Quest Resource Management Group

Ray Hatch, CEO

The answer lies in waste diversion—a more sustainable way to reduce the carbon footprint and allow businesses across the board to pursue a zero-waste stance. However, this is not without its share of challenges. Handling waste across multiple streams is a complicated task for many, and the effort requires navigating various regulatory hurdles while embracing best practices to implement optimal waste diversion and maximum value of recycled materials.

Quest Resource Management Group is a national leader in environmental waste and recycling solutions poised to advance the disposal manager’s role, pioneering waste governance solutions that transcend conventional practices. It works with clients across diverse industries, like food, logistics, and manufacturing, to help achieve sustainability goals within their economic requirements. This waste management and sustainability company prides itself on the ability to dispose of any waste, yet it retains a specialized focus on certain waste streams, such as organics.

As an asset-light company, Quest, part of Quest Resource Holding Corporation (Nasdaq: QRHC), is free from any ownership stake in truck fleets, landfills, and processing plants and operates as an independent entity without any vested interest in utilizing these assets. This allows the company to partner with various service providers and prioritize efficient and responsible waste management, giving it a natural edge to consistently explore innovative, efficient, and sustainable alternatives. Quest’s track record of diverting up to 100 percent of some waste stream volumes to better alternatives than landfilling is a testament to its time-tested business model. It has gained a sterling reputation in waste management by delivering consistent, exceptional outcomes.

“Our core principle hinges on maximizing the utilization of waste while maintaining economic efficiency and sustainability,” says Ray Hatch, CEO of Quest.

The ‘Quest Way’ of Cost-Effective Waste Diversion

Quest adopts an agnostic stance and employs various waste disposal methodologies, including the U.S.-patented process, Quest Proganics®, to handle food and other organic waste effectively and create circular solutions.

This unique-to-the-market process allows clients to take a transformative step forward in their aggregation and diversion initiatives for organic, packaging, and ancillary waste streams. It ties in various customized waste management programs, a network of service providers, and a data reporting system to help food businesses effectuate large-scale organic waste diversion.

A key differentiator of Quest Proganics® is its single-bin collection method to handle organic materials, including packaged and non-packaged foods, floral, paper products, plastic, and waxed cardboard.

Quest Proganics® diverts up to 96 percent of the waste away from landfills. This includes converting materials into compost, biofuels, animal feeds, and waste-to-energy (WTE) for some packaged items. Quest handles everything, from upfront strategic development to identifying and contracting with leading haulers or collectors for each site, ensuring the optimal process at every turn. This eliminates the need for clients to engage multiple vendors, making Quest the single point of contact for their landfill diversion and waste management requirements. Quest Proganics® allows clients to go beyond achieving higher diversion rates with just one waste stream by also reducing up to 60 percent or more of their solid waste and associated costs, while enhancing facility safety and cleanliness. The immense benefits position Quest Proganics® as a practical answer to the growing complexities of handling organic waste, particularly for larger, geographically disparate food businesses.

“Food and beverage manufacturers, distributors, and grocery chains value our subject matter expertise and our multi-faceted, solutions-oriented approach in a rapidly evolving industry. They hire us because managing waste isn’t typically a part of their core business and we think about it every day,” says Sam Sa, VP of Corporate Development & Strategic Initiatives at Quest.

Quest also provides training to support employees in successfully executing Quest Proganics®. Its comprehensive training expands clients’ understanding of the range of disposals and recycling options, setting them up for success from the initial phase.

A Two-Sided Digital Marketplace

Quest’s proprietary software platform with world-class data tracking and reporting capabilities complements Quest Proganics® and other waste management solutions, giving clients better visibility into the performance of waste operations. It captures data on every service or touch point across all locations, regardless of the waste materials involved. This information is then consolidated in a data warehouse, powering its business intelligence portal. The data is then presented to clients in digestible formats for informed decision-making regarding waste management and other operational aspects. The platform is entirely attuned to match the client’s site-centric operational requirements. Business leaders are able to evaluate the performance of a particular waste stream across the entire network or for a single location.

“Our platform ultimately serves as a dynamic tool that empowers businesses to navigate waste management and operational challenges with unmatched efficiency. The data is invaluable for any client looking to report on its sustainability or ESG efforts,” says Leigh Harrington, VP of Marketing at Quest.

Quest steps beyond the confines of a traditional solution provider and conducts quarterly business reviews alongside clients to assess the performance of their waste solutions. During these sessions, it evaluates waste management performance against the client’s operational, sustainability, and ESG goals. This strategy creates a feedback loop primarily driven by data and cumulative assessments conducted each quarter. The team consistently analyzes volume variances by material to improve disposal and recycling execution.

The Pinnacle of Client-centricity

The combination of managing all waste streams, leveraging innovative programs such as Quest Proganics®, and delivering a proprietary reporting system empowers Quest to tailor a location-specific, corporate-wide waste management program.

Using Quest’s Client-Aligned Solutions Methodology, a typical client engagement begins with the team understanding its waste stream needs and objectives, including cost savings and broader goals. The team does a deep dive into historical data to understand what the client’s waste has typically looked like over time.

After considering all waste material and geographic aspects, the company turns to its network of certified service providers to source the best service for each location at the best price. Along with geography, the volume and waste streams dictate the extent of collaboration, which may involve hundreds of waste providers. A customized proposal is then presented, adapting the approach to the client’s size and diversity of waste streams. This comprehensive methodology ensures the most efficient means are identified to achieve initial waste management goals while allowing for continuous improvement from the ongoing oversight provided by the Quest Client Services Team.

The cycle of life—produce, consume, and dispose of products—is likely to continue. Partnering with a waste and recycling management advisor like Quest will empower businesses to achieve sustainability goals and lead the zero-waste revolution.