by Jeff Achen
Thisweek Newspapers

Recycling bins in offices all across the country are pretty much commonplace. It's a given that all the paper, pop cans, and cardboard, will be sorted neatly into separate piles for someone to haul away. That is, until it's taken out back and placed in the same rusty metal dumpster as all the other trash.

It's a problem Mark Cressy claims plagues many of his commercial and industrial clients. And, it's just one of the problems costing them a lot of money.

Cressy says the larger waste management picture is about understanding where companies can save by reducing a host of things from the number of trash pick up days, changes in the type of garbage bin or compactor, or finding recycling opportunities and seeing them through.

Cressy, a 16-year veteran of the professional commercial real estate business, said the only reason he just recently ventured into waste management consulting was to save his clients money.

"It's one of the few areas that's unexplored,î Cressy said. "And, it's by far the least understood.î

Cressy and his wife, Kim, both recently attended training for certification as waste disposal consultants and are one of the few businesses in the Twin Cities area to actually offer waste "auditingî services.

Unlike other waste management services, theirs involves onsite visits to apartment buildings, restaurants, and many other commercial and industrial clients to do an "auditî of their waste disposal service. They'll look for the amount and type of waste produced and how it's stored until picked up among other things.

Cressy says 90 percent of clients will see savings from their recommendations. He says those savings are usually in better waste management practices, not new ones.

"We're not in the business of telling them to change their vendor, but we can help them change their relationship with their vendors,î Cressy said.

Cressy's Apple Valley business, MDC Commercial Service Inc., doesn't charge for consultations. They negotiate with clients for a percentage of the savings they see from implementing their recommendations, so there are essentially no out of pocket costs.
Cressy benefits by helping lower expenses for his clients, many of them local owners and landlords, who then lower the effective rental rates improving their marketability. He's also helping larger, publicly traded companies find savings at multiple locations around the country.

MDC Commercial Service Inc. is affiliated with the national company Environmental Waste Solutions. EWS has helped businesses like Coca-Cola and American Airlines save thousands of dollars through waste management onsite audits and consultations. Cressy hopes to make a similar impact for his clients in the area.

And, if a client's recycling and waste management is already on track?

"The great thing is, if we say we can't do anything for you, you know you're doing things right,î Cressy said.

For more information on MDC Commercial Services Inc. call (612) 245-1372.

Jeff Achen can be reached at av.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.

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