Distribution centers, 3PL facilities, and cold storage operators generate enormous volumes of waste: corrugated boxes, stretch wrap, plastic film, pallets, food-grade returns, and damaged goods. Most of it goes to landfill. That's changing fast.
Retailer & Shipper Sustainability Mandates: Major retailers and shippers are extending zero-waste-to-landfill commitments into their logistics networks. 3PL providers and distribution operators are increasingly required to document waste diversion performance, report disposal data, and demonstrate environmental progress. A credible landfill diversion program is becoming a contract requirement.
E-Commerce & Returns Volume: The growth of e-commerce has dramatically increased packaging waste and reverse logistics complexity. Returns processing generates significant volumes of mixed waste, damaged goods, branded materials, excess packaging, and unsalvageable product. SES handles it all, including assured destruction of proprietary and branded items that cannot re-enter the market.
Cold Storage & Food-Grade Waste: Cold storage facilities face a unique waste challenge: high volumes of food-grade returns, expired product, and organics that require food-safe handling and documented diversion. SES operates dedicated food waste depackaging and organics recovery facilities that process up to 20 tons per hour. Nothing goes to landfill, and all materials are converted to compost, energy, or other beneficial pathways.
ESG Reporting & Sustainability Accountability: Logistics operators face growing needs to report measurable environmental performance. SES provides chain-of-custody documentation on every load received, giving your team verifiable data and reporting to meet your sustainability goals.
NOW ACCEPTING: Corrugated Packaging, Stretch Wrap & Shrink Film, Plastic Packaging & Poly Bags, Wood Pallets & Dunnage, Foam & Protective Packaging, Strapping & Banding, Damaged & Unsalvageable Goods, Branded Materials (Assured Destruction), Recalled & Returned Products, Food-Grade Returns & Expired Product, Frozen & Refrigerated Food Waste, Organics & Compostables, Cold Storage Packaging Waste, Mixed Trailer Loads, Compactor Waste, General Warehouse Waste, All Logistics Byproducts.
For 3PL and distribution centers, not everything that comes in can go back out. Returned merchandise, damaged products, off-spec inventory, recalled goods, and branded materials require more than just disposal - they require documented, certified destruction with a full chain of custody.
SES provides assured destruction services that protect your brands while keeping materials out of the landfill. Every load is tracked, weighed, processed, and documented from pickup through beneficial reuse, giving you a verified paper trail that the product was destroyed and diverted.
100% Chain of Custody Documentation
Cold storage facilities and refrigerated distribution centers face waste challenges that general logistics operators don't. Food-grade returns, frozen and refrigerated organics, expired product, and temperature-sensitive packaging all require specialized handling — and most of it ends up in the landfill by default.
SES offers a complete solution. Our food waste depackaging and organics recovery programs handle the full range of cold storage waste streams, from bulk frozen returns to individually packaged expired goods. Materials are processed for 100% beneficial reuse — organics converted to compost or energy, packaging to alternative fuels or recycled commodity.
100% Landfill Diversion
SES works directly with automotive manufacturers and their supply chains to build sustainable waste programs that meet landfill diversion mandates and reuse 100% of the material. As a company, SES has repurposed and diverted over 250,000 tons of industrial waste from landfill.
Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials (NHSM): When waste arrives at an SES facility and processed for beneficial reuse, the materials are no longer classified as solid waste. Instead, the materials become a NHSM, a new resource with a productive purpose. This fundamental shift reduces your regulatory burden, lowers your disposal costs, and repurposes your material.
Nationwide Reach & Rapid Response: With six zero waste facilities and a nationwide partner network, SES can pickup and process any waste stream in the United States within 24 hours.
100% Landfill Diversion: SES transforms diverse waste streams into valuable resources - reducing landfill exposure, lowering disposal costs, and advancing corporate sustainability goals without disrupting your operations. SES processes materials for 100% beneficial reuse through Alternative Engineered Fuels (AEFs), Organics Processing and Composting, Industrial Recycling, and other Beneficial Reuse applications.
Zero Waste Reporting: SES provides comprehensive reporting on all materials received, giving our customers verifiable documentation that waste was diverted from landfills.
SES offers free waste stream assessments for logisitc and distribution centers - no obligation, no guesswork. Just a "simplified" assessment of where your waste program stands and what it takes to achieve your landfill diversion goals.
