Commercial properties see a lot of foot traffic during the course of any given day. This is especially true for office buildings where employees, clients, and guests are always on the move. Of course, all these people need to throw things away.
Each day food containers, bags, disposable coffee cups, and leftover bits of lunch get tossed into trash cans that are littered throughout the facility. Without these hygienic trash receptacles, the lingering refused and debris of just a single day would build up to unhealthy proportions.
Poorly Maintained Trash Receptacles Can Affect Your Reputation
While the thoughtful placement of a trash can matters for the reputation and overall functionality of your commercial property, the state of that trash can is also a factor. Indeed, the state or condition of a trash can will have a powerful impact on a wide range of things. This includes the perception of your professionalism from your customers, clients, and employees, not to mention the consequences posed by health and safety inspectors.
Tenants who have to deal with overloaded or poorly maintained trash cans might be less likely to lease office space from you when their current lease expires. The ones that do decide to renew their lease, might demand a lower rate citing the unkempt state of the facility as a reason.
Clients who are visiting your commercial property or a business that you rent to will likely have a lower opinion of your professionalism if they find poorly maintained trash cans. This can be especially concerning if your commercial property hosts a variety of restaurants and foodservice establishments.
It’s also worth noting that health and safety inspectors tend to take a hard stance on commercial properties that have poorly maintained or overflowing garbage cans. This can result in municipal fines, liability concerns, and potentially higher commercial property insurance rates.
Emptying Trash Receptacles Is The First Step
It should go without saying that frequently emptying commercial trash receptacles plays an important role in maintaining a clean and hygienic professional property. Though, in truth, this is just one of several critical steps.
A trash can that is allowed to sit filled to near capacity is likely to spill over. It is also more likely to suffer a rip in the bag liner, which can let all manner of liquid refuse loose in the bottom of the trash can. Worse still, there are some professional properties where the custodial staff sometimes forget to install a trash can liner when they empty the trash. When food waste or biological waste, like a dirty tissue is then thrown into that trash receptacle the entire can is essentially contaminated.
Trash Can Contamination Is Inevitable
Even a large trash receptacle in a commercial property that is diligent about emptying the waste bins and always reloading it with a high-quality trash can liner, will still suffer the odd rip, spill, or tear. When this happens, it can be hard to detect it until you empty the waste bin.
Left unchecked the bottom of a contaminated trash receptacle will only get worse. This can lead to things like:
- Foul odors that permeate the surrounding area
- Bacteria, viruses, pathogens, and diseases with the potential to spread to people
- Increasing problems with rodents such as rats and mice
- Insects issues with fruit flies, and cockroaches
- Rust and corrosion issues that require the trash can to be replaced prematurely
Of course, these are all the sort of things that will get noticed by tenants, employees, clients, and customers. It is also the sort of thing that will certainly catch the notice of health and safety inspectors.
The Benefits Of Professional Trash Can Cleaning
When it’s caught early, trash can cleaning is relatively easy. Though certainly necessary. Unfortunately, spills and debris in the bottom of a commercial trash receptacle often get ignored or missed until they become a serious problem.
Having a contaminated or dirty trash receptacle professionally cleaned has several benefits. This includes:
Eliminating Spills & Food Waste
Even if your commercial property doesn’t host food service venues and restaurants chances are good people will still be throwing away leftover lunch, disposable coffee cups, and food containers. All it takes is a few drips making it through a tiny rip in the bottom of a can liner to foul the bottom of your trash receptacle.
Ideally, you want your custodial staff to inspect the trash receptacles for food waste every time they replace a can liner. Spot cleaning at these times will go a long way toward preventing odors, pests, and other contamination-related issues. Then, periodic power washing can then be used to remove buildup.
Killing Germs That Can Spread Disease
A stray tissue that makes it to the bottom of a trash can, or food waste drippings that buildup at the bottom can become a prime breeding ground for bacteria, viruses, and even dangerous mold colonies. Spot cleaning, disinfecting and periodic power washing eliminate this microbially rich medium.
Eliminating Unpleasant Odors
Foul odors aren’t just embarrassing and likely to affect your professional reputation, they are also a sign of an active biohazard. This might be pathogens, mold, or other contaminants that are living in the bottom of the trash receptacle and posing a risk to the health of the people who work and visit your commercial property.
Spot cleaning certainly helps, though periodic power washing and professional disinfecting go a long way toward eliminating these unhealthy materials, while also eliminating odors.
Extending The Lifespan Of Waste Bins & Trash Receptacles
One of the less-thought-of realities about contaminated or simply unkempt waste receptacles is that a lot of the debris in the bottom is corrosive. Left unaddressed, these materials can start to affect the paint and even lead to rusting in the underlying metal. Should a hole of a crack in a seam develop, it can allow leaks from the bag liner to exit the trash can and leak into onto the floors of your commercial property.
Most of these waste bins are beyond repair and need to be completely replaced. While small, premature replacement of trash receptacles can eat away at your bottom line.
