate a deal which suits you, and shop around for the right business waste collection company.

Use a Business Waste App to manage your Waste Collectors

There are several apps on the market for business waste collector management, and one of the best ones is Green Alchemist.  It allows you to compare quotes of local providers, and gives you the market rate for your business waste.  Click here to register and learn more.