Federal Recycles

If your business generates at least the equivalent of three 8-yard dumpsters being picked up once a week, there's a good chance investing in a compactor would be a more cost-efficient way of handling your waste. Compactors have the advantage of generating heavier waste loads, reducing the frequency of pickups and saving money on your trash bills. 

Costs involved to your business for a compactor:

• monthly rental fees: a 3-year lease on a new 42-yard compactor can run about $400/month
• haul charge is defined by how far the truck has to go; typically you are looking at a minimum of about $170 per load
• disposal charge: this varies by area and runs between $45 - $75 per load

For example, if you choose a 42-yard compactor with a compaction rate of 4:1, it will hold the equivalent of 168 yards of waste, or 21 8-yard dumpsters. Adding up the average costs listed above, a once-a-month pickup will cost about $650.00. Take a look at your commercial trash bill. If you're paying more than that for service, you should look more closely at switching from a dumpster to a compactor. Be sure to read our tips on managing your compactor hauling fees to save even more money.

It's easy to throw money away with an ineffective or outdated waste and recycling program. The problem is: you don't know if your program is working without checking on it occasionally. This means making time to take a look in the dumpster and trash cans, carefully reading your trash bills, and looking at the locations where trash is generated. These periodic audits keep you from, for example, paying to haul air when half-full dumpsters and contractors are picked up or from spending money to landfill items that can be recycled. 

One sure-fire way to decrease your monthly overhead is to streamline your waste and recycle stream. This is an often-overlooked avenue to increased profitability in many companies for one of a variety of reasons, usually because:

"Right sizing" is about getting the greatest value from your trash and recycling service by maximizing your container size and minimizing the number of pickups. Cost savings can really add up when you find the right balance. Here is a case study illustrating how one of our partners, a window manufacturer based in the midwest, achieved a $25K annual revenue impact through right sizing.

The biggest advantage of using a compactor for your recyclables is that it saves space. One 42-yard compactor holds about 4 tons of OCC; that is equivalent to about 80 gaylord boxes. With a compactor, valuable floor space is freed up for other uses. They are easy, clean, and simple to use. The only drawback? Compactors are comparatively more expensive than dumpsters.

Costs involved to your business for a compactor:

• monthly rental fees: a 3-year deal on a new 42-yard compactor can run about $400/month
• haul charge is defined by how far the truck has to go; typically you are looking at a minimum of about $170 per load
• disposal charge: this varies by area and runs between $45 - $75 per load

When you are using a compactor for recycling, the haul charge is offset by the revenue you earn from your recycable commodities. For example, a fully packed compactor of OCC weighs about 4 tons, and you should be able to negotioate earning between $10 and $15 per ton. You can also compace LDPE and other commodities.

You can manage your compactor hauling fees to save even more money.

How many pallets does your company toss out every day?

You believe in recycling. You can’t, in good conscience, toss a soda can in the trash. Your recycling bin at home is overflowing by trash day each week. At work, you diligently sort paper, plastic, and glass into the proper bins. You are our teachers, our corporate management, our small business owners, our children, our parents. You care about the environment and believe you’re doing what you can to conserve our resources.

But when you go to the store, do you buy toilet paper made from trees? Is your copy paper made from trees? If you don’t buy recycled products, are you really recycling? The answer is a resounding NO! Actor and environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. talked about this in an interview with Marianne Schnall:

Recycling Programs

There is no one-size-fits-all recycling program; each company and manufacturer has their own needs. Federal International specializes in creating customized recycling programs OR modifying your existing program with the goal of effectively maximizing your recycling revenues.