VERTEBRATE PESTS: Manage Refuse, Manage Pests

Ironically, as a species, humans frequently attract pests to the structures we most do not want pests around. Consider how unwelcome rats, mice, flies and cockroaches are at restaurants, supermarkets and schools. These are the environments in which the public takes food safety for granted, assuming food is filth free. Yet it is common in these accounts to find that people’s poor behavior actually attracts rodents and insects to these and other food sites and may even provide them with the conditions to proliferate.

PROBLEMS WITH TRASH. Commercial establishments that handle and/or serve food generate relatively large amounts of attractive food odors and warmth. As you might expect, these conditions alone are highly attractive to any pests that forage near the property. But, the exterior refuse areas, depending on how they are maintained, may be the reason pests are attracted to the building site in the first place. Once on site, pests gravitate indoors or they establish themselves close to the food-generating refuse containers.

Thus, it should be common sense to most of us that the proper management of our food refuse is also one important approach in which we can proactively avoid pest problems. Unfortunately, of-tentimes, it is the nature of humans to dispose of their attention and concern for cleanliness when they dispose of their trash. (After all, it is trash, waste and dirt!) This includes both their handling of the trash, as well as keeping trash rooms, cans and dumpsters clean.

Additionally, the proper handling of food waste materials, selecting the appropriate waste collection bags, appropriate dumpster size and the management of all waste containers are usually overlooked and are not addressed during employee training programs. Most employees are simply instructed (or have the mindset) to "take the trash out and throw it in the dumpster." And sadly, for preventive pest management, this is exactly what is done. The consequences of this become visible later and then passed along to pest management professionals to correct.

Consequently, two things are important for us as pest professionals relative to commercial refuse management. First, keep in mind the important role exterior refuse areas play in attracting and allowing rodents and other pests to proliferate. Second, we need to communicate to clients the relationship between refuse and pests and the importance of the client’s role in managing their trash and trash receptacles properly.

Yes, this is easier said than done. Sanitation issues are not easily broached by pest professionals to clients (especially to those clients needing the information the most). Such information has to be delivered via tactful (and skillful) dialogue that suggest the pest management professional and client work together in keeping flies rodents and roaches from getting a foothold in the account. But we can also help them (and ourselves) by providing them with a "helpful tips" fact sheet on proper trash management.

HELPING THEM HELP US. Most of our commercial clients have never had trash management training. A fact sheet from you to inform custodians, hospital staffs, restaurants, supermarkets, nursing homes, day care centers and virtually any other commercial account employee how to properly handle food refuse will likely be welcomed. The following can be listed in the fact sheet:

1. Food wastes should always be placed into plastic bags or in some other container prior to being put into a dumpster (or compactor). Loose food waste in general should never be placed into dumpsters (with the exception of customized dumpsters and programs).

2. High quality, heavy-duty plastic bags should be used for food waste (especially wet food waste). Cheap bags split, break or leak, defeating the purpose of even using bags.

3. Excessively wet waste should be wrapped in newspapers or other absorbent materials prior to being put into garbage bags.

4. Attention should be paid to not overloading the garbage bags or the refuse dumpsters (both of which are commonly done). Overfilled bags stress the bag seams and cause spillage or leakage while the trash is being carried or while the bag remains inside the dumpster. Not overfilling the bags also allows for space to twist tie and seal off the bag. Heavy loads should be divided into several bags or the trash should be double-bagged. Overfilling the dumpster results in trash on the ground. Gradually, empty dumpsters are placed back down on top of trash and the whole purpose of having a dumpster in the first place is negated. Pests will feed beneath the trash containers, unseen by people.

5. The tops of garbage bags should be tightly sealed using twist ties or by tying the bag itself. This will prevent spillage and leakage, which, in turn, reduces garbage odors and thus reduces the pest attraction level. Sealed bags will also deny insect and bird pests direct entry to the bags once they are in the dumpster.

6. Most important, filled bags should be carried out to the dumpster and placed in the dumpster. Bags should not be thrown or tossed. This is important because:

a) Oftentimes, a tossed or thrown heavy bag creates stress on plastic seams, causing them to break or leak, spilling food refuse all around the exterior areas or within the dumpster itself. Tossed bags often miss their target, hit the side or edges of the dumpster and break open, causing a mess on, or inside, the dumpster that might attract pests for weeks.

b) Dumpsters become coated with food residues and spillage as a result of thrown bags. During the late summer and early fall, yellowjackets increase in number around the exterior of the dumpster. Employees afraid of these stinging insects do not get near the dumpster and increase their slinging of the bags, causing a cycle of more garbage, which attracts more pests.

7. Dumpsters should remain reasonably clean and should be changed on a regular basis by the waste management contractor. Dumpsters that have become severely damaged (no rain guards, deteriorating sides, etc.), should be replaced.

8. Dumpsters that are used for food refuse must always be kept on a cement pad or on some equivalent surface that will withstand the weight and allow for proper cleaning. Dumpsters situated on turf or dirt are highly vulnerable to rodents, ants and other pests burrowing into the ground directly beneath the dumpster. The ground area supporting the dumpster must remain clean via power washing or some other acceptable efforts. The areas beneath and behind the dumpster should be kept orderly.

9. Dumpsters should be located away from doors (especially kitchen doors) and receiving areas. There is no set distance rule, but 50 yards or more is desirable. The closer the dumpster is to the back doors and receiving areas, the greater the chance for pests to enter the account. Although this is unpopular because employees must carry the trash greater distances, it important for overall food safety and pest prevention. (The next time you visit a large fast food restaurant, note how far their dumpsters are away from the building perimeter.) Ideally, carts should be available to transfer heavy trash.

10. Dumpsters should always have rain covers that are always kept closed. Rain covers help reduce rainwater from accumulating in the base of the dumpster, which is important in reducing the fly breeding potential, among other sanitary issues. By keeping the covers closed, the garbage also will be less available to birds.

CONCLUSION. As pest management professionals, we see mismanaged trash all the time — but certainly not as often as those who service commercial dumpsters for a living. Sometime, chat with a waste management employee about the conditions they see around commercial food establishment dumpsters. While you’re at it, ask them about rats, mice or cockroaches or the thousands of fly maggots that spill out of the compactor crevices during pick-ups and "swap-outs."

Our commercial clients must realize that although we can employ professional-level tools, no pesticide can substitute for basic hygiene. The biological premise is simple: when we manage urban trash, we also manage urban pest populations. Managing human behavior? Well, that’s not so simple.

The author is president of RMC Pest Management Consulting and can be reached at 765/939-2829 or rcorrigan@pctonline.com.