National Waste Associates Drives $75K in Savings for a Major Self Storage Company Through Innovative Rightsizing Approach
Table of Contents
Quick Hits: What You Need to Know
- Rightsizing waste services helps eliminate unnecessary hauling and reduce costs.
- Regular portfolio reviews often uncover locations that are being over-serviced.
- Data-driven analysis allows service levels to match each facility’s actual needs.
- Even small service adjustments across multiple sites can generate significant savings.
- Ongoing monitoring helps offset rising hauling, disposal, and operational costs.
- Partnering with an independent waste management expert ensures continuous optimization – not just one-time savings.
National Waste Associates (NWA) has been a trusted partner in the self-storage industry since 2014, providing waste and recycling management services to storage companies of all sizes. One of the many benefits NWA provides clients consists of continually monitoring individual locations and waste services in order to streamline efficiencies and look for potential savings. NWA routinely reviews their clients’ entire portfolios performing surveys to determine appropriate service levels, compliance, and other potential areas of improvement.
Such was the case in a recent survey where NWA partnered with one of North America’s leading self-storage companies with hundreds of locations across the US helping them achieve significant cost savings through optimized managed waste services.
The Challenge: Streamlining Efficiencies and Tackling Rising Costs
Reviewing and monitoring all customer locations is a top priority for NWA and one of the advantages of working with their team. This ensures optimal service levels and identifies potential areas for improvement. This is particularly important as economic challenges, including inflation, continue to impact businesses. In order to combat these increases, NWA has developed numerous ways to lower/offset these added costs, one of which is through data-driven rightsizing.
For businesses operating numerous locations, maintaining the right level of waste management services at every site can be difficult. A location that generates less waste than expected may be paying for unnecessary capacity, while another may require adjustments to prevent service issues.
The Process: Leveraging Data-Driven Rightsizing
NWA employs various methods to ensure clients receive appropriate service levels without over- or under-servicing any locations. These methods include Standard Rightsizing, Volume Code Rightsizing and/or Compliance. To determine locations that might be overserviced, Volume Code Rightsizing was chosen as the best approach for this particular self-storage client. Volume Code Rightsizing involves a mathematical analysis of waste services across all locations based on a ranking system determined by a specific identifier such as square footage, number of units, occupancy rates, sales dollar volumes or a combination of one or more identifiers.
This type of analysis can be an effective component of broader waste reduction strategies, particularly for companies managing large portfolios where small service-level adjustments can create substantial annual savings.
The Solution: Collaborative Approach and Cost Projections
NWA engaged in thorough discussions with the client, explaining the benefits for recommending Volume Code Rightsizing and presenting the various identifier options for location ranking so that the client could determine the type of identifier they would prefer to provide. In addition, NWA collaborated with the client to meet their needs in alternate ways of contacting locations to discuss any unique site-specific situations such as 3rd party businesses working out of units that use on-site waste services, space restrictions, etc. so as not to be disruptive in their day-to-day activities.
Once the identifier was determined, in this case square footage, NWA conducted a comprehensive analysis, grouping locations into four main categories based on their size. NWA then established the locations which had potential for service changes and projected the savings the customer could expect for each location.
By evaluating each location individually, businesses can identify opportunities to optimize commercial waste management services rather than applying the same service model across an entire portfolio.
The Results: Substantial Savings
NWA’s analysis revealed that nearly 50% of the surveyed locations could have services reduced, resulting in an annual savings of over $75,000 for the client. The proposed service changes and associated savings were presented to the client for approval and subsequent implementation. This success was made possible through the collaboration between NWA’s expertise and the client’s intimate knowledge of their locations. Without both aspects, finding true savings would not have been possible.
The results demonstrate how ongoing analysis can turn an existing waste program into a source of measurable waste cost solutions, without compromising service quality or operational requirements.
Conclusion: Ensuring Efficient Waste Management for Long-Term Success
With the waste and recycling landscape constantly evolving, diligent monitoring of service levels is crucial. If your current waste management system lacks regular oversight, it may be time for a reassessment.
Regular portfolio reviews can help businesses identify unnecessary services, improve waste management solutions, and ensure that each location receives the appropriate level of service based on its actual needs.
To explore how NWA can help drive cost savings and efficiency for your business,
Contact us at 1-888-692-5005 x6, or
email us at sales@nationalwaste.com
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Rightsizing is the process of aligning dumpster sizes, collection frequencies, and service levels with the actual amount of waste each location generates. The goal is to eliminate unnecessary service while ensuring locations continue operating without overflow issues.
Storage facilities experience changing occupancy rates, tenant turnover, seasonal demand, and operational shifts that can affect waste volumes. Regular reviews ensure service levels continue to match actual needs and prevent businesses from paying for unnecessary collections.
By analyzing operational data such as square footage, occupancy, unit count, or sales volume across all locations, businesses can identify sites that may be receiving more waste service than necessary and prioritize them for further review.
No. When performed correctly, rightsizing maintains reliable waste service while eliminating excess capacity or unnecessary pickups. The objective is to improve efficiency without creating overflow, missed collections, or operational disruptions.
Savings vary depending on the number of locations and current service levels, but multi-location organizations often uncover substantial opportunities. Even modest reductions at individual sites can add up to significant annual savings across an entire portfolio.
Waste generation changes over time as facilities grow, occupancy fluctuates, and business operations evolve. Periodic reviews help ensure services remain appropriately sized, control operating costs, and prevent waste expenses from gradually increasing unnoticed.
National Waste Associates continuously monitors waste programs across entire portfolios to identify opportunities for additional savings. Through data-driven rightsizing, invoice auditing, compliance support, and ongoing service optimization, NWA helps self-storage operators reduce unnecessary waste expenses while maintaining reliable service levels at every location.
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