Standards. We all have them. Whether it’s your own personal mores, morals and principles, or the mission statement by which your company is run, there is a line in the sand where you set the rules.
Of course, there are those that have little or none, but dress them up to be what they are not. A bit like the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea or the Democratic Republic of East Germany. Not too sure if those who formed those monikers were having a little ironic chuckle to themselves, or that they really meant it. They believed their ‘standard’ of democracy was a totalitarian dictatorship.
Which brings me to our erstwhile friends in the resource recovery industry down here in this Great Southern Land. To ask if there are some dodgy operators in the waste space is like asking; does a one-legged duck swim in circles?
Which is why it is interesting that a company has gone to the lengths to create a standard whereby companies follow a set of processes to make sure certain criteria are being met – i.e., they are doing the right thing.
Right now, all over the country waste contractors are either sighing with relief or cussing like drunken cowboys on a bender in some Wild West bar. Why? Well, there are some pretty good operators out there doing their best to make sure they leave the planet in a better condition from which they found it. Unfortunately, they are usually up against unscrupulous operators whose moral compass has been left where their bank balance begins.
“So what?” I hear you ask. “What does a standard mean?” Two things. It puts an operator under the spotlight on how it manages its business, and it means they can’t fudge the numbers.
I realise there are cynics out there, and the doubters. All I have to say is ESG. “What’s that?” you say. Get used to it. It is an acronym for Environmental, Social and Governance – that is, companies are now adopting these principles when it comes to sustainability. Some call it woke, some common sense – I call it something that has to be taken seriously. This is because some of the bigger players in the market, who have deep pockets and money to spend, are demanding it from their suppliers. Price will always have its place, but it is now part of a whole new set of criteria.
Suppliers are a canny lot, and they can see the winds of change happening. The new generation of customers coming through are looking for companies that care about the environment and are taking those criteria into consideration when making purchases.
Which means if contractors tend to dump C&D waste on the side of the road, or they don’t recycle it or reuse when these are options, this standard will find you out. And if you want to work with some of the big companies on the block, some are demanding standards like this one
as a minimum for doing business
with them.