What Happens in a Free Waste Audit?

What Happens in a Free Waste Audit?

(The Questions We Ask on Site Visits)

When businesses hear the words “waste audit”, they often expect clipboards and a hard sell.

That’s not how we work.

Our Free Waste Audit is a practical, on-site review designed to understand how your waste is actually being produced, stored and collected, and where things could work better.

Here are the questions that usually come up when we visit your site.

1. What Type of Business Is This and How Does It Operate?

Every business produces waste differently.

We start by understanding:

• What you do day-to-day

• Your opening hours and busiest periods

• Seasonal peaks or one-off spikes

• Whether you’re customer-facing or back-of-house

This helps us avoid one-size-fits-all solutions and design something that works with your operations, not against them.

2. What Waste Streams Are You Producing?

We’ll look at what you’re actually throwing away, including:

• General waste

• Dry mixed recycling

• Cardboard

• Food waste

• Glass

• Single-stream materials (e.g. cardboard only, glass only, wood, packaging)

Many businesses are paying to dispose of recyclable materials as general waste simply because no one has ever reviewed it properly.

3. What Bins Do You Currently Have?

On site, we’ll check:

• Bin sizes and types

• Number of bins per waste stream

• Condition of bins

• Where bins are located

Too often we see:

• Bins that are too small and overflowing

• Bins that are too large and half empty

• The wrong bin in the wrong place

Small changes here can make a big difference.

4. How Often Are Collections Taking Place?

We’ll ask:

• How frequently bins are collected

• Whether collections are reliable

• If bins are ever missed or left full

• Whether collections align with how quickly bins actually fill

In many cases, businesses are paying for collections they don’t need or suffering because collections aren’t frequent enough.

5. Does the Waste Area Work (and Does It Look Presentable)?

Your waste area says more about your business than you think.

We’ll look at:

• Cleanliness and accessibility

• Overflow issues

• Health and safety risks

• How it looks to staff, customers or inspectors

Messy, unmanaged waste areas are one of the most common pain points we’re called in to fix.

6. Are You Compliant With Current Waste Regulations?

We’ll sense-check:

• Whether waste is being separated correctly

• If Duty of Care obligations are being met

• Whether documentation is in place

• If recycling requirements are being followed

Clear guidance on where you stand and what (if anything) needs tightening up.

7. Are You Paying for the Right Solution?

Finally, we look at the commercial side:

• Are you over-serviced or under-serviced?

• Are bins the most efficient option?

• Would balers, compactors or bottle banks make more sense?

• Would it be better for you to convert your skip to wheelie bins?

• Could fewer collections reduce costs?

Our goal is simple: a cleaner, more reliable and more cost-effective setup.

What You Get From a Free Waste Audit

After the visit, you’ll have:

• A clear understanding of what’s working (and what isn’t)

• Practical recommendations you can act on

• Options to improve reliability, appearance and compliance

• Cost-saving opportunities where they exist

What Is a Free Waste Audit?

A Free Waste Audit is an on-site review of how your waste is:

• Produced

• Stored

• Collected

• Managed

It helps identify:

• Inefficiencies

• Compliance gaps

• Cost-saving opportunities

• Practical improvements you can implement immediately

We work with any business, in any sector, with any waste requirement - from a single wheelie bin to high-volume, multi-stream setups.

Who Is It For?

Our Free Waste Audit is ideal if you’re:

✔ Opening a new business

✔ Moving premises or expanding

✔ Experiencing missed or unreliable collections

✔ Dealing with overflowing or untidy bin areas

✔ Unsure if you’re paying for the right solution

✔ Producing high volumes of a single waste stream

✔ Just want a second opinion on your current setup

If you produce waste, the audit is relevant.

Site Checklist

During the visit, we’ll review:

• Your business type and operating hours

• The waste streams you produce

• Bin sizes, types and locations

• Collection frequency and reliability

• Cleanliness and safety of waste areas

• Recycling performance

• Duty of Care and compliance basics

• Whether bins, balers or compactors are the best fit

It’s practical, conversational and tailored — not a tick-box exercise.

What You’ll Get From the Audit

After the visit, you’ll have:

• Clear feedback on what’s working (and what isn’t)

• Simple recommendations to improve reliability

• Options to tidy and optimise waste areas

• Advice on compliance and recycling

• Opportunities to reduce unnecessary costs

You’re free to act on the advice with us - or not. The choice is yours.

Why Marshalls?

We do things differently.

• We’re independent - not tied to one collector

• We have our own bins on the ground

• We liaise directly with collectors on your behalf

• And if needed, we’ll even step in and collect ourselves

That means faster solutions, fewer excuses, and better service.

How to Book Your Free Waste Audit

Booking is simple:

1️⃣ Get in touch

2️⃣ We arrange a convenient site visit

3️⃣ We carry out the Free Waste Audit

4️⃣ You receive clear, practical recommendations

☕ Prefer to talk it through over a coffee first? That’s fine too. If you’d like us to pop in for a Free Waste Audit, give us a call or drop us a message. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes is all it takes.