recycling

An Inside Look At How MASS Manages Your Waste Programs

October 30, 2018 by Heather Varner Leave a Comment

At MASS, we understand that as a hard-working business operator, garbage is probably the last thing on your mind.

In the day-to-day operation of your business, it may be surprising to you how much waste, recycling, and other residual material is being produced by your team. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – waste is the direct result of production, and in many cases is unavoidable. But, that doesn’t mean we should ignore it! What’s important is that we take focused action to reduce & divert our waste, all while ensuring we are in regulatory compliance with a continued focus on cost control. This will protect your business, save you money, & engage your staff. Sound like a lot? We get it. That’s where MASS comes in as Canada’s leading solid waste advisory company, with turn-key solutions to make your job easier.

How Does It Work?

MASS Environmental Services Inc. has a proven track record for serving businesses across the country. We service over 1,000 businesses from coast-to-coast, providing them with 24 / 7 / 365 service and expertise. Through the MASS Methodology, these businesses have come to count on our ‘best cost + best service‘ commitment, for all their waste diversion needs. This encompasses many of their services including: waste collection, recycling collection, organics collection, hazardous waste management, biomedical waste management, confidential shredding, confidential plastics destruction, grease trap services, and used cooking oil collection.

To phrase it casually, we are our clients ‘one-stop shop’ for anything and everything to do with waste & garbage. Wondering how this all works? Keep reading!

Step One – Find Out Your Cost-Savings Opportunity

When a new client approaches MASS, it is usually for one of two reasons. Reason One: They’ve had trouble in the past with a traditional waste hauler, and are looking for a way to relieve the stress of managing their waste by utilizing a trusted partner to manage the programs on their behalf. Reason Two: They’ve seen their waste disposal costs rise significantly in the face of increasing landfill rates, contamination charges, and issues with regulatory compliance; and they are looking for a way to control those costs and mitigate their liability. This is where our industry expertise comes in.

Typically, the first of our many programs that MASS sets up for new clients is Non-Hazardous Waste. This refers to waste, recycling, and organics. The first thing we do is provide potential clients with a cost-savings analysis. This is no-commitment and no-charge. The inquiring business will send MASS a copy of their three most recent waste disposal invoices. Our team of professionals will then put together a report identifying what your cost-savings would be upon entry into the MASS program. This report will give you the opportunity to decide whether or not to proceed with our team. If you are happy with the cost-savings opportunity, we will move on to the next step.

Step Two – Making the Move

MASS will review your current contract and will work to make the change-over from your current supplier to the newly selected one as seamless as possible. In this process, we will provide you with 24 / 7 / 365 support, and communicate closely with your staff so they know everything they need to about the change. Our goal is for minimal disruption to your daily operations on change-over day. Once the new service provider is in place, MASS will become your single point of contact for anything you need!

Whether it is extra services, service inquiries, additional containers – anything that comes up pertaining to waste and recycling falls directly in our wheel house, and we will take care of it without hesitation. You will quickly become familiar with our exceptional Customer Service Team as they get to know you and your location in detail.

MASS will also ensure that all of your programs are in compliance with regulations in your area. This will mitigate your liability and eliminate the risk of fines and violation notices. In an increasingly monitored industry, this is more important than ever. Our team will protect your business on a daily basis.

Step Three – Engaging Your Staff

Now that your programs are up and running, you can take advantage of the MASS Education Methodology. We will provide you with visual signage, and you can even schedule an online webinar with our Waste Diversion Educator for your staff. Our goal is to teach your staff how to recycle, but more importantly why it matters. This will motivate and engage your staff to do the right thing, and you will quickly see the results!

Step Four – Taking the Next Steps

Are you interested in participating in a Waste Audit? Are you looking for help with your Hazardous Waste? Do you have a problem with Confidential Shredding or Grease Trap Service? MASS offers a wide range of services to our clients, and we encourage each business we work with the consider these as their next steps to streamlining their services, all while saving money and doing the right thing for the environment. It truly is a win-win!

MASS has a team of professionals who are here to make your life easier.

Let us measure, manage, and oversee your waste programs on a daily basis. Our commitment to industry leading service has earned us a strong reputation for reliability and accountability with our nation-wide clients. We work with businesses in a variety of sectors including: food-services & restaurants, higher education, retail & property management, office spaces, manufacturing & health care.

