8 Industrial Waste Management Best Practices For Safety & Compliance
August 22, 2024
Hazardous or non-hazardous. Solid or liquid. At your facility or en route to a waste disposal site. If you generate industrial waste of any kind, you’re liable for that waste from the moment it’s created until it’s properly disposed of. In other words, you’re tasked with what’s known as “cradle to grave” industrial waste management and held responsible for accurately profiling, safely transporting and correctly disposing of waste.
For busy industrial operations like manufacturing, energy, transportation and agriculture already running on a tight schedule, managing industrial waste often becomes an afterthought. But with the right waste management strategies, it’s possible to transform the way your facility handles and disposes of waste. Consider working with an industrial waste management partner to integrate waste management best practices into your everyday operations. You hold the power to maintain compliance, safety and your company’s reputation with smarter solutions for industrial waste.
How Can My Business Reduce Industrial Waste?
Reducing your facility’s waste isn’t just a way to check off regulatory boxes—it’s one of the best things you can do for your bottom line. Invest in efficiencies like up-to-date equipment, high-quality materials and employee training to reduce waste while eliminating unnecessary costs and labor hours. By maintaining equipment and procuring high-quality materials, you can maximize your output and minimize waste generated from inefficiencies in the system. And by dedicating time to training employees on waste management best practices, you reduce the risk of human error contributing to excess.
Ultimately, a proactive waste management plan makes it possible to reduce waste and streamline hazardous and non-hazardous waste disposal for your facility. With the right industrial waste management strategies in place, you set your business up for a win-win.
How To Create A Waste Management Plan For Ongoing Compliance
Establishing solutions for managing industrial waste at your facility helps all employees stay on the same page and enables consistency across the various waste streams you generate. To get started building a waste management plan, consider how well you’re adhering to best practices and what gaps your strategy can fill in to reduce waste and the risks it poses.
1. Determine What Waste Your Business Generates
Before you can set up the appropriate disposal channels, you need an understanding of how much waste your facility currently generates, what kinds of waste you’re producing and whether or not it’s regulated. Liquid and solid waste have different disposal requirements, as do hazardous and
non-hazardous waste streams. Whether you have an internal waste management team or plan to work with an industrial waste management partner, the more information you have about the waste you’re dealing with, the better.
2. Reflect On Your Current Waste Management Best Practices
Once you know what waste you have, the next step is evaluating what practices you currently have in place for managing industrial waste. Does your facility encourage recycling when possible? Do you work with a reliable non-hazardous waste disposal company? What’s missing from your current waste management best practices that’s contributing to unnecessary waste or putting your people at risk? Approaching waste management based on your facility’s needs helps to refine your waste management strategy so you’re focusing on the areas that will have the biggest impact on reducing waste and remaining compliant with regulatory requirements.
3. Consider How The Waste Hierarchy Applies To Your Waste Streams
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for managing industrial waste, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlines waste management best practices in a general hierarchy to help determine where waste should go. Looking at the waste streams your facility generates, the first priority on the hierarchy is finding ways to reduce waste upfront (i.e. minimizing packaging materials and reusing materials when possible).
If you’re unable to cut off waste at the source, think about what waste is recyclable to fulfill another purpose. Consider your various processes and if there’s room to repurpose waste as an energy source to power operations. For any waste you can’t convert into energy or recycle, you’ll need to coordinate and non-hazardous waste disposal solutions to safely treat and dispose of the remaining quantity.
4. Choose A Dependable Industrial Waste Management Partner
If keeping up with your facility’s industrial waste management needs feels overwhelming for your team to take on, a reliable waste management partner can ease some of the burden. Find a partner that’s fully involved in the waste industry for full-scale service including an audit of your waste management strategy, recommendations for efficiency and a variety of disposal and treatment options.
Ask potential partners if they provide solutions for both hazardous and non-hazardous industrial waste. Be sure to look into their reputation since you’re responsible for your company’s waste until the moment it’s disposed of. Their ability to safely transport, treat and dispose of your waste impacts your reputation, so you’ll want to secure a partner that gets the job done right.
