Most waste generators have learned to take responsibility for their waste.

– If you want to differentiate yourself, now is the time to get proactive. 

As a waste generator in 2021 you get it, the waste you produce is your responsibility. 

This understanding is underpinned by a growing awareness, of not just the direct, but also of the indirect liabilities associated with commercially generated waste. 

Making sure that your waste management practises meet, not just the legal requirements, but also the expectations of all stakeholders, is the inevitable outcome of the public discourse and increased community focus on all things environmental over the last few decades.   

First movers to a more transparent and responsible approach to waste management reaped distinct commercial rewards, such as an increase in brand value among environmentally conscious clients as well as a significantly decreased risk of reputational damage. Having improved processes in place became essential when dealing with larger clients and governments, and the effort required to implement these procedures can now be regarded as table stakes.  So, what’s next? 

The answer is deceptively simple. It’s time to get proactive. The broad and positive changes up until this point have mostly been a reaction to outside forces as they created both hard legal, but also soft values-based incentives for businesses to step up and take responsibility.  

With the raised table stakes, businesses now have an incentive to not just take the responsibility for their waste, but also to proactively push the waste industry to improve their handling of the waste they generate.  In the multinational arena, we already see the consumer product giants taking steps to both replace but also to recycle plastics on a larger scale – of course, this makes sense to companies the size of Coca-Cola or Woolworths, but if it makes sense to them it probably makes sense for smaller companies too.   

The two main barriers for small and medium sized companies wanting to go from a reactive to a proactive approach in dealing with their wastes are resources and volume. Limited resources usually mean a lack of internal know-how and, quite frankly time – as employees focus on immediate profitability and core products. Not generating enough volume to warrant any larger investments in the waste space creates an immediate hurdle that makes it impossible to deal with the issues in-house. 

This is where we see an opportunity to make a difference. We believe that Westref Enviro can provide your business with the time and know-how to help you change gears from a reactive to a proactive approach to waste generation, and to treat the waste generation as a core part of your business. Let’s have a chat!