Airport Business - 38

SUSTAINABILITY
AUTHOR Graham Rihn

LOOKING TO UPGRADE YOUR
SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES?

Ask These Questions First
LIKE COUNTLESS corporations around the world
committing to social responsibility, airports are
looking for ways to reduce their footprint. Many
are taking steps in the right direction - including
banning the sale of single-use water bottles and
plastic straws, encouraging the use of water refill
stations, and more - to chip away at the problem.
However, the industry has a long way to go in order
to get serious regarding sustainability.
With the size and scope of airports,
the process of f inding the best
solutions partner to optimize waste
operations and enhance sustainability
is quite the undertaking. However,
some may find that by engaging with
a third-party team, they can begin to
reduce their overall carbon footprint
and drive cost savings, especially those
on a smaller scale.
I have outlined below key
considerations to determine if you can
or should optimize your waste and
recycling programs.

Is there room for
improvement?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
GRAHAM RIHN

Graham Rihn is the founder and CEO of
RoadRunner Recycling. The company is on
a mission to elevate recycling in a world
dominated by waste. RoadRunner provides
custom recycling and waste solutions
engineered to improve waste stream management, serving thousands of commercial
businesses from more than 20 industries,
including healthcare, manufacturing, education, retail, and hospitality.

The most obvious question may also
be the most difficult to answer. Many
organizations know that they could be
doing more with their programs, yet
the underlying reasons may be more
challenging to diagnose.
One way to understand where
costs may be affected is to review past
collection payments from your current
provider. Some telltale signs include
overpaying for too many pickups, using
the wrong size containers or getting
charged for numerous overages.

38 \ AIRPORTBUSINESS / AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2020

Some overages may be harder to
spot within invoices due to industry
jargon. Typical charges to look out for
include:
* Dry run: A dry run, also called a trip
fee, is when a hauler comes to service
your container and it is either empty
or unable to be serviced due to an
obstacle blocking the way.
* Extra yardage: These charges
typically occur when the container is
filled over its capacity. Haulers cannot
legally transport a load that weighs
more than 10 tons. If your team is
seeing continuous extra yardage
charges and the container has a lid that
will not close due to volume, make
sure to break down all recyclables
properly, as cardboard boxes are the
number one culprit.
* Container swap: Also known as an
exchange, this charge occurs when you
need to swap out an existing container
for a new one. A way to avoid this
is ensuring you have the proper sized
container based on your waste audit.
Every facility is unique and a onesize-fits-all waste and recycling program
is generally not the right answer.
Finding room for improvement within
your facility consists of analyzing and
understanding what your current waste
operations are and where opportunities
lie within those operations to reduce
costs and divert materials from the
landfill. Those may be hard to find
without taking a deep dive, so it would
make sense to use a third-party company
whose experts can identify and assist
with the complexities, some of whom
offer their services for only a small
associated cost.
Airport Business

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