5. Establish Goals To Work Toward Waste Management & Reduction
Don’t get too far in developing your waste management strategy without defining your goals. Working with your partner or an internal team invested in finding the best solutions for your industrial waste, decide if your primary goal is to reduce waste, streamline non-hazardous waste disposal or any number of other options pertaining to waste management best practices. You can’t enforce a waste management plan without goals to hold your team accountable and forge a clear path toward progress.
6. Layout Your Plan For Managing Industrial Waste & Non-Hazardous Waste Disposal
Once you’ve done all the prep work, start to map out what you need to have in place to be able to implement your waste management plan and make it a reality. If you’re working with a non-hazardous waste disposal partner, coordinate how often you need trained waste professionals on site to pick up your waste load in line with regulatory requirements. Depending on the waste, you might need weekly or more frequent pickups to prevent a surplus of waste, or if your load is on the lighter end, monthly or even quarterly visits from your disposal partner may be sufficient.
When it comes to harmful waste materials, there’s no room for error, so be as detailed as possible while outlining your plan to ensure everyone is on the same page. Work with your disposal partner to determine if waste can be collected in a container or drum or if the job requires a vacuum truck to safely remove and transport the waste from your facility.
7. Enforce Waste Management Strategies Across Your Facility
Feeling confident in your new waste management strategy? Update your employees about any new procedures or expectations in place and educate them on their role in keeping your business compliant. Post notices and reminders in high-traffic areas so waste efforts are always top of mind. When everyone works together to reduce waste with more efficient and cost-effective waste management best practices in place, managing industrial waste can become a seamless part of your business, as essential and constant as any other process you have in place.
8. Evaluate Your Progress Toward Reducing Waste & Streamlining Disposal
Waste management is an investment with benefits that become more and more clear as time goes on and your facility maintains a consistent pattern. To be sure your business remains compliant and can adapt to regulatory requirements in the future, be sure to periodically check in on progress toward your waste reduction and disposal goals. Are efficiencies starting to save your business money? Is employee morale on the upswing with safer procedures in place? Do you still have concerns about failing compliance standards?
After you’ve enforced your waste management plan and had time to adjust to the new normal, ask your industrial waste management partner for a follow-up audit to detect how best practices are impacting your business. Waste experts can help determine whether or not adjustments are needed to continue making progress toward your goals. If you’re working toward environmental, social and governance goals, more efficient waste management strategies are a great way to showcase your company’s commitment to more sustainable operations.
Why Businesses Need Careful Solutions For Industrial Waste Management
Negligent waste management leaves your business susceptible to safety hazards, recurring fines and legal charges. With the right solutions for industrial waste, businesses can reduce waste, ensure efficient operations and cut costs while creating a safe environment for workers and nearby communities.
The EPA imposes fines of $75,000 per day per violation if your business fails to comply with waste management best practices. If you frequently violate regulations or pose severe risk to your employees due to negligent waste management, your business may even be liable for civil or criminal penalties. Your business’ reputation is one of your company’s greatest assets, and you can’t afford to take a hit when the risks of improperly managing industrial waste are so high. With an industrial waste management partner like HK Solutions Group, you can ensure your facility doesn’t miss a step.
From the cradle to the grave, HK’s expertise and nationwide network of disposal resources makes us the ideal partner to facilitate your waste management strategy. We not only provide hazardous and non-hazardous waste disposal services, we also serve as a resource for industrial facilities navigating the waste process. Our technicians pick up waste containers and drums and also employ vacuum trucks as needed to safely carry waste from your facility. We offer assistance for characterizing waste streams and creating waste profiles as well as record-keeping and maintaining manifests properly. When you need peace of mind and proactive support, HK is your trusted industrial partner for the job.
Need More Tips For Managing Industrial Waste At Your Facility? Contact HK Solutions Group For Proven Waste Management Strategies Today!
Through careful precautions and years of proven experience assisting countless facilities in managing industrial waste, HK Solutions Group works to mitigate risk and ensure compliance for our industrial partners every step of the way. Our widespread network ensures we get your waste where it needs to go safely without compromising your business operations or slowing you down. Call us at (515) 283-0500 to schedule non-hazardous waste disposal, or contact us to learn more about our solutions for comprehensive industrial waste management.
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