If you are interested in learning more about MASS or want to get started with our methodology, Contact Us today.

5 Qs with Erik Varner

September 6, 2018 by Heather Varner Leave a Comment

In the spirit of celebrating our wonderful staff, we sat down with Waste Audit Technician, Erik Varner to learn more about him, and of course, share this with you! Keep reading for his answers to ‘5 Qs with Erik Varner.’

Mount Marcy

Q1. If you could describe a “day-in-the-life” of a MASS Waste Audit Technician in just three words, what would they be?

“Organics. Are. Everywhere”

When it comes to a day in the life of a Waste Audit Technician, you must be prepared to dig through plenty of food organics. Embrace the alone time you and those organics have together. You learn to become best friends with it. Your clothes and the organics will form a special bond that never really goes away. No seriously, the smell never goes away, just buy a new shirt and move on. And remember – every tonne of food-waste we send to landfill creates six metric tonnes of methane gas. The cause is bigger than ourselves. A good Waste Audit Technician never forgets this.

Q2. What has been the most rewarding moment of your work with MASS so far?

For me personally, the most rewarding experience is when you finish a long streak of audits and then finish all the reports. You get to take a deep breath and know with confidence that you did a good job, and have made a difference. Then, it all starts over the next day, but it’s always a new and refreshing experience.

Fredericton, NB Waterfront

Q3. What have you learned or how have you changed since working for MASS?

I’m sure this goes for all employees at MASS: Once you start working here, you really have to learn to recycle properly. If not, be prepared for a barrage of people running around the office asking “Who threw the pop can in the garbage?!” and then you sit in your cubicle quietly contemplating all your life’s mistakes. You learn quickly that there are no excuses for bad waste diversion.

Q4. What do you like best about working with our clients?

I love working face to face with people to whom recycling is a new concept. That’s the best part. You get to educate people on how to know better, and then do better. The world needs more people who aren’t afraid to ask questions and try to make a difference.

Lake Ontario

Q5. What is the one thing about you that may surprise your co-workers and / or clients to hear?

I’m sure all of our clients would be surprised to hear that we really do love going through their garbage. There really is so much to learn about a location based on what goes into the waste and recycling. It’s fascinating work, and allows us to gather valuable data that can really make a difference!

For more about Erik and the rest of our team, CLICK HERE!

MASS Environmental Services Inc. is a family owned and operated company built upon a value system of integrity and accountability. Our staff proudly exhibit these traits & make our company continually successful. Thank you to each of our team members for all that they do!

5 Qs with Jesse Moring

September 4, 2018 by Heather Varner Leave a Comment

The Moring Family

Our Administration Manager, Jesse Moring has a big role to fill here at MASS! Since joining our team in October 2017, he has become a crucial asset to what we do. In his position, Jesse is responsible for Accounts Receivable and Payable, Human Resources, and Information Technology – which means that he keeps very, very busy!

When Jesse goes home at the end of the day, the busyness definitely doesn’t stop! Jesse, and his fantastic wife Laurel are parents to three adorable young boys, and are actively involved in their community.

In recognition of all that Jesse does, we wanted to take this opportunity and celebrate him and his hard work. Keep reading for “5 Questions with Jesse Moring,” and CLICK HERE to learn more about him and the rest of our team!

Q1. What first sparked your interest in working for MASS Environmental Services Inc.?

I first applied for after a recommendation that the Brown’s were looking to fill a position with someone with my skill set and background. The person who recommended the position to me also told me how wonderful the family is, which was great to hear. I quickly became interested in learning more. After meeting George and Marnie (our President and Vice-President), I started to really see how it could be a great fit. The passion they both show for their work is contagious, and after that first meeting, I was able to develop a better grasp of what MASS offers, and who MASS is as a team, and family, I knew it would be a fantastic place to work.

Q2. What do you like to do outside of work?

Lately, most of my ‘outside-of-work’ hours have been devoted to renovating our house. When we aren’t busy renovating, my wife, Laurel and I enjoy relaxing together and playing board games. Of course, this is all in-between taking the kids to their baseball and jujitsu practices. Parenting definitely keeps us busy!

Q3. When you envision how Canada will evolve as we move into the future, what do you hope to see change (in terms of waste, recycling, and environmental initiatives) for our country?

