As a company, you are responsible for dealing with various types of waste. Some waste types are simple and straightforward to manage, while others are much trickier and require more thought. In this post, we look at some of the different types of waste that you need to manage as a company and how you can deal with them.

Electronic Waste

Electronic waste, sometimes called e-waste, is one of the most challenging and fastest-growing waste streams companies are having to deal with. Getting rid of monitors, circuit boards, and computers, which contain heavy metals like lead and mercury, is not easy. You can't just throw them in the landfill. The best option is to implement a lifecycle management plan. This enables you to deal with e-waste from start to finish. Whenever you get rid of e-waste that contains data, perform a certified data wipe or conduct physical drive destruction. Make sure that nobody can access the information stored on local hard drives.

Hazardous in chemical waste

Hazardous and chemical waste is another major waste stream that many companies need to deal with. A lot of firms use motor oils, paints, solvents, and industrial chemicals which aren't safe to release into the environment. If you have this type of waste at your company, make sure you use strict segregation and labelling. Ensure that everybody knows where the waste should go and how it should be managed. Chemicals should remain in their containers with visible safety data sheets on them. Don't pour any chemicals down the drain. Get in touch with licensed chemical processors who can degrade chemicals so that it can become harmless compounds that are released into the environment.

PPE and workwear

Interestingly, PPE and workwear are becoming major waste streams in themselves, especially since 2020. Personal protective equipment needs to be managed both because it's often non-biodegradable and also because it may contain bio-hazards.

The good news is that you can easily find partners to offer secure workwear disposal. These companies are able to deal with PPE waste so that it doesn't wind up in landfill or harm the environment as a whole.

Document and paper waste

Document and paper waste is another significant waste issue at many companies. A lot of firms spend hours shredding sensitive IP and customer data. The best approach here is to have a shred-all policy and then recycle. Once documents are shredded and mixed, it's very difficult to put the information they contain back together. If you can't shred in-house because there are too many documents, then you can use mobile shredding services. Just make sure that they provide you with a certificate of destruction to protect you against future data breach-related losses.

Organic and food waste

Lastly, some industries like hospitality and grocery stores produce a lot of organic and food waste. Therefore, follow the food recovery hierarchy:

1. Make sure that you don't put organic waste in landfills because it can lead to high production of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
2. If you have edible food waste surplus, provide it to food banks.
3. For non-edible scraps, use composting on-site if possible.