New year, new waste management. Consider these notable trends when re-evaluating your waste and recycling programs in the new year.
Jeremy Zahn
With the new year looming, these last few weeks in December are an opportunity to reflect and prepare. As you set aside time to benchmark against previously set goals, outline budgets and set new priorities, make sure to factor in your current state of visibility when considering optimizations to your waste and recycling program.
Consider specific challenges you may have faced, and identify pain points you encountered or areas of your program where more clarity may be desired. This exercise in reflection will help create alignment on next steps to optimize processes, costs and sustainable practices across your entire waste and recycling ecosystem.
Beyond reflection, be sure to also keep a forward-thinking mindset intact to prepare for what lies ahead in the waste and recycling industry. Based on conversations our team has had over the past 12 months with business leaders across a variety of verticals鈥攍ike health care, industrial, commercial and others鈥攖wo factors will be essential for a successful 2025: transparency and visibility. Around this time last year, we outlined a few tips and trends to consider when re-evaluating your waste management and recycling programs. Let鈥檚 review a few new areas where greater transparency and visibility may come into play as we ring in the new year.
Full-Circle Procurement and Monetization
In an inflationary period, increased focus on waste and recycling cost control has become more prevalent. Regardless of any major shifts, purchasing behavior in the current economic state indicates that cost reduction will remain a key priority as procurement and sourcing teams become more involved in the RFP and buying process for waste and recycling services.
Throughout these conversations, it is essential to define your scope and inclination for sustainable outcomes based on which stage you are in along your waste management journey:
- Beginner: Just starting out and have not enacted any priorities regarding sustainable waste management practices but realize the importance of sustainability and are seeking guidance and support in this area.
- Intermediate: Have made a few changes but need help implementing and driving sustainability forward.
- Advanced: You are further along the sustainable path but need a partner to cover the ins and outs of unique disposal methods to reach ambitious net zero, emissions reduction and diversion goals or to quality for specific certifications like LEED or TRUE.
Enhancing sustainability in your waste and recycling programs requires an investment. Being transparent about those costs is a key factor in understanding the end state of your disposal materials in the new year. Look for programs and service providers that can track materials through the handling process from start to finish, so when that material is picked up, you know exactly where it is going, how far it is going, how it is being treated, and any specific costs associated with consolidating that data for better benchmarking and implementation.
This emergence in accountability and upfront visibility to track how your materials are being managed downstream will help you do more than just understand your environmental impact. Improved tracking also presents a full-circle economic benefit when specific materials with the potential to be repurposed, reused or resold are proactively identified in your supply chain. Through that process, you are not only diverting those materials from the landfill where they pose a greenhouse gas risk鈥攜ou are also offsetting costs and driving value in the market by giving these materials a second life.
Technology in Reporting and Regulations: Predictive Analytics and Artificial Intelligence
Beyond supply chain transparency, data transparency is still an integral element of your waste and recycling program when making informed decisions about how best to structure, resize or optimize your services as your business evolves in 2025. Monitoring technology that provides real-time data into waste-generation volume, dumpster fullness levels, and pickup frequency and routes is still readily available, but more innovative approaches to waste tracking, including predictive analytics, may start to move to the forefront in the year ahead to improve reporting processes.
Artificial intelligence was a buzzworthy topic that reached a fever pitch this past year, but do not expect the AI conversation to go away anytime soon. Instead, anticipate an increased focus on finding ways to purposefully integrate AI and IoT technologies into waste management programs to enhance the tracking, reporting, and estimation of your materials diversion. For example, it may be possible in the near future to leverage historical data on your waste and recycling volumes and management practices to understand operational improvements or forecast landfill diversion ratios.
With proper setup and data management, AI may also soon be able to make predictions from a regulatory standpoint. Last year, we saw several laws around composting and organics recycling authorized in coastal areas like New York, where additional franchise regulations have now been introduced. Hypothetically, based on information provided around materials and location, AI may soon be able to flag upcoming regulations or mandates in your region, including how to best handle those materials onsite or identify an ideal partner to handle those materials further downstream.
While it may take time to effectively and responsibly integrate AI into reporting practices, it is something to keep an eye on and elevate to your managed waste services provider for further discussion.
To Centralize or Decentralize Services? Consider a Combination
Restructuring waste management models across different verticals may soon become essential as businesses recognize the value of partnering with a managed service provider that offers a strong, diversified partner network. A centralized approach to waste and recycling management with a managed service provider enhances visibility, streamlines operations, and allows for greater accountability across locations. By leveraging a provider with access to a broad network of specialized partners, businesses can maximize their waste diversion potential while still enjoying the benefits of centralized oversight and strategy development. This approach ensures comprehensive service coverage and enables more effective sustainability efforts by integrating best-fit solutions for each material stream鈥攗ltimately driving improved outcomes without sacrificing program visibility or control.
As the year winds down, remember to keep transparency and visibility at the forefront of your 2025 waste management and recycling program development to support data-driven decision-making, offset costs and scope environmental impact. However, if you are unsure how your program fits into this tech-enabled future or are seeking more effective ways to adjust your diversion or procurement strategies, consider consulting with a professionally managed waste services provider who will leverage those principles to meet your sustainability goals in the new year.