When I look to the future of Waste Diversion in Canada, I believe more people will become aware of their own impact. Individually, we each have a role to play, and we should be trying our hardest to minimize our footprints. I know a lot of people tend to think their individual environmental impact is too small to make a difference, but this could not be further from the truth. Large changes are made up of many smaller ones coming together. As Canadians, I hope we can shift our perspective to see that that every little bit helps, no matter how small.

Q4. What have you learned or how have you changed since working for MASS?

The world of waste and recycling is a system that is vital to everyone, but not something that many of us actually spend time thinking about.

The Moring Family

Since I have started working for MASS I have learned, and am still learning how this system operates. This is a part of each of our daily lives, and something we each should make an effort to become more educated on, in order to do our part for sustainability.

Q5. What is it like working in a family business?

Having a young family of my own, it is interesting to also get to experience the dynamic of working in a family business. My experience with MASS has really brought home what a “team” should be. Family is a huge part of who I am, and working in an environment where everyone is on the ‘same team’ in the way that a family is, is a very special experience, and one that I am glad to be a part of!

Waste Less At Work

August 13, 2018 by Heather Varner Leave a Comment

As the waste and recycling industry continues to evolve and change, each of us has a responsibility to take control over our own individual environmental footprint. Our team at MASS has been heartened to see so much engagement from the global community, as people around the world make small changes in their daily lives to create less waste. Together, each of these little steps forward have the power to come together as a larger impact.

Beyond our daily lives at home, there is another – just as crucial – space in many of our lives that provides us with a great opportunity for environmental action. As indicated by the title of this blog, we are referring to our places of work.

Whatever your work environment may be, taking action to reduce the waste you generate and divert what’s left from landfill is a key step to true sustainability. Below, we have outlined our TOP 5 TIPS to reduce waste at work. After you’ve finished reading, don’t forget to comment and let us know what actions you and your co-workers have taken to reduce your environmental impact!

Reduce Paper Consumption

In many offices, going completely paperless just isn’t possible. But what can definitely be implemented is a focus on reduction! There are a few key ways to go about this:

Change the setting on your office printers so that they automatically print everything double-sided (this will cut paper usage in half). Just ensure there is an option to change this setting in case one of your colleagues is putting together a project that requires single-sided printing!
Put ‘Paper Usage’ on the agenda for your next team meeting. Ask your team to consider whether they are hitting that ‘Print’ button out of habit, or if the documents they are sending to the printer truly need to be in hard-copy form.
Digitize your inter-office communication! Memos, document sharing, scheduling & more can all be done online! Move towards a digital system for your inter-office communication, and keep hard copy printed documents to the bare minimum.

Start an E-Waste Program

Set a meeting with your IT department to launch a sustainable plan to handle Electronic Waste! This is crucial step to minimizing your environmental footprint. Items to consider include:

Ink Cartridges & Toners – Most of these will be accepted back by their manufacturer or distributor for recycling. If your office is not already participating in a program like this, ask whoever orders the supplies to inquire about program availability!
Laptops, Computers, Printers, Cell Phones & More – When your office equipment needs replaced, your old equipment can often be recycled! Investigate local opportunities (our tip: check out not-for-profit groups) in your area. Many organizations are constantly looking for old computer equipment to refurbish, and they will take yours at no charge. Just be sure to have your hard-drive wiped clean (we encourage you to have a professional take care of this) before handing off any IT equipment for recycling.

Start an Office Compost Program

In the face of a changing waste industry, the value of recyclables is declining. As recycling programs become more limited, one way that we can still be sure to have Waste Diversion success is through a compost program. Many regions offer commercial organics pick-up, which is a great option for businesses who wish to collect their food-waste and have it collected by an outside supplier. This is a program that MASS manages for many of our locations across Canada. Another option, however is implementing a compost system right on-site. For small-to-medium sized offices like ours, a
Food Cycler is a great solution! We have one of these set up in the kitchen area of the MASS office! Our team members load their food waste into it throughout the day. Every evening when we leave the office, the lid goes on, and we cycle the unit. When we return the next morning, we have a nutrient-rich soil-amendment that we can use on our own gardens!

