Effective waste management is important for every business, regardless of industry type. Whether your goal is to reduce food waste in your restaurant, improve dry-mixed recycling efforts, or simply meet to meet environmental regulations, the way you carry out your waste management audit matters.
This guide provides an easy-to-follow, step-by-step process for performing a thorough waste audit. By doing so, you’ll be equipped to create a successful plan for improved waste management practices.
Table of Contents
What is the Purpose of a Waste Audit?
A waste audit serves many purposes and is highly beneficial for just about every company out there. At Waste Direct, we offer expert waste auditing services to help you analyse your waste output and put processes into place to reduce your waste, improve your business’s carbon footprint, and save money.
By carrying out proper waste audits regularly, your company can also improve its efficiency by spending less time handling waste materials. Below, we’ve put together a list of just some of the key benefits of waste audits and why they are so important:
Cost Savings: A waste audit can help you find areas to cut down waste disposal costs and improve recycling efforts.
Legal adherence: Adhere to environmental laws and industry standards in waste management practices. This is important for any type of company, irrespective of the industry it operates within.
Sustainability Initiatives: Strengthen Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) through landfill contribution reduction.
Operational Efficiency: Optimise your waste disposal methods to reduce resource loss. When you have a clear idea of what you would like to get out of the audit, you can take a systematic approach to evaluating your current waste management practices.
Planning Your Waste Audit
Before initiating a waste audit, it is important to plan. If you partner with us, we handle all steps of your waste audit preparation: from choosing the timeframe to collating data and analysing it. Here are the steps to follow to plan appropriately for a waste audit:
Set up a Trusted Waste Audit Team
It’s impossible to conduct a waste audit by yourself. This is because, for larger companies especially, departments will need to work together to gather reliable waste generation and composition data. This includes facilities management, sustainability teams, and operations staff. It is recommended that a lead auditor be assigned to coordinate the process, data recorders to capture observations, and other staff members to oversee waste collection and disposal methods.
Choose the Right Timeframe
The audit should represent regular, day-to-day business activity. A week usually works well to gather data over different working days. Don’t audit during Christmas or Halloween, for example. You should also try to avoid the busy seasons, as this will likely produce data that isn’t representative.
Inform Your Staff
Inform employees of the audit beforehand to encourage cooperation and collect insights on existing waste management processes. This communication may also encourage them to be more conscious of how they dispose of waste and improve recycling in the workplace.
Collection of and Classification of Waste
Although the extent of your waste audit depends on your company, the focus of waste audits is to identify and classify materials that are going into a landfill. This stage involves a number of steps and can look unique to how your company operates. However, we have provided general guidelines for how to carry out a waste audit, below:
Identify Waste Types
The primary waste types found in commercial businesses include general waste such as non-recyclable materials like plastics and other mixed materials. You can categorise waste by segregating it:
- Paper products, such as office materials, storage products, and printed documents
- Plastic items, such as bottles, food containers, and crisp packets, for example
- Organic material, which includes food scraps and compostable materials
- Hazardous materials, such as chemicals, batteries, or medical waste
- E-waste, which entails old computers, printers, and electronic devices
Collecting Waste Samples
During an audit, to gain a real idea about waste produced, businesses will have to collect samples of disposed-off material, itemised by type, for the accurate analysis of waste generation. Storage must be handled carefully so as not to lead to contamination or injury.
Measuring Waste Quantities
Once samples have been collected, organisations should measure the total weight or volume of each type of waste category, how often each type is produced, and the disposal methods for different types of wastes.
Basic scales or volumetric estimation tools can help with data collection; larger businesses may want to implement digital waste tracking systems intended for high volumes of waste.
Evaluating Your Existing Waste Management System
Once you have all of your data on waste generated within your business, the next step is to analyse. Carrying out a waste audit it such a valuable action since you can have a complete view of your current system, easily identifying room for improvement. The ultimate goal, of course, is to improve recycling or reusing materials.
