Sustainable Waste Management

Sustainable Waste Management

SUSTAINABLE WASTE MANAGEMENT 2
Assignment Instructions
The research paper should be 8-10 pages. Papers will be double-spaced in 10- to 12-point Times New
Roman or Arial font with standard, 1-inch margins. Your paper should develop and defend an economic
and operational program that implements a sustainable waste management and recycling for an
organization. The organization can be one that you are familiar with or one that you research. At a
minimum, the research project should have several cited references and should follow the below-
recommended outline as well as include (cite and reference) at least three current peer-reviewed articles
about your selected topic.
*The abstract and introduction should be 1-3 pages in length. And feel free to select an economic and
operational program that implements a sustainable waste management and recycling for an organization.
You can select any company, government agency or non-profit.
I. Company introduction
A. Background
B. Principles of the company
II. Objectives
A. Explain what the waste management program will do for the company
B. Explain what the recycling program will do for the company
III. Return on Investment
A. Address direct costs of these programs
B. Address indirect costs of these programs
C. Calculate the Return on investment of each of the programs
D. Discuss any other benefits to the program
IV. Explain the waste management program
A. Explain what is being done currently?
B. Explain what the plan for change is
C. Explain the desired result of the program
V. Explain the recycling program
A. Explain what is being done currently?
B. Explain what the plan for change is
C. Explain the desired result of the program
VI. Conclusion
A. Summarize the costs and benefits of the program
B. Summarize the future of the program

Sustainable Waste Management

Sustainable waste management is a continuous process that ensures effective
recycling and proper disposal of waste management. There are various practices for waste
management which focus on effective practices of collecting, transporting, processing and
disposing of waste as well as managing and monitoring various waste materials. Therefore,
waste management companies observe the importance of the sustainability aspect so that every

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component of waste is effectively managed efficiently. The waste management strategies should
design and implement economic and operational programs that are sustainable initiatives that
aim at reducing cost, improving efficiencies and reducing waste (Epstein, 2018). Waste
management is changing the reuse and recycling of waste products through strategic programs
that enhance the future environmental sustainability. This paper focuses on the proper disposal
and recycling programs that enhance environmental sustainability. The paper reflects on
economic and operational programs that are used by Waste Management Company in the United
States of American as well as a brief review of the company.
Company Background

Waste Management is a US-based company, which carries out many programs
and strategies of waste management. Waste Management Inc. is an American waste management
corporation as well as dealing with comprehensive waste and environmental services. The
corporation was started in 1971, with its headquarters in First City Tower in Houston, Texas. The
“network of the corporation includes 367 collection operations as well as transfer stations, 293
active landfill disposal sites and 146 recycling plants (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2017).” Besides, the
company provides environmental services to over 21 million industrial, residential, municipal
and commercial customers in the US and Canada. The company has numerous transfer and
collection vehicles as well as has the leading trucking fleet in the waste industry. A big part of
Waste Management business revolves around sustainability. The landfill habits are the efforts or
program, which is geared towards a greener environment and reducing carbon emissions for its
fleet of vehicles. Waste Management is the provider of leading and integrated environmental
solutions in North America. The firm provides the right residential waste and recycling solutions
and rewards customers by providing a wide range of exceptional products and services.

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Therefore, the company assists both small and big businesses and clients across the United States
to meet their environmental goals. These services include collection and disposal strategies or
industry leading recycling services (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2017).

Waste Management, Inc. provides integrated environmental solutions and serves
more than 21 million municipal, industrial and commercial customers in Canada and the US. The
company has an economic and operational program for developing waste solutions in order to
establish a sustainable environment and world for future generations. These programs include
not only recycling and disposal but also personal counseling that assists clients to realize their
green objectives and include zero waste in their disposal programs. The objectives of the
company are to ensure proper disposal of waste products, recycling, absolute waste and waste
management strategies for a sustainable environment. The company also has programs for a
landfill-gas-to-energy program that generates sufficient electricity to customers. The corporation
has the leading network of landfills, recycling facilities, and transfer stations in the waste sector
and its strategic business can adapt to achieve the diverse needs of distinct customer segments.
Besides, Waste Management is the largest provider of comprehensive services for waste
management. Therefore, the mission of Waste Management is to maximize the valuable
resources while minimizing impacts to further both environmental and economic sustainability
for all of its stakeholders (Epstein, 2018).