Gather Data: Participate in a Waste Audit

One of the most important parts of the MASS Methodology is gathering, analyzing, and applying solutions based off data and evidence. This means that when we launch waste diversion programs, we love to conduct a Waste Audit first, thus giving us a detailed understanding of what the site is generating and sending to (or diverting from) landfill on a daily basis. A Waste Audit is your first step towards waste diversion success. We often say: “If you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” and we truly believe this to be true! In Ontario, many businesses are actually regulated to complete Waste Audits on an annual basis by the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change. Learn more about how your workplace may benefit by participating in a Waste Audit by
contacting us today.

Reduce, Reduce, Reduce!

Look around your workplace, and take a visual inventory on what type of garbage you can see being generated. Are people drinking out of plastic water bottles? Or perhaps there are a few too many disposable coffee cups filling your waste bin. Gather your team together to discuss what you see, and what practices you could enact as a team to minimize the amount of garbage you are actually creating. At MASS, we have eliminated disposable coffee cups and water bottles from our office (we have a water cooler and coffee pot with water glasses and coffee mugs available at all times!), and consistently review what types of one-time use packaging is being brought into our office. Whenever we see a problem we work together to find a solution. While it may not all happen today, change is a work in progress; and we are proud of the direction our office is headed in!

At MASS, we always say: Change Begins With Just One Step! We believe that taking just one of these steps will help you and your co-workers to create a more sustainable office environment one day at a time. Comment below and let us know what actions you have taken to reduce waste at your workplace. We would love to hear from you!

All Photos Used On This Blog Post Are From: https://unsplash.com/

Lifelong Learning to Impact Change

April 4, 2018 by Heather Varner Leave a Comment

At MASS, our staff is made up of a wide array of unique and energetic individuals, each of whom bring something different to our team. One thing that we all seem to share in common is an eagerness to continue to grow our skill sets so as to ensure we provide our clients with the absolute best service possible. Recently, we have invested in our commitment to lifelong learning, and several of our staff members have received notable certifications which we’d like to congratulate them for!

TRUE Zero Waste Advisor

Our goal at MASS is to work with our clients on achieving their environmental goals through waste diversion and cost control. We believe that true sustainability also focuses on the cost impact of programs, and we are very proud to state that MASS clients save an average of 30% annually on their waste disposal costs, upon the implementation of the MASS methodology. As we continue to grow, we want to expand our capabilities as a team in terms of how we help our clients to reduce their waste.

This is why Mac Brown and Alex Brown recently completed the TRUE Advisor Certificate Program, providing them with the skills and tools to help our clients achieve their zero-waste goals. By developing an advanced understanding of zero waste values and policies, Mac and Alex can now work with clients to develop and implement waste reduction strategies and apply for certification as a TRUE Zero-Waste Facility. If you are looking to become certified as a Zero-Waste location, please contact our team to set up a consultation on what our team can do for you.

Recycling Council of Ontario Waste Audit Certification

Our team completes over 250 Waste Audits every single year, working with clients from coast-to-coast. As with everything we do, we are continuously committed to systems improvement. In that spirit, our Waste Audit Manager, Mac Brown, and Waste Audit Technician, Erik Varner recently became certified with the RCO (Recycling Council of Ontario) through their Waste Audit Workshop. This has allowed our team to further enhance what we do, providing added value to our clients on data compilation and more.

In the Province of Ontario, many businesses are mandated to complete an annual waste audit through the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change. Many additional businesses across the country opt to participate in an annual waste audit to verify what material they are sending to landfill, how they can do better, how they can control their costs, and more. This certification means that our team will support your location in application of 3R Certified Status through the RCO.

When our Audit Team arrives on site, our goals are to:

ASSESS – Assess what is in your Waste Stream.
IDENTIFY – Identify your company’s waste production policies.
BASELINE MEASURE – Provide a Baseline Measure to improve your waste reduction work plan.

When we submit an audit report to our clients, we are committed to being a part of the solution to achieve your goals. We are not the type of company to hand you a report and expect you to impact change yourself. We measure your progress, and then manage your success. A Waste Audit is the best way to qualify and quantify exactly what is going into the waste and recycling at your location.

If you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it.

As we continue to grow, we look forward to continuing to learn and develop as a team. As Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” We plan to continue using these lifelong learning opportunities to impact change on behalf of our clients. Congratulations to our team members for their successful certifications! We look forward to working with our clients to further achieve their waste diversion goals.