Here are some questions to help you to analyse your audit data:
What are your current waste disposal methods?
- Is waste produced sorted into recyclable and landfill streams?
- Are there existing recycling programmes in place currently?
- Is there any evidence of waste that need not be wasted or inefficient refuse-handling?
What are your pre-disposal storage methods like?
- How is waste currently stored for disposal?
- Is it easy to access bins?
- Is there clear labelling of the bin for segregation?
- Are materials currently being contaminated?
What are your current recycling and repurposing processes like?
- Do you have strong recycling rules in place?
- Are there any incentives to encourage more recycling?
- How much waste is put into the general waste incorrectly?
- Can you replace any non-recyclable items with recyclable options?
Create a Plan for Waste Reduction
The audit’s results will help you to establish a detailed plan that focuses on improving waste management practices, whether that be through source reduction programmes, improving recycling practices or adopting circular economy practices.
Moving forward, you should be able to implement better options for recycling more and producing less general waste. We have put together some suggestions to help with post-audit plans:
Consider Reduction Initiatives
One way to enhance sustainability is to reduce initial waste generation. Look at programmes like going digital instead of paper, promoting suppliers who use less harmful materials and trying to train individuals better on reducing waste through sustainable practices.
Enhance Recycling Efforts
A decrease in disposal through enhanced recycling rates can drastically reduce costs. That may involve measures such as posting clear signage on bins to help staff avoid contamination during sorting, offering regular training about best practices when it comes to recycling, and collaborating with forward-thinking service providers on improved recycling methods.
Align with Circular Economy Strategies
The ideas behind the circular economy are to bring more extended material usage. Strategies can include exploring ways to repurpose materials on hand (for example, repurposing greeting cards instead of throwing them away), donating any unused or unwanted items to charities or community organisations and avoiding throwaway culture targets by calling for manufacturers to offer take-back schemes when their products are at the end of their lifecycle.
Waste Audit Frequency Tips
Now that we’ve come to the end of our waste audit guide, we hope that you have found the information helpful and of value. At Waste Direct, we encourage all of our customers to carry out regular waste audits as continuous monitoring helps businesses to track their progress efficiently.
It’s not helpful to just carry out a single waste audit. Rather, you should aim to establish clear goals for reducing waste over set periods. Carrying out a waste audit every 6 months is highly doable, and in doing so, you’ll be provided with perspective on what changes are being made. Documenting any changes to costs associated with waste disposal will help you to see clear financial benefits from efforts in the long term.
A waste management audit analysis is a great way for businesses that want to find ways to save money and reduce their carbon footprin, and save money.
FAQs
What is a waste audit?
A waste audit is the process of gathering data about the types of waste your business produces and analysing it. This process can help you to identify opportunities for reduction, recycling, and cost savings.
Why should my business conduct a waste audit?
A waste audit can help reduce costs and improve recycling rates. In the UK, carrying out a waste audit can also serve to ensure compliance with environmental regulations.
How do I start a waste audit?
Begin by gathering a waste audit team, setting some goals, and choosing an audit period. Once you have your data, categorise and measure your waste to assess disposal habits.
What types of waste should I include in the audit?
You should include all types of waste, such as recyclables like plastics, food waste, and hazardous materials. A thorough audit will provide you with better data and room for improving waste management.
How often should I conduct a waste audit?
We recommend once a year, but more frequent audits can be useful if your business generates a high volume of waste.
How can a waste audit save my business money?
By identifying waste reduction opportunities, you can cut commercial waste collection costs, improve efficiency, and even find ways to repurpose materials. Reducing waste at the source often leads to significant long-term savings.
Can I conduct a waste audit myself, or do I need professional help?
You can conduct a basic audit yourself, but professional waste management companies like Waste Direct can provide detailed insights and tailored recommendations. Expert guidance ensures compliance and maximises waste reduction efforts.
