NWA Delivers Barnes & Noble a Fully Integrated Waste, Recycling and Compliance Program

Executive Summary

When the major bookseller Barnes & Noble contracted the services of NWA, their waste management was unconsolidated, with hundreds of invoices and different service level agreements. Costs were out of control and local managers were forced to take time away from their core business to deal with haulers.

NWA reviewed every location’s waste and recycling process, aligning the best service partner to each site’s specific requirements. Services were centralized and standardized, significantly lowering expenditure and ensuring complete control. Our compliance experts then eliminated the risk of penalties for non-compliance with waste legislation across the entire organization.

The Client

Barnes & Noble is a Fortune 500 company with over 600 retail stores and distribution centers located across 50 states. It is the largest national bookstore chain in the United States and their online channel BN.com is one of the Internet’s premier e-commerce sites.

The Challenge

When Barnes & Noble originally employed NWA’s services, they had significantly expanded their footprint by making two strategic acquisitions. Corporate wanted to integrate the operations of these businesses into the parent company, including the waste and recycling services.

Across the entire organization, there were several key concerns that needed immediate attention:

• Waste management costs were skyrocketing
• Waste services and invoicing were decentralized, resulting in a lack of control and oversight
• Agreements were in place with almost 100 haulers, each with different prices, service levels, and billing
• Recycling was unorganized or non-existent
• The company had no overarching plan to ensure compliance with federal, state, local and municipal legislation in the locations where they operated
• Local managers were wasting time managing local haulers, chasing pick-ups and resolving missed collections

The Solution

NWA’s waste management experts undertook extensive research of existing invoices, service levels, and specifications to understand how each location operated, what service was required, how much they were paying and what they should have been paying.

Every aspect of the client’s disposal and recycling process, including negotiating vendor contracts and optimizing waste streams was taken on by NWA. Our diligent approach eliminated surprise fee increases and sudden service disruptions that had been a problem for years. Once cost and service baselines were established, we aligned the best service partners to each location’s operating requirements.

Our senior management, dedicated account managers and vendor relations personnel were on call 24/7 to ensure smooth transitions as providers and equipment were switched out.

Mall location waste costs had previously been considered untouchable because waste services were typically bundled into the rental contract. However, NWA negotiated and separated the services where terms permitted, generating significant savings for Barnes & Noble.

Across the entire contract, NWA’s waste management experts:

• Gained control over the client’s waste program costs, significantly lowering expenditure and eliminating the risk of unexpected fee increases
• Centralized waste services and invoicing, improving control and reducing administration time
• Standardized waste haulers, simplifying the entire process for the client and resulting in management efficiencies and cost savings
• Became the single point of contact for scheduling, service and problem resolution, enabling managers to focus on their core business and customers
• Ensured that the company adhered to their environmental and sustainability standards
• Created an organizational strategy to ensure compliance with all levels of waste legislation, preventing the risk of penalties

The Results

NWA delivered Barnes & Noble a fully integrated waste, recycling and compliance program at significantly lower cost than our predecessors.

In the last 3 years, NWA helped the organization eliminate 332,400 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, divert 106,000 tons of waste from landfills, and increase recycling rates to more than 50%, all while maintaining a 99.65% on time service record.

Want to take the hassle and cost out of Waste Management? Find out how NWA can help you change waste for good. Call us on 888-692-5005 x6 today, or
email us at sales@nationalwaste.com

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