The Positive Impact Of Covid-19 On The Waste Collection Sector

Adapting to Unprecedented Challenges: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Waste Collection Sector

Paul Jackson, Director of the UK’s leading network of independent waste operators, National Resource Consortium (NRC), reflects on how the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 has, one year on, had a revolutionary impact on the waste collection sector.

Responding to Lockdown Measures

When the first lockdown hit a year ago on 23rd March 2020, our sector was one of the fortunate few permitted to carry on ‘business as usual’. Working on the frontline during a pandemic, many would assume the waste industry faced little adversity during this time. But when the majority of our sector’s customers in retail, hospitality and leisure industries ceased to trade, many demanded their usual waste services be suspended. In just less than a week, operators were left with incomplete routes, too many trucks and drivers, and firm disposal obligations to meet – the key drivers for any waste management business to succeed.

Adapting to a New Reality

Working throughout this time of great, unprecedented change, our sector had to quickly establish how exactly we were going to collect, handle, transport, recycle and dispose of waste as we had done in a pre-Covid world. As new rules on social distancing and PPE emerged, our industry faced additional pressures to ensure the safety for our partners, members and customers during a time of heightened anxiety around health.

Finding Opportunities Amidst Challenges

As an industry, we always accepted that the pandemic would take a big financial toll from the outset, which is why we were grateful for any savings we could pick up along the way – and, on reflection, there were many savings to be had. When the Government advised everyone who could work from home to do so, fewer staff started to attend business premises, and all commercial sites closed their doors entirely. This meant a lot less waste was being produced and bins were significantly lighter to lift, which allowed us to replan our routes to achieve a higher route density, leading to fewer waste collection vehicles on the road. Laying up surplus waste collection vehicles allowed us to benefit from reduced maintenance costs, fewer insurance claims and lower fuel costs across our whole fleet. With the majority of the UK staying at home, fuel consumption was less and fuel prices were over 10% cheaper on average in 2020 than in 2019. Not to mention, wage bills were significantly reduced thanks to the new furlough scheme.

Collaboration and Resilience

These vital savings gave every market operator the confidence to accept the suspension requests, re-work their route logistics, and take advantage of the generous government support packages available. Operators did everything they could to reduce the impact of Covid-19 on their businesses as a means of survival – and it worked. At this point, I am unaware of a single waste collector that has gone out of business.

Addressing Emerging Challenges

We emerged from Lockdown 1 having completely mobilised a new national collection service and in just a few weeks we were back to normal service levels, demonstrating the local capability of the sector. But as lockdown and other restrictive measures started to ease, new challenges began to appear.

Supporting Charities and Managing Waste

During this time, and again throughout the local and second lockdowns, NRC was called upon to support charity retailers in particular. Charity shop donations couldn’t be received or processed, so goods started to pile up on the shopfronts of closed premises. Seen as fly tipping by the local authorities, several charities were subjected to the threat of hefty fines and penalties as a result of other people’s actions. Our response was to provide a fast and effective clearance service to remove the donations left on the shopfronts of closed premises. For a smaller fee and zero penalties, shopfronts could be cleared of all materials regardless of size, volume or bulk.

Looking Ahead

Overall, it’s clear the waste collection sector has stood up and worked with its customers to help them, rather than challenge them, in their time of need. I hope that this continues throughout 2021 and that we can maintain our momentum for improving recycling levels.

Contact Information

NRC is a resource management network with unrivalled waste collection and processing capacity to offer businesses across the UK an alternative to national waste operators, brokered solutions and outsourced services. Contact Paul Jackson at paul.jackson@uk-nrc.com or call 0845 299 6292 to find out how NRC can help your business.