Moreover, other objectives of the company cut across the ethics, corporate
governance and diversity. The company believes in the highest ethical standards as it aims to
define a culture that reflects its core values. The company is firmly committed to promoting
diversity and inclusion. Therefore, it focuses on supporting minority and women organizations
that strive to enhance opportunities for professional advancement and development. Besides, the

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primary company objective is to “maximize the value of shareholders while adhering to the laws
of the jurisdictions in which it operates (Epstein, 2018).” The main goals and objectives of the
company are concerned with sustainable programs for proper disposal and recycling of waste
products. These programs include the advancement of “technologies to reduce waste, increasing
reuse and recycling, creating safer disposal and treatment options, developing renewable energy
sources and sharing the benefits of its learning and innovating clients and collaborators (Benitez-
Amado, Llorens-Montes & Fernandez-Perez, 2015).” The company focuses on establishing
different and clean alternatives approaches to produce power that threatened the exhausting
natural resources for forever and ensuring that companies and individuals focus on reducing,
reducing and recycling waste products. It ensures that companies take leadership positions by
investing in cleaner technologies to mitigate the effects of air pollution and strategies to enhance
environmental protection and respect with aims of recovering and restoring waste product. The
company provides knowledge and experience that lead to new and sustainable solutions as well
as work with all links of the supply chain to meet the whole life cycle of a product. The other
aim of the company is to ensure commitment to leadership and excellence in delivering lasting
solutions to the current and future environmental challenges.
Waste Management Program

A waste management program for the company will ensure proper disposal, reuse,
and recycling of waste products. Waste Management Inc. invests in programs that maximize
resource value as well as eliminating and minimizing environmental effects so that the
environment and economy can thrive and sustain future generations. The sustainable waste
management program helps in increasing efficiency, reducing costs and brand enhancements.
Therefore, a waste management program will improve efficiency, creates raw materials as well

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as ensures proper disposal of waste products. Planning the waste management and recycling is a
challenging task for companies and involves scientific understanding and knowledge as well as
logistical planning for balancing the environmental impacts and the cost-effectiveness of the
process. Companies implementing waste management program feel an extra pressure of
performing their roles in the greenest methods possible. Waste management program plays a
vital role in the worldwide cleanliness and sustainability drive. Companies are incorporating
strategic policies and programs for waste management and recycling. Thus, the waste
management program is essential for companies planning for sustainable strategies because they
enhance the protection of the environment and the health of the population. Waste Management
Corporation has established sustainable strategic policies that help organizations and institutions
to plan and manage their waste. Effective waste management assists Waste Management to
develop long-term sustainability programs for waste management and preserving the natural
beauty of the environment. Besides the long-term benefits of waste management, effective
programs in the waste management systems or chain help to reduce human resources
requirements for waste handling and disposal and reduce the haulage and landfill fees for
individuals and organizations. Besides, companies raise additional revenues from the sale of
recyclables, protection of habits, reduction of pollution and fire hazards, improved community
relations, increased customer satisfaction, reduced pollution and improved sanitation and
compliance with government codes and regulations (Subramanian & Gunasekaran, 2015).

Benefits of Recycling Program

The recycling program is essential for the company because it will ensure
valuable collection and processing strategies for materials. This creates new products as well as
benefits the community and the environment. The use the recycling program will be vital

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because it will reduce the amount of waste sent to incinerators and landfills and will conserve
natural resources or raw materials for the company (Epstein, 2018). Besides, the recycling
program will increase economic security by tapping the domestic source of materials and will
save energy. Moreover, Waste Management supports manufacturing and conserves valuable
resources as well as helps to create more jobs in the manufacturing and recycling industries in
the United States.

Return on Investment

Return on investment is a good measure of efficiency and profitability of waste
management and recycling programs adopted by companies in order to enhance the sustainable
environment. Waste Management is focused on managing waste through a recycling program.
The company recycles over 8.5 million turns of waste materials such as glass, plastic,
electronics, metals, and paper at 128 facilities. The single-stream recycling process ensures
recyclable materials are comingled. Return on investment is a performance metric that
companies use to evaluate the efficiency of its investment or programs s compared to the cost of
investing. Therefore, the return on investment is used to directly measure the number of returns
on a particular program relative to the cost of investment. Return on investment is calculated by
dividing the return of investment with the cost of the investment. Thus return on investment =
(Investment Gain- Investment Cost) / Cost of Investment. Gains in waste management are
recycling processes proceeds obtained from the sale of new products and cost saving achieved
through effective waste management programs.

