WASTE AUDITING 101

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WASTE AUDITING 101
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WASTE AUDITING 101
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What Direction Are You Going?
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What is a Waste Audit?

• An inventory of solid waste practices
• 1. Generation
• 2. Collection
• 3. Composition
• 4. Reduction
• 5. Reuse
• 6. Recycling
• 7. Composting
• 8. Purchasing

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Why Perform Waste Audits?

• Lower disposal costs
• Lower purchasing costs
• Revenue from recovered materials
• Improved public image
• Improved employee moral
• Less internal theft

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When to Perform Waste Audits?

• A typical time period (week) that can be used to
  project monthly and yearly waste patterns.
• Avoid holidays, unusual work flows (either heavy
  or light) vacations, start-up or close downs.

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Where to Perform Waste Audits?

• On-site
• (Cant be done from an office)
• Collection points before pick-up
• Dumpster and compactors before service
• Recycling areas
• Purchasing

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Who Should Perform Waste Audits?

• Waste audits do not require advanced degrees
• Waste audits do not require certification
• Waste audits do not require specialized equipment
• Waste audits are not rocket science

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Preparing for the Waste Audit
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Meet with the primary contact

• Go over the procedure
• Schedule a normal week
• Get list of contacts with phone numbers
• Custodial staff
• Purchasing
• Waste hauler
• Recycler
• Lawn Maintenance

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Walk or drive the entire facility

• Get maps of the facility and layout of the
  buildings
• Chart location and size of dumpsters/compactors
• Visually sample waste composition

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Meet with the waste hauler

• Get a copy of the service contract if possible
• Get a copy of the rate schedule
• Get a copy of the pick-up schedule
• Arrange to meet the driver on the first pickup
  day
• Arrange for extra dumpster at the waste sort
  location

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Meet with the Recycler

• Determine what materials are recycled and how
  they are prepared
• Get copies of any recycling education materials.
• Get a copy of the collection schedule
• Get a copy of the weight or volume of recyclables
  collected
• Get revenue figures (if possible) for recyclables
  sold.

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Prepare for the waste sort

• Determine how many different waste streams are
  generated
• Determine what recycling markets are available
• Reserve an area to conduct the waste sort
• Determine the number of samples needed and the
  number of sort categories needed
• Assemble sort equipment (scale, table, tarps,
  containers, safety equipment)

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Make travel arrangements

• Motel reservations
• Parking/entry permits

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Document Preparation

• Create spreadsheet for waste generation
• Create spreadsheet for waste sort
• Create a spreadsheet for recycling
• Camera for photos

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Conducting the Waste Audit
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Record Waste Generation

• Dumpsters - Estimate the volume of each dumpster
  just before it is emptied (use percent full to
  make the estimate) and record volumes.
• Compactors - Record the time, get the percent of
  capacity (if available), and record the scale
  weight for each compactor emptied.
• Talk to the custodial staff and determine when
  waste is taken to each dumpster. Also determine
  if there are peak trash periods during the
  week, month, or year.

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2-Yard Dumpster 130 full
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3-Yard Dumpster
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Dumpster Volume Estimating

• Yard Capacity Height x Width x Depth
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• Estimate Average Height of Trash
• Height of Dumpster

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Determine Waste Composition

• Determine the types of waste streams based on
  visual inspection of dumpsters and the function
  of buildings contributing to the dumpster
• Collect and stage samples for sorting
• Schedule waste sort, set up equipment, and
  coordinate volunteers if available
• Conduct the waste sort and record the results

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Collecting Samples
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Staging Samples
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Sorting One Bag at a Time
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Sorting Off of a Conveyor
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Multiple Person Sorting
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Weighing the Waste Materials
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Disposal of Waste Materials
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Calculating Waste Composition
Materials Weight Total Pct.
Paper 3.5 12 29
Cardboard 2 12 17
Alum. Cans 1 12 8
Containers 1.5 12 13
Non-Recyclable 4 12 33
TOTAL 12 12 100
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Applying Waste PercentagesBased on 892 yards per
week
Materials Pct. Yds/wk Yds/year
Paper 17 152 7,582
Cardboard 3 27 1,338
Alum. Cans 2 18 892
Containers 6 54 2,676
Non-Recyclable 72 642 32,112
TOTAL 100 892 44,600
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Observe Reduction and Reuse Possibilities

• What items are being discarded that could be
  reused?
• What items are being discarded that could be
  eliminated through better purchasing?
• What Items are being discarded that could be
  eliminated through different behavior?
• Look over the source reduction checklist for
  possibilities.

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Record Recycling Diversion

• Follow the recycler and estimate the volume of
  materials collected. Record the type and volume
  of each material collected.
• Look for possible efficiencies in collecting
  recyclables
• Ask questions along the recycling route to
  determine the attitude of workers about
  recycling.
• Establish a flow chart of how recyclables are
  moved from the work areas to the collection truck.

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Collecting Recyclables
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Loading Recyclables
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Storing Recyclables
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Transporting Recycling Containers
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Processing Recyclables
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Yardwaste

• Meet with the grounds superintendent or yard
  waste service contractor
• Determine how yardwaste is disposed.
• If yardwaste is bagged and disposed, estimate the
  disposal fee.

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UMR Compost Facility
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Purchasing

• Meet with purchasing staff and determine what
  criteria is used for purchases, if recycled
  content is considered, and How much, if any, is
  discounted for recycled material products.

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Writing the ReportandMaking the Presentation
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Introduction

• The scope of work proposed
• Time period of audit
• Why the audit was conducted
• Credit to any funding agency

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Waste Generation

• Description of internal waste collection
• What level of service is currently contracted (
  of dumpsters or compactors, pulls/wk, and fees).
• Actual waste generation during the auditing period

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Waste Generation Chart
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Waste Composition

• Why waste composition is important
• Methodology for waste sorts
• Waste sort results in percentage of waste
  generated
• Comparison to similar industries.

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Waste Composition Chart
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Same Data Different Chart
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Composition Comparison Charts
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Current waste reduction, reuse, recycling, and
composting activities

• List the efforts to reduce waste
• List reuse activities that affect waste
  generation
• List recycling activities and the amount of
  material currently recycled
• List composting activities

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Purchasing policies that affect waste generation

• List purchasing policies that could affect the
  amount of waste generated
• List the steps being taken by purchasing to
  reduce waste generation.

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Provide a financial audit of the cost to collect
and dispose of waste

• List the total cost for disposal
• List the cost of reducing, reusing, recycling,
  and composting waste
• List any revenues received from recovered
  materials
• List any gains from waste to energy activities
• List any savings (probably estimated) gained from
  waste reduction and proactive purchasing
  activities.
• List net cost for disposal and recycling (if
  applicable)

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Provide recommendations to reduce waste and/or
reduce waste disposal costs

• Make recommendations that will be significant
• Make recommendations brief
• Make recommendations defensible

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Presentation to Management

• Keep the presentation short (10-15 minutes)
• Include the use pictures if possible
• Use graphics to relate waste generation and waste
  composition numbers
• Spend most of the time discussing the
  recommendations