The Challenge

This national brand operated a complex, mixed portfolio of corporate-owned and
franchise-owned locations. While the brand had significant scale, waste management was being
handled in a highly fragmented way.
Corporate-owned locations followed internal guidelines, but service execution varied widely by
market. Franchisees were largely responsible for managing their own waste services, resulting
in inconsistent pricing, misaligned service levels, and frequent billing issues.
Over time, several problems became clear:

● Corporate leadership lacked a reliable, consolidated view of waste spend across the
entire system
● Locations in similar markets were paying materially different rates for identical services
● Overages were common, but rarely reviewed or challenged
● Containers and service frequencies had not been reevaluated as traffic patterns and
operating hours changed
● Many contracts were renewing automatically, locking locations into above-market pricing
● Franchisees increasingly escalated waste-related complaints to corporate, consuming
leadership and support resources

The brand needed a solution that would create national oversight and discipline without
disrupting local operations or alienating franchise partners.

The Performance Waste Solutions Approach

Performance Waste Solutions partnered with corporate leadership to design a controlled,
phased rollout that balanced corporate governance with franchise autonomy.

Phase 1: Portfolio Assessment and Data Normalization

The engagement began with a portfolio-wide assessment to establish a baseline:
● Collected service data, invoices, and contracts across corporate-owned locations
● Normalized pricing by market to identify outliers and inefficiencies
● Flagged locations with recurring overages or excessive service frequency
● Identified contracts nearing renewal or already auto-renewed at higher rates

This process immediately exposed systemic issues that were invisible when viewed location by
location.

Phase 2: Corporate-Owned Location Optimization

For corporate-owned locations, Performance Waste Solutions implemented full-service
management:
● Centralized invoice auditing on a monthly basis
● Validated overage charges and disputed inaccurate fees
● Right-sized containers and adjusted service frequencies to match actual usage
● Renegotiated contracts to align pricing with local market benchmarks
● Established a single point of accountability for service issues

Within the first several months, corporate-owned locations saw meaningful cost reductions while
service reliability improved.

Phase 3: Franchise Program Development and Rollout

With proven results at corporate locations, Performance Waste Solutions worked with
leadership to design a franchise-friendly program:
● Created a standardized waste management framework approved by corporate
● Offered franchisees access to negotiated pricing and centralized oversight
● Allowed franchisees to opt in without forced vendor changes where unnecessary
● Maintained local service flexibility while enforcing billing and contract discipline

The program was positioned as a cost and time savings initiative, not a mandate, which
drove strong franchise participation.

Results

Within the first year of implementation, the brand achieved significant financial and operational
improvements:
● 28% average reduction in waste spend across participating locations
● Six-figure annual savings from recovered and avoided overage charges
● Elimination of silent contract renewals across the portfolio
● Material reduction in billing discrepancies through monthly invoice audits
● Improved service consistency across markets with fewer missed pickups and service
failures

Equally important, corporate leadership reclaimed thousands of hours previously spent
addressing waste-related escalations from franchisees and field teams.

Operational Impact

Beyond cost savings, the engagement delivered long-term operational control:
● Corporate gained a consolidated, accurate view of waste spend by market and location
type
● Franchisees benefited from lower costs, fewer service issues, and reduced
administrative burden
● Contracts, service levels, and container configurations became actively managed
instead of static
● Waste management shifted from a reactive process to an ongoing optimization program

What had previously been a decentralized, low-visibility expense became a controlled,
continuously monitored operation.

Why It Worked

The success of the program came from aligning incentives across the organization:
● Corporate leadership gained oversight and consistency
● Franchisees retained flexibility while benefiting from scale
● Local market realities were respected rather than overridden by national assumptions
● Savings were achieved without operational disruption

Performance Waste Solutions acted as a true extension of the brand’s operations team — not
just a vendor.