As the owner or manager of an apartment community, do you ever think of ways to improve trash collection in your building? In most condos, apartment complexes, and multi-family residences, there is no defined strategy for collecting trash.
The trash collection model in the buildings is often a carryover of what people did when they lived in a single-family home.
The owners or managers of the community provide a dumpster somewhere within the premises and residents drop off their waste at their most convenient times. But as Cressman Property Management warns, there are several problems with this trash collection model.
It is a huge inconvenience for a lot of the residents and can negatively affect service quality and the overall ambiance of the community. Why?
- Firstly, for residents whose units are a long way from the dumpster – such as those living on the top floors – making the trip to the dumpster is a major chore.
- This doesn’t mean that residents who live on the lower floors are exempt from problems. Foul odors from the dumpster can filter into their apartments.
- With this type of trash collection strategy, residents of a community are often motivated to wait until their bins are bursting before they empty them. This increases the possibility of leaking trash bags and making a mess in the hallway.
- Since there is no fixed schedule for removing waste from the building, service efficiency is affected. The building is less clean than it could be and there is a possibility of pests being attracted to the overflowing dumpster.
But is there a better way to handle trash collection in an apartment community? Yes, there is. Valet waste removal is a trash collection model that is better suited to the realities of living in an apartment community. This model completely eliminates all the issues highlighted above.
What is valet waste removal?
This is a waste removal system specifically designed for multi-family buildings. In this model, a private waste removal company takes over the task of collecting residents’ waste.
Instead of each unit disposing of its waste on its own time, waste is removed from the building on a schedule.
Here is how the service works:
- Each unit or apartment in the community is provided with a bin or trash receptacle.
- The residents deposit their trash inside the bin on designated days of the week, after having tied them up in refuse bags to prevent spillage and odors.
- The waste collection receptacle may sit permanently outside the door of each unit and often serves a dual purpose. For instance, some receptacles double as a bench for sitting on when tying shoes.
- Residents may also place their bins temporarily outside their doors only on those days when refuse will be collected from the building.
- The private waste removal company comes on the prearranged days and goes from door to door picking up the waste left outside the door of each apartment.
- This waste is then taken to a garbage truck for onward transport to a waste processing facility, usually far away from the community grounds.
- To pay for this service, community members are charged a monthly fee that is often bundled with the monthly rent or service fee for their apartment.
Basically, valet waste removal makes the community’s waste disappear without a fuss. It offers a completely practical solution for solving the waste removal issues of apartment communities.
This is one of the few services that community members can actually view as essential.
Why should you get valet waste removal for your community?
The benefits of this service are already clear from the descriptions above, but for the sake of further clarification, the benefits of adopting this method of waste removal include:
– It makes tenants’ lives easier
This service is a huge relief for residents who have challenges getting rid of their waste. These could be elderly folks, people with disabilities, residents with a very busy schedule, or those who live on the upper levels of the building.
– Creates a safer environment
Valet waste removal eliminates the health and sanitary risks posed by the other method. There is no chance of strong winds blowing foul odors from a dumpster into apartments. Exposure to pests and pathogens is minimized.
– Helps reduce conflicts
The community is a lot cleaner because of the service. Community residents are happier, and the quality of the property is improved. This can result in higher tenant retention, lower vacancy rates, and an overall increase in profitability.
– Improves efficiency
Valet waste removal helps owners and managers of apartment communities get more with less. Fewer administrative resources are spent supervising the waste collection and because waste is collected on a schedule, cleaning can also be more predictable.
– Boost your business reputation
All these serve to enhance the value of the community as a place to live in the eyes of the residents. Improved operational efficiencies also mean you can attract more affluent tenants. This in turn boosts the business profile of the operators of the community.
