Waste Problem is a Business Model Problem

Discover why the Waste Problem that is Affecting our Planet Starts from a Wrong Business Model used in Waste Management Companies.

Every day we hear about a new waste-related problem.

From the discovery of an illegal dump to the confiscation of waste that is illegally moved between countries to between continents.

Not to mention how much waste is dumped by the side of the road every day.

Hundreds of tons every day worldwide.

This is a problem that is affecting the entire world, is it possible that it does not have a solution?

It seems there is no solution.

Governments are talking about imposing fines and increasing taxes on waste collection in order to reduce littering.

Waste management companies need to increase the prices of their services in order to take care of that waste that is abandoned as well.

Citizens find themselves paying more and more for a service that is essential to the public hygiene of the community.

At the same time, the various non-governmental organizations speak of apocalyptic scenarios with the planet invaded by waste, the oceans without fish and define man as a predator of this planet.

In short, from any angle you look at it seems that the problem has no solution.

On the contrary, every day that passes it seems to get worse.

Almost like a terminally ill person who is exposed to a worsening of his condition day after day.

Once he risks a bacterial infection, once he risks a heart attack, once he risks a respiratory collapse. 

And our planet seems to be in the same condition.

Once it's chlorofluorocarbons.

Once it's paper.

Once it's plastic.

Now it's the amount of waste produced....

In short, every day, as any good media communication would have it, the problem is touched upon to draw attention to it.

But as a marketer, let me tell you that touching the problem is not the same as finding a solution.

Especially if it is touched by the mass media, whose purpose is to make news and therefore increase their audience share.

No controversy, let me be clear.

According to what they say it seems that we live on a planet invaded by waste in full Mars Attacks style (the Tim Burton’s movie dated 1996). 

Let me tell you that this is the risk that we run unless we do not put a remedy.

Remedy of which nobody speaks.

Yes, because the increase in taxes for waste disposal is not a remedy to the phenomenon of waste dumped in the streets.

It’s not a remedy even the increase in disposal costs, since it does not stem the phenomenon. And let me add that it is not a remedy either that the non-governmental organization stands there talking about how much waste is abandoned without offering a solution.

Yes, because although this approach can stimulate attention, at least in the last 30 years, it has not provided a solution.

I would add that in the last 30 years it seems that the phenomenon has been amplified but this is not the case.

In fact if you keep in mind the growth of the number of inhabitants on our planet in a moment you understand that the phenomenon has not amplified but it has only grown in proportion.

In fact in 1990 on our planet we were 5.28 billion human beings, at the 2020 census we were 7.75 billion. Practically 50% more.

Obviously, the phenomenon that was already widespread before today seems to be further amplified. This is also in relation to the technologies that we have available since then for all processes of collection, separation and recycling of waste.

The question to ask is:

With all these changes in technology and in the number of inhabitants of our planet, what hasn't changed?

Certainly the mentality with which we approach the waste that every day originates from our lives. Waste that has also increased due to the change in our needs that have risen along the pyramid of Maslow (Abraham Maslow the American psychologist)

Today we continue to not give value to the waste we produce.

Just think of how many plastic bottles are thrown away not understanding their value. Or even how many glass bottles are constantly sent to destruction even though their functionality when whole is far greater.

I would say that this is a contributing cause to the waste problem.

Yes, because the failure to change the mentality of the population has found fertile ground on waste management companies. 

You read that right: in waste management companies.

Maybe not yours but in a lot of others.

In fact, waste management companies were born with a very specific purpose: to solve the problem of waste in the community, city, municipality, and country. 

A problem that affected and still affects public hygiene.

This problem slowly seems to have gone to alleviate thanks also to the adoption of new rules of social behavior that have seen the transition from throwing waste on the street to putting it in the appropriate bins and containers on the street and, now, it’s arriving at the separate collection.

However the last evolutionary leap that is the one that would lead to the resolution of the garbage problem, still has not happened.

In fact, to tell the truth, it has not even been attempted.

In fact, very few waste companies have done so.

Let me tell you, they can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

What evolutionary leap am I talking about?

I'm talking about the evolution that begins to consider the waste produced by citizens as materials to be acquired in order to produce new products, energy, etc.

This is an unprecedented leap.

A real change in the business model.

It's about moving from collecting waste and finding the best way to destroy it, to buying the waste in the best possible conditions in order to be able to earn from the sale of the secondary raw materials that can be obtained.

A real radical change.

Yes, because on the one hand it presupposes that your company is ready to support this business model, and I'm not talking about the capital to buy the waste but the agreements with the different buyers of secondary raw materials. 

On the other hand it needs a very strong education towards citizens and companies.

In fact, each of them will become a supplier of a secondary raw material that will have to be refined in the processes to which it will be subjected.

A bit like what happens with diamonds. 

These in fact are extracted from mines and are then sent by those who work them.

Just think for a moment what would happen: every time someone thinks of throwing a PET bottle on the street, he will think about it because he knows that he can earn money from it. 

But that's not enough. 

In fact, it has already been demonstrated that that person will actively contribute to the recovery of all those bottles that are on the street.

The same will happen for all types of waste.

Or rather of materials.

Yes because the only way to solve the problem is to give a value to all the waste we, as humans, produce every day.

From the sheet of paper to the old television, arriving at the old car.

This will not only solve the problem of waste but will contribute in an important way to the sustainability of the different productions.

I know that for those who hide behind "we've always done it this way" it's anything but simple. 

But let me say that’s the only way not only to solve the waste problem but it is also the best way to guarantee your company a prosperous future.

A future tied to the important role your waste management company has: from waste management to secondary raw material management with the goal to fuel sustainable production.

A playmaker role.

That's the direction to solve the waste problem.

You may be wondering what marketing has to do with this? 

Well the point is that: to make this change you need to adopt a strategy that takes into account the company's positioning in the current market and builds a new one on the resale side of secondary raw materials. 

Not only that, you'll have to consider the whole process of catching materials from citizens and/or companies, and you'll have to structure it according to a certain marketing strategy that will have to take into account the role of your company in the market, your competitors and so on.

In short, marketing is the only tool that allows the success of such an operation.

Operation that guarantees the future of your company.

If you want to ensure the future of your company, fix here 30 minutes of marketing consultation and it will be a pleasure to guide your waste management company into the future.

Be The Change

Sam

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