6 Things to Consider When Choosing a Waste Removal Provider

20 December 2016

If your business is on the lookout for an efficient waste removal provider, you need to find a company that’s going to look after your needs, keep your practices within government regulations, and provide this service at a cost-effective price.

You may not know how best to choose a waste removal provider, so here are 6 questions to ask any potential waste removal provider before you sign up to their waste management services.

How do I know where and how the waste is disposed?

This is an important question for you to ask, because you are accountable for the responsible, ethical and regulation-compliant disposal of the waste generated by your business. If waste is found to be disposed of in an illegal or unethical way and traced back to your business, claiming ignorance of how your waste provider works won’t save your reputation, or save you from penalties.

Ask if your waste service provider will provide you with waste reports to prove they are recycling any waste that can be recycled, and how they are disposing of any non-recyclable waste.

How do you deal with different types of waste? Mixed bin types or sorting commingled waste?

Most businesses will generate a wide variety of different waste types, and each of these types will need to be disposed of in a different way in order to remain compliant with regulations and reduce landfill waste fees for your business. An architectural firm, for example, will generate paper and cardboard waste in the office, food waste in the office kitchens, and construction and demolition waste out on the construction sites.

You need to understand before hiring a waste management company, how will they deal with these different waste streams. Will they provide you with a range of bins to suit different waste streams – different bins for general waste, plastics, glass, cardboard and paper, hazardous and toxic waste, sharps, sand, rubble, concrete etc. In which case the onus will be on you and your staff to ensure the right waste is added to the right bins. They may also offer comingled waste bins where almost any waste can be added (general waste, glass, paper etc. – not including hazardous waste types), in which case you should ask how this waste is disposed of. Do they have a sorting centre or recycling system in place to manage mixed waste streams?

At Instant Waste Management, for example, we can offer separate bins for different waste types, and for commingled bins we have our own waste recovery facility where we can separate and recycle any waste that can be recycled, before bringing any remaining general waste to landfill.

Are you Dept. of Environmental Regulation licenced?

To protect your business, you should only deal with a responsible waste removal company that is licenced by the Department of Environmental Regulation to take the type of waste you are generating – be that recyclable, general, construction or hazardous waste. Ask to see copies of their licence, don’t just take their claims at face value.

What are the qualifications of the staff I will be dealing with?

When hiring a waste management company, it’s important to know that their drivers have completed the relevant occupational health and safety training. Ask them if their drivers have completed OH&S training recently. Also check if any of their employees hold current white cards.

It’s important too to make sure their drivers have a clear understanding of what can and can’t be put into the bins you’re using. This is important as it can prevent the bins from leaving your property with incorrect waste. If an issue like that can be dealt with before the bins leave your property, you can prevent additional costs associated with the waste having to be transported back to you, or from fees and fines at landfill or other disposal facilities.

Have you won any awards?

Winning awards shows that the company goes above and beyond to provide an excellent service and achieve great results for their customers and the environment. At Instant Waste Management, we’ve won several awards over the years and are proud to share our achievements with you.

Can you provide my project with the complete life-cycle of waste disposal?

Ideally, you want to deal with just one provider who can take care of the disposal for every single type of waste generated in all aspects of your business.

For example, at Instant Waste Management we can provide personalised consultations and create a waste management plan for your whole business. We can consult with architects and builders during the design stage to ensure waste removal is as efficient as possible. Then when it comes to construction and demolition waste recycling, we can take care of your waste removal during the initial civil works and work in conjunction with the builder. Once the building is up and running, we can handle the removal and recycling of operational waste during the tenancy stage. This could include sites like coffee shops, retail outlets and mixed use residential sites which often have limited access for local government collection services.

We can also provide regular waste audits and reviews to help your business to hit its recycling targets.

If you’re looking for waste removal services in Perth at a great price, and want to be confident in the knowledge that your waste will be recycled or disposed of in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner, get in touch with Instant Waste Management today!