'Innovative thinking' required for waste management
August 1st 2006

Outsourcing waste management can help organisations to focus on production innovation rather than get bogged down in the nitty gritty of waste management regulation and compliance says Iain Johnson, MD of Acumen Waste Services.

I forget who said "If you laid all our laws end to end, there would be no end", but I sympathise with that view. It can sometimes appear that commercial survival now relies more on complying with waste management legislation than on technical innovation.

It is true that waste management regulations now dominate industrial and commercial markets, as well as the public sector, with strict rules covering the collection, transport, storage, handling, processing and use or disposal of waste products.

So it is easy to understand why many managers feel swamped by the operational details of waste management regulation. Each operating quarter appears to bring with it a new raft of imminent legislation.

Many playing 'catch up'

Most organisations will tell you that they aspire to take a broader perspective on the issue of waste management across each of their production and operational processes. However,many report that they are simply playing 'catch up' with the compliance.

Certainly, maintaining compliance with the legislation is a strict requirement, and a continuous challenge, but, paradoxically, those companies that take too sharp a focus and simply "tick the legislative boxes"are perhaps missing the point.

Broader view needed

By beginning to adopt a more integrated approach to waste management,some organisations have demonstrated that they can often reduce costs and lower their risk profile. Such a pro-active waste management strategy can also improve their corporate image through improved "green"credentials.

As a way of achieving a more integrated or approach to waste management, across their supply chain and end-to-end production process,many companies have begun to evaluate and implement waste management outsourcing.

Outsourcing offers a practical solution

Commercially, the decision to outsource any activity is usually driven by one of two management considerations.

The first question is whether a third party company can demonstrate that it has the economies of scale to provide a service, or manage a facility, at a significantly lower cost than the firm could achieve for itself.

Secondly,organisations also consider outsourcing when a third party can provide advice or support (particularly in their non-core business) that it would be difficult,or uneconomic, to replicate internally.

Clear expectations

However, as in any outsourced relationship, it is important for companies to be clear about what they are outsourcing,why they are doing it, and what they can expect from the outsourcer. Equally, outsourcers need to be able to demonstrate that they can add commercial value, or producers will assume it is easier and cheaper to manage waste for themselves.

As a start point, organisations need to ensure that only a minimum of waste is generated, and ensure that any such waste can be readily and safely processed via sustainable, lowest cost disposal routes. Often an outsourced partnership can enable the firm to understand best practice very quickly, and tap into a network of established, licensed waste operators, that can rapidly help to drive down waste management costs.

Waste management partnerships

More enlightened organisations have also begun to embrace the challenge presented by their waste streams, and have embedded a waste management ethic into all the working practices across their development and production processes, rather than just focusing on the end of the process.

For some companies,a successful way to achieve this has been to create a waste management partnership with specialist waste advisers.

Partnership benefits

So, a strong relationship with a trusted outsourcer should enable a producer to achieve compliance with the complex legislation, and also help them to take a broader view of their waste management practices. Well developed, outsourced relationships also help companies to achieve best practice in waste management, lower operating costs and enhance their corporate image.

Commercially, the outsourcing of waste management helps producers to focus on production innovation, confident that experts are helping to manage fully compliant waste management practices.

Deeper commitment brings benefits

For those prepared to engage more fully with outsourcing, the benefits are often seen in constructive waste management partnerships that deliver substantial bottom line improvement, improve corporate credentials and provide the assurance that a pro-active approach is being taken to waste issues at all levels within their business.