Properties and Facilities Waste Management

• Waste management in facilities
• Facility and property management waste types
• Bins for commercial properties

Properties and facilities management covers a wide area that involves ensuring various services are delivered across sites effectively. Facilities managers oversee owner-occupied and leased spaces, keep buildings safe, ensure everything runs well, and troubleshoot issues. This includes the storage, removal, and collection of waste from any properties and facilities.

In some cases, tenants may be responsible for organising waste removal (or the council or local authority for residential properties). It may depend on the type of business and waste produced. Often though it’s the responsibility of the property or facility manager to ensure those using any buildings you run have appropriate waste storage and collection services in place.

The types of waste produced in your properties and facilities will depend on the use of the building, its occupiers, and their operations. An appropriate number, size, and type of bins must be available to store all rubbish created with regular collections to avoid any bins from overflowing.

Separating waste into different recycling bins is also vital to protect the environment but also reduce waste disposal costs. Sending rubbish for recycling rather than to landfill means you’ll pay less landfill tax and do your bit for the planet. Check the needs of your building users to work out what kinds of bins you need.

Some common waste types produced in most facilities and properties are:

• General waste – food scraps, non-recyclable packaging, and other rubbish that can’t be separated or recycled.
• Dry mixed recycling – combine recyclable paper, cardboard, plastics, and metals in one bin.
• Sanitary waste – sanitary waste bins must be in all commercial bathrooms, so you’ll need bins to store sanitary waste before it’s collected.
• Cardboard recycling – buildings that create high volumes of cardboard waste can use separate bins to store it for recycling.
• Glass recycling – bottles and jars should be kept in separate bins and sent for recycling as glass is an infinitely recyclable material.
• Food waste – any organisation that creates food waste beyond scraps should use specific food waste bins so it can go for composting or anaerobic digestion.

Efficient waste management across your buildings, properties, and sites saves money, reduces waste, and minimises problems. Here are a few ways to improve waste management for property and facilities managers:

• Conduct a waste audit – identify the quantity and types of waste generated, where it’s produced, and who by. Review the current process of waste production, storage, removal, and disposal to check it’s managed safely and legally. This should also reveal the current costs and any improvement opportunities.
• Create a waste management plan – use the results from your audit to build a plan for managing waste. Include the bins you’ll need, where they’ll be kept, how often they’re removed, the costs involved, and who is responsible for disposal. Ensure all relevant parties are aware of the plan so it’s followed closely.
• Follow the waste hierarchy – reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover waste in that order where possible. Reducing waste at the source across your properties saves money, energy, and resources. Finding ways to reuse is better for the environment while recycling and recovery are also more advantageous than disposal in landfill or incineration.
• Build an efficient removal schedule – combine the best bin types and sizes with a cost-effective collection frequency. Avoid bins overflowing but also bins that are only half-full being removed with a suitable schedule for removal.
• Check compliance – ensure only licensed waste carriers remove rubbish from your properties and that you receive a duty of care certificate or waste transfer note.
• Regularly review waste management services – occupants of rented properties may change, which affects the types and volumes of waste produced while costs can increase. Review your waste management regularly to stay ahead of any changes so you can adapt, as necessary.