The Importance Of Compaction Of General Waste At Source

According to statistics, the generation of solid waste around the world is expected to increase to around 3.4 billion tons by 2050. The UK contributes to this number, with retailers, supermarkets, warehouses and other large-scale commercial businesses producing high volumes of waste each year.

Strategies are available to help businesses reduce how much waste they generate. However, this alone isn’t enough. To do your bit for the environment and reap many business benefits, you should compact your general; waste before it’s taken to landfill.

This blog will provide insight into what the compaction of solid waste entails and the benefits it can offer to UK businesses, waste processors and the environment. We’ll also explain how our intelligent software can support businesses with their waste compaction efforts.

• What Is the Compaction of Solid Waste?
• What Are the Benefits of Waste Compaction for Both UK Businesses and Waste Handlers?
• A Little More About Our Intelligent Software
  

What Is the Compaction of Solid Waste?

Waste compaction is the process of compacting waste to make it smaller in size. It’s a simple yet highly effective way of dealing with waste materials across many businesses and industries. 

There are several machines designed to support businesses with their waste compaction efforts. These are known as portable compactors. Their goal is to compress general waste material to reduce the amount of space it takes up and how much waste is sent to landfill. 

Here at Greenbank Recycling Solutions, we offer a range of portable compactors, including:

• Standard portable compactors
• Offensive waste compactors
• Self-cleaning compactors
• Portable screw compactors
• High capacity compactors

Compacting solid waste can provide many benefits to businesses and waste processors. We’ve outlined what these include in the next section of the blog.

What Are the Benefits of Waste Compaction for UK Businesses and Waste Recyclers?

The traditional method of storing waste is to use bins. However, bins can actually result in specific issues arising on site. First of all, bins can easily be damaged in bad weather conditions or over time. If a bin gets damaged or falls over, it becomes less effective in storing waste. This can result in unnecessary litter, impacting the environment. 

As well as this, bins can easily be contaminated. They’re vulnerable to offensive types of waste such as chemicals, pesticides and solvents. Once waste has become contaminated, you then have a duty of care to detail the content before sending it to be recycled or disposed of.

It’s crucial to ensure you work with an authorised waste carrier to collect, recycle or dispose of your hazardous waste. Your business will still be responsible for the waste disposal even once it leaves your premises.

Bins can also store less waste than other solutions such as compactors. Therefore, more collection trips have to be arranged, meaning extra work for both you and the waste handler you work with.

Compacting waste can alleviate all of these issues and offer many other business benefits that include:

Cut Operational Costs

By compacting waste, businesses cut operational costs by reducing waste volume. A smaller volume of waste equals fewer trips needed to collect it and fewer skips to store it, meaning less money spent on skip hire. For waste handlers, they have to spend less money on travel and other types of expenses because fewer collection trips are needed.

Better Site Hygiene and Safety

Poorly managed or badly disposed waste can sometimes lead to serious hygiene or safety issues. With compacted waste, it’s less likely for employees to slip, trip or fall, making it easier for businesses to comply with safety regulations within the workplace.

Increased Space

Waste compactors save space by making waste smaller and easier to store, turning bulky rubbish or recyclables into more manageable sizes. This makes it much easier for waste handlers during collection trips. Less time needs to be spent picking up clunky waste, making the operation much more efficient.

Lowering Labour Costs

Trips to skips and bins are distracting and time-consuming. Even though compacted waste may be heavy, it’s actually easier to transport because it’s compacted into one item. This means employees can focus on the more business-critical duties they have rather than spending time carrying large quantities of waste to the skip. 

As well as offering these business benefits, compacting solid waste is also better for the environment. Fewer disposal trips are needed between your site and landfills. This is beneficial for businesses and waste handlers, as you’ll both cut emissions and start hitting your green targets much quicker

A Little More About Our Intelligent Software

Innovation is at the heart of everything we do here at Greenbank Recycling Solutions. All of our compactors will help you achieve all of the benefits above and so much more. That’s because we offer intelligent software that can be incorporated into your waste equipment, including compactors.

Whether you have one or two compactors or an entire fleet of machines, our monitoring solutions will give you valuable benefits of efficiency by helping you with:

• Data collection: Keep tabs on fill levels, bales ready for collection and equipment errors
• Visualisation: Easily follow the performance from any location
• Interaction: Make sure your machines remain healthy via relevant notifications to you or service partners

Want to know more about our intelligent software, how it works and the benefits it can provide in more detail? We’ve written a blog that covers everything you need to know.

Want to Know More About Greenbank and How We Work?

Whether you’re a waste handler or a business looking to dispose of your waste more effectively, we can provide the support you need. Find out more about who we are, our unique approach and what makes us stand out from the crowd by downloading a copy of our brochure.