How can a waste segregation system reduce disposal cost and help you to reach your environmental targets? Waste segregation is a steadfast way of ensuring that you can maximise the recovery of your waste materials.

The ability to segregate your waste into specific waste streams means more sustainable solution can be source, such as recycling materials into new products. This is a best practice for minimising your environmental impact as much as possible and to help reach your environmental targets.

Knowing which solution is most beneficial for your project depends entirely on your site and operations. To help you make a decision, we’ve narrowed down the top 3 advantages of each solution for you to take into consideration. This should help you to decide on which waste segregation system will work best for your site.

Onsite Segregation

Onsite waste segregation means that your site will be responsible for the segregation of the waste materials you are producing on site. This means that you would require multiple waste containers in order to store the individual waste streams.

Segregating your waste materials onsite is particularly ideal if you are working on a large site that has the capacity and resources to operate an effective segregation system. Here are some ways that onsite waste segregation could benefit your site:

1) You could save money in the long run

Some waste streams are cheaper to dispose of than others, therefore segregating your waste materials on site could prove to be a more cost-effective solution. Segregating your waste will also result in a smaller volume of waste per container, so your waste could be stored onsite for a longer period of time. This will reduce the frequency of waste collections and help you to cut down on service costs.

2) Your team will have more control over your materials

Your team is your greatest asset. The people working on your site should have first-hand knowledge on what type of waste you are producing and how much. Taking responsibility of waste segregation onsite can encourage your workers to become even more vigilant. This way, you and your team may begin to notice issues you might not have noticed before, such as if you are throwing away materials that could be reused on your site.

3) Helps to improve your environmental impact

Your team is your greatest asset. The people working on your site should have first-hand knowledge on what type of waste you are producing and how much. Taking responsibility of waste segregation onsite can encourage your workers to become even more vigilant. This way, you and your team may begin to notice issues you might not have noticed before, such as if you are throwing away materials that could be reused on your site.

Offsite Segregation

Offsite waste segregation means that a waste management specialist will segregate your waste after collecting it from your site. This waste will be taken to a Materials Recycling Facility or MRF (such as our very own MRF here in Salford) in order for the materials to be segregated to divert it from landfill.

If you are working on a smaller site and your team aren’t as equipped to segregate waste onsite, offsite segregation is probably the ideal solution for you.

 1) There will be less demand on your team

Onsite segregation requires extra effort from your team, which might not be ideal for your site. If your team can’t dedicate the time to segregate your waste properly and efficiently, this could lead to problems such as contamination of waste streams. Mistakes like this can result in more charges for your business and complications with your service.

With the exception of hazardous waste, which is legally required to be segregated, ensuring that your service provider has offsite segregation capabilities is a great option that can reduce the demand on your team and let them focus on their many other duties.

2) It saves valuable room on your site

A key advantage to offsite segregation is that you won’t require multiple waste containers on your site. When you are working on a site with limited space to begin with, offsite segregation is an ideal solution to help you save as much valuable space on your site as possible.

3) You can still ensure that you receive a sustainable solution

By choosing a waste management specialist you can trust, who have their own segregating facilities, this allows you to continue benefiting from a sustainable solution for your business. They will segregate your waste into specific waste streams to source the most sustainable solution for the materials, such as recycling or energy recovery. Whilst you won’t be actively segregating your waste materials onsite, you will still be able to minimise your environmental impact.

Whilst waste segregation is a great method of finding sustainable solutions for your waste materials, whether or not this segregation take place on or off your site should be a decision made with your specific project and site in mind.

If you need help deciding on the best way forward for your site, we would be more than happy to support you. JWS also offer you the opportunity to book your free site visit, so that a member of our team can come to your site and help you choose a solution that would benefit you the most.