Blue Star Auto Stores has reduced its monthly garbage bill from $850 to $150 by buying a compactor and baling the cardboard from packing materials.

The small automotive retailer, which has eight stores in the Chicago IL area, purchased and installed a cardboard compactor / baler for around $10,000. To give you a little background, cardboard is being brought by truck from the stores to the central warehouse, then the cardboard is compacted into large cardboard bales. After they accumulate a bunch of large cardboard bales, they sell the baled cardboard bales for $12 to $15 each to a recycling company. "The money we make from the cardboard bales just about covers transportation, handling, and storage," says Yale Weisman, vice-president of Blue Star. "In 18 months the baler will be paid for."

Waste management is a necessary part of risk management. Trash compaction helps to minimize risks by reducing the possibility of fire through removing combustible loose waste, keeping floors free from waste materials that might cause a person to slip, trip or fall, and yields a corresponding number of financial and other benefits.

Waste management is also a part of property maintenance. Sorting of waste at the source is becoming more common due to financial reasons as well as government regulations. It is more expensive to process landfill waste, and authorities are demanding more precise sorting.