Tuesday 5 September 2017

S is for September, Skip Bin Hire and Sustainability

Since we find ourselves in the month of September - we would like to talk about Skip Bin Hire and Sustainability.

If you are managing a Factory, a warehouse, a shopping centre or any other commercial premises, including schools, religious institutions  or offices - chances are - you are due for regular clean outs of the premises.  It might mean different things for different industries:
  • for Warehouses - might be a disposal of old pallets, outdated equipment, packaging
  • for schools it might be getting rid of old, broken or unsafe furniture, replacement with a new, disposal of packing and old equipment
  • for factories it might mean disposal of the prescribed waste, machinery, outdated equipment 
  • for business with an end of lease it might mean all sorts of waste, inclusive but not limited to: fixtures and fittings, furniture, equipment, e-waste, recyclables and the like.
Big Clean Ups are usually associated with hiring a Skip Bin or a Dumpster as our brothers in USA like to call it :-).  For a lot of larger corporations, especially with Quality Certifications, even clean-up events are regulated and waste should be disposed of responsibly in accordance with the Sustainability principles.

Hence - seeking association with the Skip Bin Hire Companies, which are committed to the Sustainability Practices, inclusive but not limited to:

  • being able to provide bins or find other solutions for various streams of waste, such as:
    • General Waste
    • Recyclable Waste
    • Green Waste
    • Paper
    • Metal
    • Asbestos and other prescribed waste  
  • being able to divert 85+% of waste away from Landfill, which usually implies that they need to have their own Waste Transfer Station, where all the rubbish will be separated into various categories and then each waste stream is taken furthe to processing to specialized recycling centres.
 Sustainability during clean ups can be adhered to in many ways, one of the simplest things to consider is what cleaning materials and / or chemicals are being used during a clean up?  Companies, which are committed to the environmental preservation and sustainablity principles are opting to use products, which are are environmentally friendly, reduce the wastage of water and energy and limit chemicals discharged into the environment.

Further, when planning your big clean up event, it is recommended to source biodegradable, sustainable, and environmentally preferable products as well as implementing strategies that ensure there are no chemical waste, reduced energy consumption and paperless communications, as a starting point.  An example of the environmentally friendly cleaning products choice is Green chemicals, which include but not limited to: Bio + Green Crystals and Solucare, which are waste free, not harmful to humans or the environment.

For companies and organisations which are required to maintain clean environment on a daily basis, such as hospitals and food manufacturers, not to mention electronics manufacturing - choosing the right, environmentally friendly chemicals with minimum odors and minimum use of harsh ingredients is paramount.

Schools Australia wide are very serious about sustainability, which is woven across it's many disciplines from educating students about carbon emissions, to using correct bins for various types of waste, to teaching them about green living, gardening, sustainable foods and of cause environmentally friendly clean ups.  A couple of suggestions for Schools here:
  • involve your students in planning environmentally freindly events and clean ups
  • think of reducing waste in the first instance, by using products, which are biodegrable and recyclable
  • think of only two waste streams when planning an event, such as: landfill and recyclable.  
  • Label your bins accordingly, even put pictures of various waste examples, which are go to into each bin
  • think of collecting plastic separately and finding a local government or commercial company, which can collect your school plastic for FREE or otherwise provide a local drop off point
  • if space on the school grounds permits - have a constant "on site" skip bin or a few there, for a various waste type, so that they can be emptied on a regular basis and you don't have to double handle the waste
In Summary - let's make the month of September a Sustainable One, backed up by Sustainable Practices in your Business or Work Place and in case of a major clean up, selecting a Sustainable Skip Bin Hire company to align with your values and goals!