Real Estate Journal — ODM — Industry Experts — April 27 - May 10, 2018 — 15B
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I ndustry E xperts By Lisa Cassidy, ecoImagine Three ways every business can reduce waste and save on trash removal
T
wenty-four years ago USA Hostels opened its doors to the world’s
Flex 4360 - a steel version of the in-bin trash compactor, we look forward to seeing what an even more durable and powerful version of the Orwak LE can do. We already know that they are worth the investment.” Rave customer reviews and award winning hospitality is just a few of the reasons why USA Hostels stands above the rest. Successful precycling, recycling and compacting is clearly another. Lisa Cassidy is senior strategist and founder of ecoImagine. n
minimize volume. To achieve maximum compaction ratios, commercial equipment like the Orwak LE or Flex 4360 is used. The result? Less trash bins to manage, put out and pay for – leading to lower trash removal costs. For haulers, trash compac- tion prepares waste for effi- cient transport by truck, boat or rail car to landfills or other waste disposal facilities. With the help of Orwak’s LE in-bin trash compactor, USA Hostels was able to cut the number of bins they put out for pick-up at each of its locations in half.
This lead to over a decade of savings. In-Bin Trash Compacting – The Secret to Trash Removal Savings Even with precycling and re- cycling practices in full throttle back in 2008, USAHostels was spending, on average, $4000 per month at each location for trash removal. Since each loca- tion put out four 96 gallon bins on trash pick-up days, they estimated they were paying about $1000 per bin for trash removal. Once USA Hostels made the decision to purchase Orwak
in-bin trash compactors, they immediately cut trash removal costs in half. Instead of put- ting out four bins per location, they put out two, saving them ~$2000 per month per location. In just 4 locations, they estimated almost a million dollars in savings over the last ten years. “Our experience with the Or- wak LE was good. We used the heck out of them for the past 10 years. We were able to maxi- mize usage of the compactors by using Orwak’s replacement part program, but now that Orwak is offering the Orwak
t r a v e l e r s by offering a f f o r d a b l e a c c o mm o - da t i ons i n several US destinations. Since then, they have re- ceived many
Lisa Cassidy
industry awards and top rank- ings by HostelWorld, Hostel- Bookers and Trip Advisor. In addition to their hos- pitality achievements, USA Hostels also achieved a lesser known accomplishment – an honorary five gold star rating for 10 years of exceptional waste management. They did it through precycling, recycling and in-bin trash compaction. What is Precycling? If you have ever used your own bags, bins, purchased digital media instead of physi- cal DVDs, or bought in bulk, you have participated in pre- cycling. Precycling is way to reduce waste by not acquir- ing it in the first place. By allowing guests to share or rent items instead of buying them, by purchasing food and drinks for the hostel in bulk and by using reusable contain- ers, USA Hostels encouraged precycling as part of their day- to-day operations. Recycling - An Integral Part of Waste Diversion It’s common knowledge that recycling diverts large volumes of materials like glass, plastic, paper, cardboard, and other clean, source-separated mate- rials from the waste stream. Businesses of all sizes are encouraged, if not mandated, to participate. “Recycling has been an in- tegral part of our waste man- agement process since the beginning. Anything that could be recycled was recycled,” according to David Reuter, President of USA Hostels. “In the case of our San Francisco location, the recycling program is practically free. There was no reason not to participate. What couldn’t be recycled was ultimately disposed of. This is where in-bin trash compaction came in.” In-Bin Trash Compacting Reduces Trash Volume In-bin trash compaction means trash is compacted in- side of a 65 or 96 gallon bin to
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