Therefore, sustainable return on investment is the effective methodology to
identify and quantify economic, environmental and societal impacts of investment programs such

SUSTAINABLE WASTE MANAGEMENT 8
as recycling programs, efficiency, and new product development. Waste Management Company
is focused on waste to energy program, which is both operational and economic program to
reduce the volume of waste that would end in landfills. Thus, energy recovery is a positive and
essential byproduct of proper waste management. There are significant direct and indirect costs
associated with both energy recovery and recycling programs of the company. There is a big
challenge in identifying and quantifying what amounts to green energy through the Waste to
Energy program. However, the company seeks to connect with the triple bottom line and
includes the environmental, economic and societal benefits of proper waste management
programs. The Waste to Energy program is focused on direct cash advantages. The program
shows the process in which non-cash and external benefits and costs can be assessed and given in
the monetary form. This process is the sustainable return on investment. The program establishes
noncash, cash, external benefits and costs in order to calculate the return on investment. The
company benefits from both cash and non-cash from the program. The cash benefits include the
reduced cost of electricity, reduced Collin/heating costs, reduced waste disposal costs, reduced
water costs and decreased sewerage costs. The company also has other reduced operational costs
of Waste to Energy program. The non-cash benefits include reduced greenhouse gas emissions,
fresh water conversed, improved health, improved safety, reduced air contaminant emissions and
improved productivity and resilience. The costs of Waste to Energy program include the capital
costs, operating cost increases, and disposal costs and associated maintenance costs (Schaltegger
& Burritt, 2017).

The indirect costs of these programs will include the multiple activities that
cannot be assigned to the specific cost program. These costs will include, and the return on
investment for this program will be calculated on net cost saving and benefits against the initial

SUSTAINABLE WASTE MANAGEMENT 9
investment costs. Assuming that the company invested $ 100, 000 in this program in order to
implement useful Waste to Energy program, the return on investment will be calculated as
follows. The indirect costs will be established through the cost of material supplies, indirect labor
costs, communication, advertising, marketing, as well as accounting and payroll services. Others
will include the cost of rental and ever-changing costs of gas and electricity.

The non-cash benefits from the Waste to Energy will be $30,000, and the cash
benefits will be $25,000. The cost of investment in both direct and indirect costs is $100000. The
return on investment in Waste to Energy will be calculated by dividing net benefits with the
initial cost of investment.

Waste to Energy ROI = (Cash benefits+ Non-cash Benefits)/ Initial costs of

investment

= (30,000+25,000) /100,000
= 55,000 /100,000
=0.55 or 55%
The biggest challenge of recline program is the capital investment requirements.
This is because recycling is thought of as a nice business rather a business opportunity. The
company will achieve custodial savings, waste contract savings, and paper rebate as cost
avoidance measures. This means that the recycling program will generate a return on investment
and pay back the initial cost of investment. Waste Management has adopted a mixed recycling
program, which provides efficient and sustainable solutions. Considering that the cost of the
mixed recycling program is $80,000 and the benefits accruing from program and sale of new

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products yield net proceeds of $136,000. The return on investment of the recycling program will
be calculated as follows:

ROI = (136,000 – 80000)/ 80,000
ROI = 56000/80000
= 0.7 or 70%

Benefits

The mixed recycling program will help companies to skip the landfill. This is
because less material will be sent t landfill and allows them to be useful for a long period. The
company will be able to use its resources wisely by preventing the depletion of natural resources.
Recycled waste means less use of natural resources. For instance, the company will help
organizations and individuals to recycle their waste continuously. There will be reduced use of
energy. The exact amount of energy saved will depend on the processes and materials used. This
is because the recycling processes will be more energy efficient than the process used for brand
new materials. Besides, it will lead to green jobs. The recycling program will generate more jobs
as compared to landfill disposal for the company. Recycling saves money through minimization
of disposal costs.

