Cool! The junk removal service cleaned out your garage. But where did the junk go?
While it may have vanished from your sight, your stuff enters a new process of disposal that would have probably taken you days or weeks to complete.
Professional junk removal services take every measure for proper disposal ensuring it is done right.
After departing your garage, your junk is taken to the company’s center. There, it’s sorted into multiple categories. The goal is to ensure its disposal follows sustainable practices, rules and regulations, and is taken to the landfill only if necessary.
There are four categories the junk can be sorted into:
● Sell
● Donate
● Recycle
● Landfill
Here’s how we determine what goes where.
Sell
There is a lot that goes into operating a junk removal service.
You have to think about the cost of operation and what to do with the items so you’re not just dumping them in the landfill. As truckloads of junk are hauled away each day, it’s not uncommon for companies to sell items they collect. Here’s why:
1. Any profit made helps with expenses.
Although there is a cost associated with the actual junk removal service, companies have some benefits to selling items. While the service focuses on the actual removal, selling valuable items can help operational costs. This includes employee salaries or bonuses, vehicle maintenance, and disposal fees.
2. They help prolong the life of valuable items.
We live in a linear lifecycle society, where we’re used to buying new things and simply throwing them away when we want something new or if our belongings break.
Although purchasing newer items is more tempting, resulting in a circular product lifecycle—where we either fix our goods or buy them used—helps prevent well-maintained items from occupying space in the landfill. This includes everyday items like TVs and furniture.
Donate
Though it’s tempting to take everything and donate it, it’s counterproductive. Remember, we donate items so others can purchase or receive them to continue their use. So no, don’t donate your slightly used underwear.
Items that aren’t selling or popularly donated are taken to centers like Goodwill and Salvation Army—things like furniture, clothes in new condition, electronics, and kitchenware.
Now, donation centers have become very strict on what is acceptable, which is reasonable. After all, the purpose is for other people to use these items.
Would you wear a sweater that has a small hole in it? Yeah, we thought so.
Recycle
Now, things start to get tricky.
Recycling is the third step because the rules and regulations on recycling vary from state to state, county to county, and sometimes even from town to town.
Although we’ve been taught that the recycling symbol with the numbers 1-6 indicates the item is recyclable, it highly depends on the facility where your recyclables are processed.
Some facilities only process objects with the number 1 due to their demand. Some facilities accept large items, items with the number 2 or 5 recycling symbols known as tougher plastic, and some even process glass.
If it can be recycled, it’ll be recycled. If not…
Landfill
Landfills are the last case scenario.
There are roughly 2,000 landfills in the U.S. acting as the primary source of disposal for each household. And while they’re a quick solution for trash collected on garbage day, a landfill’s space isn’t infinite.
Sustainability is an essential factor in junk removal services, ensuring materials aren’t just being thrown in landfills. While it may take a little extra time to sort the items and go through the processes of selling, donating, or recycling, it ensures each item gets a chance to go through a circular product lifecycle before ending its time in the landfill.
Ask us for more details about our junk removal process
Though many junk removal services may follow this similar process, some incorporate their own steps according to their location and what’s at their disposal. However, at the end of the day, the critical factor is determining what to do with the junk collected.
Our junk removal services at Mitten Junk Removal in Howell take every measure to make sure all items are disposed of responsibly by working closely with professional organizers and charities throughout the area helping our community become greener, cleaner and more efficient.
Serving our local community through junk removal services that include residential and estate cleanouts, garage and basement cleanouts, storage units, commercial cleanout services and more is what we are here for!
If you’re curious about our processes and what steps we take, let us know. We’ll review what we do to ensure your stuff is disposed of sustainably. Connect with us online for a Free Estimate and experience fast, friendly and affordable service for your haul away needs!