How businesses need to manage sensitive waste

All businesses generate waste in some form or another. This could be as simple as unwanted clothes hangers up to more sensitive information containing clients and employees’ personal data. Businesses must understand how to manage this waste and the necessary steps that need to be taken to dispose of it correctly. Today we are going to take a look at a few different types of sensitive waste and how they should be managed. 

Waste containing personal data 

One of the most important types of waste businesses produce in 2021 is waste that contains personal data. This can include home addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and even more sensitive data such as credit card information. 

It is vital that this waste is disposed of correctly and stored securely before being disposed of. There are strict rules outlined through GDPR legislation that govern how long businesses can hold onto data and also the steps they need to take to ensure that outside individuals cannot access data. While you may think this applies only to online businesses, this is not the case. 

When it comes to disposing of waste containing personal data, there are many options. One of the easiest is to partner with a professional waste management company to dispose of the waste. This will usually involve the business’s waste being securely stored until it is ready to be collected. Then once outside of the business, it will be shredded and handled by the waste management professionals. By operating this way, businesses can be assured that the waste is disposed of correctly. The fines for breaches in GDPR laws can be extremely high and could severely impact a business’s finances and reputation going forward as a trusted organisation. 

Waste that could be a safety hazard 

In some industries, waste can be a significant safety hazard for those in the workplace. Businesses, such as civil engineering companies or those who provide contractors to building sites, need to ensure that their workers are safe while at work. 

One of the simplest ways to help achieve this is to ensure basic commercial waste disposal methods are available. This includes working with waste management companies to organise commercial skips for a project. 

Using a skip as a method of waste disposal is a really effective way to manage waste. When using a skip for a business project, the key thing is to monitor the skip’s capacity to ensure it is not overfilled. By doing this, you could risk hazardous items falling out of the skip and injuring someone working on a project. Keeping a good working relationship with your skip provider should enable you to have the waste removed when needed and ensure the skip is keeping workers safe on site. 

Food waste

There are several different types of food waste that businesses need to be aware of and manage correctly. The first thing to keep in mind is that no matter the business, food waste must be kept away from fresh food entirely or moved to a different area as quickly as possible to avoid cross-contamination. The risks from cross-contamination are serious, and any business handling food should be well aware of this. Businesses also need to have the necessary facilities to keep food waste, this includes sealable containers which can be cleaned and disinfected. 

Depending on the business’s location, there may be different rules about disposing of food waste. For this reason, it’s important to work with your local council or a waste management company to understand precisely what is needed and how they can help in this process. Businesses should also be aware of how much food waste they produce and what can be done to reduce this. Due to food waste often being sent to landfill and the damaging impact on the environment this can have, it should be in every business’s best interest to lower their environmental impact. 

The best place to start for a new small business, regardless of what kind of waste they will be producing, is to get in touch with local council officers and local waste management companies to work out the best solution for your business. Doing this will set you up well for the future and build a mutually beneficial relationship for both parties.