NWP Agreement with Waste Reduction Consultants Provides Waste Expense Management Solution

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate Editor Irvine, Calif.—NWP Services Corporation has announced an agreement with Waste Reduction Consultants Inc. to provide a total waste expense management product to NWP clients. While the two companies are “complementary in some areas,” in others, “we felt we could put our synergies together and make the value greater for our customers,” notes Jim Charles, senior vice president of product management and engineering at NWP.NWP will integrate its utility management product, UtilityPay Manager, with Waste Reduction Consultants’ waste expense management solution for multifamily.“We traditionally look at gas, electric, water and sewage as the areas we try to manage on behalf of our customers. But when I looked at trash and what our customers were spending, I was surprised; in some cases, it was equal to all the others” combined, says Charles.Recent years have been marked with record price inflation for the waste industry. With the skyrocketing of gas prices last year, combined with landfills moving further from cities, the cost of hauling trash has increased tremendously, Charles tells MHN, adding that in the last five years, the cost of hauling trash has increased 20 percent annually.Furthermore, both federal and local-level legislation is increasing on defining requirements for recycling and the disposal of special waste items, such as universal waste and e-waste. As a result, owners and managers are faced with increasing complexities toward navigating compliance issues. Property managers, particularly those with large, scattered portfolios, don’t always know all of the local recycling laws, so under the new partnership, NWP will ensure its clients are in compliance, says Charles. He adds that trash, particularly e-waste, is especially problematic on move-out days, where residents’ old electronics, for example, become the responsibility of the property manager.“Property managers are in a tough situation where they have to keep the cost under control so rents don’t go up in a difficult market where the tendency is for residents to move. This allows them to have someone who is paying attention and finding better ways to reduce [cost],” explains Charles. Managers “want to focus on occupancy and service issues. They are not focused on [trash], so we will do it for them with Waste Reduction.”The new solution will deliver sustainable expense savings, resident bill allocation and improved service quality and resident satisfaction for waste and recycling program expenses.  While it is too early to know how much of a cost-savings this agreement will provide to property managers, Charles does note that the waste reduction expense can become part of the ancillary income, as well as provide managers with more time to address other resident issues.