For contractors, waste management tends to be a tiny part of their budget. On any given jobsite, the cost of collecting and removing soil, concrete or other materials is miniscule compared to their other material and labor expenses. And yet, waste management can have an outsized impact on the overall project, affecting not just operational efficiency, but potentially costs and disruptions related to regulatory compliance issues.
That’s why it’s critical for contractors to approach waste management not as an afterthought, but as an important opportunity to keep their projects running smoothly while avoiding the costs associated with noncompliance.
Regulatory Challenges
For any construction or demolition project, challenges can arise due to waste management requirements. Many of these are operational in nature; for example, without regular waste pickups, debris can accumulate and clutter the worksite, making it more challenging for personnel to move around safely and quickly.
Still, some of the most significant challenges involve the regulatory environment. Consider:
- Waste removal regulations are extremely variable from one state to the next. Some states may be extremely strict about recycling, while others are highly permissive.
- Those regulations also change frequently, making it challenging to stay up to date about what the laws currently say.
- Before starting a project, contractors may not have clear knowledge of the kinds of recyclable and nonrecyclable materials they’ll be getting into; for example, they may not have a clear sense of what kinds of soil they will find, or whether or not their demolition work will expose asbestos. Because of this, planning ahead can be tough.
It’s also important to understand the high stakes here. A noncompliance issue not only invites fees and reputational risks, but also significant project interruptions. Case in point: A failure to deal appropriately with asbestos can result in an entire project being shut down for weeks or even months for ongoing material testing.
The Importance of Partnerships
How then should contractors prepare for waste management needs, ensuring not only that their waste removal service is efficient, but that it helps them maintain full legal compliance?
It’s smart for contractors to have some high-level understanding of environmental regulations that might pertain to waste disposal; however, it’s not the contractor’s job to have a granular understanding of these ever-changing regulations. Contractors should strive for a bird’s eye view, then partner with a waste management vendor who has a street-level view.
Simply put, it’s the role of waste management companies to bring the expertise here, talk with contractors about the waste and debris needs that might arise during their project and ensure use of the right equipment and protocols to keep the project compliant and on track.
Choosing the Right Waste Management Provider
With that said, what should contractors look for as they seek the best waste management company to not only collect and dispose of debris, but provide guidance about regulatory concerns?
It’s human nature to look first at price point and to make these kinds of decisions based primarily on affordability. While this temptation is understandable, it’s also misguided. There can be a range of prices for waste removal providers, but the total expenditure is always going to be a tiny fraction of the total project cost. In other words, any savings achieved here are going to be close to irrelevant in the scheme of things.
Consider also that a dollar saved on the initial quote can wind up costing tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars should the project be disrupted or sidelined over a regulatory noncompliance issue.
And that’s just one example of how selecting the wrong waste management partner can backfire. Here’s another: Imagine a major construction project in an expensive, high-end neighborhood. The homes are immaculate, but parked in front of them is your dumpster—rusted and overflowing with waste. It’s a bad look and it reflects poorly on the professionalism of the entire project.
For these and so many other reasons, it’s essential to choose a waste management partner based not on price point but service. Will the company do what they say they will do? Will they follow through on their promotional claims? Will they be diligent in preventing dumpster overflow? Finally, will they be able to assess and accommodate your need to recycle different materials (such as concrete and roofing) to the proper landfills and recycling centers?
A Small Cog With Big Impact
Think of any construction project as a machine with many interlocking pieces. Waste management is one of the smallest cogs in the machine and yet it has the potential to bring the entire thing to a screeching halt. Any delay or noncompliance issue can have significant ramifications for the project overall and for the contractor’s reputation.
One of the biggest mistakes contractors can make is simply picking the cheapest dumpster company. Taking the time to evaluate for service and regulatory guidance can be essential for choosing the right partner and keeping projects moving forward without costly disruptions.
SEE ALSO: IMPROVE EFFICIENCY IN JOBSITE WASTE MANAGEMENT