Based on the results, Waste to Energy program will avoid long-haul transport of
waste for disposal, waste stabilization as well as provide a long-term control over disposal
pricing and capacity. Also, the program reduces the fossil fuel reliance as well as provides a
community with a baseload renewable energy resource. Moreover, it is a strategic program that
provides an opportunity for cogeneration and complements source separation-recycling

SUSTAINABLE WASTE MANAGEMENT 11
programs. Therefore, Waste to Energy program is a sustainable waste management approach,
which ensures greener environment through cleaner process and minimizes landfill disposal.
Thus, there are other technological and environmental benefits associated with social and
economic implications.

Waste management program

Waste Management Company provides sustainable waste management strategies
and solutions to organizations and individuals globally. The current program aims at collecting,
processing, transporting and disposing of as well as managing and monitoring various waste
materials for organizations and individuals (Charter & Tischner, 2017). The program is essential
for the company as it advances technologies to for reducing waste, increases recycling and reuse.
Also, the program current program creates even safer disposal and treatment options, develops
renewable energy sources and shares the benefits of its innovation and learning with its
collaborators and clients. The company has green and sustainable programs for ensuring clean
and alternative approaches to generate power in order to mitigate the threat of exhausting our
natural resources as well as for reducing, reusing and recycling programs in North America
(Epstein, 2018). The company takes a leadership position to invest in cleaner technologies in
order to reduce air pollution as well as aims at recovering and restoring the environment. It also
ensures that customers use knowledge and experience to benefit the environment leading to new
and sustainable solutions. This will work with every link in the supply chain.

Recycling Program

This program will protect the environment since recycling reduces important
types of pollutants. For instance, assisting organizations to recycle paper saves over 7000 gallons

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of water and numerous tries according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The Waste to
Energy program will save energy. Saving energy is beneficial to both the environmental and
financial levels. For instance, aluminum cans are created from recycled materials. Also, reducing
waste means reducing costs (Kibert, 2016). This saves money for the company. The job creation
will be achieved through the programs. Recycling program and Waste to Energy program will
require more workforce than waste management program. For example, every job created in the
collection program leads to more jobs for manufacturing the recovered materials. These
programs will also improve the image of the company. The company will become more
responsible in advertising its efforts for recycling. This will increase customer loyalty and
improve the image of the company with employees. Therefore, there will be improved morale,
increased individual efforts and lower staff turnover. The recycling program will also support the
manufacturing sector and conserve valuable resources and prevent pollution by mitigating the
demand to gather new raw materials. Besides saving energy, recycling will reduce the quantity
of waste to landfills and conserve resources such as mineral, water, and timber.

Conclusion

Operational and economic programs for sustainable waste management have both
benefits and costs associated with them. The waste management program will incur indirectly
and directs costs. The cash benefits include the reduced cost of electricity, reduced
Collin/heating costs, reduced waste disposal costs, reduced water costs and reduced sewerage
costs. The company also has other reduced operational costs of Waste to Energy program. The
non-cash benefits include reduced greenhouse gas emissions, fresh water conversed, improved
health, improved safety, reduced air contaminant emissions and improved productivity and

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resilience. The costs of Waste to Energy program include the capital costs, operating cost
increases, and disposal costs and associated maintenance costs.

The future benefits will be job creation, improved company image, reduced cost
of waste disposal, greener environment, conserved fresh water, improved health, reduced
operational costs, reduced cost of electricity and economic benefits such as global investment in
cleaner an sustainable programs as well as increased competitiveness for sustainable
development and waste management. The future costs will be increased operational costs, capital
costs, associated maintenance costs and disposal costs of waste products.

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References

Benitez-Amado, J., Llorens-Montes, F. J., & Fernandez-Perez, V. (2015). IT impact on talent
management and operational environmental sustainability. Information Technology and
Management, 16(3), 207-220.
Charter, M., & Tischner, U. (Eds.). (2017). Sustainable solutions: developing products and
services for the future. Routledge.
Epstein, M. J. (2018). Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring
corporate social, environmental and economic impacts. Routledge.
Kibert, C. J. (2016). Sustainable construction: green building design and delivery. John Wiley &
Sons.
Schaltegger, S., & Burritt, R. (2017). Contemporary environmental accounting: issues, concepts
and practice. Routledge.
Subramanian, N., & Gunasekaran, A. (2015). Cleaner supply-chain management practices for
twenty-first-century organizational competitiveness: Practice-performance framework
and research propositions. International Journal of Production Economics, 164, 216-233.