The waste your facility generates can provide valuable insight into how your operations run, where inefficiencies lie and where there are opportunities for improvement. Far from being a complicated or resource-intensive process, a waste audit is an accessible and practical exercise for businesses of any size. What you learn can put you on the path toward cost savings, operational improvements and more sustainable practices. Read on to learn more about conducting a waste audit.

The Basics of a Waste Audit

Before we get into how to conduct a waste audit and what to do with the results, let’s go over the basics. A waste audit provides businesses with a way to review how much waste they generate and how it’s handled. Waste in a waste audit is generally categorized by type and volume. Businesses can produce waste such as recyclable, organic, landfill-bound and hazardous. More traditional waste audits focus on those types of waste, while more sustainability-focused audits can also measure energy and water consumption.

Businesses conduct waste audits because it helps them understand exactly how much waste they’re producing and where it’s coming from. The reason they do this is because, put simply, waste costs money to dispose of, so any opportunities to reduce it save money, time and valuable resources. Waste audits also serve as a foundation for new sustainability initiatives. In order to set attainable waste management goals, you have to know where you currently stand.

How to Conduct a Waste Audit

A waste audit is a process, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. The goal is to establish a clear baseline from which you can determine a course of action to reduce waste and document clear data points to use when measuring progress. Essentially, a waste audit involves:

• Putting together a small team and selecting a representative timeframe (a typical workweek, for example)
• Collecting all waste from across the entire facility.
• Sorting waste into the appropriate categories and weighing each one
• Documenting and analyzing the data
• Implementing a waste reduction plan based on findings

Interpreting Your Findings

Once you have your data, it’s time to make sense of it. Start by identifying which categories yield the highest volume of waste. From there, look for patterns. Determine how much waste from each category each area or department of your operation is producing. Is a specific type of waste being produced disproportionately from one department or another? Is a specific shift producing more waste than others? The goal is to distinguish the type of waste that is expected and normal for your business, and which type is excessive or a result of inefficiencies or poor practices.

Putting Together an Action Plan

Once you’ve interpreted the data you’ve collected, you can translate your findings into an actionable waste reduction plan. Depending on what your audit shows, you may have to make operational improvements in shipping and receiving processes, packaging processes, disposal practices—the list goes on. The most important step when putting your new waste management plan in place is to educate your team and give them all of the tools they need to succeed. Make sure everyone is on the same page about your facility’s sustainability initiatives, and measure your progress over time. Remember, waste reduction is an ongoing process, not a one-time action.

Sustainability Support from a Trusted Solutions Partner

A waste audit is only as valuable as the action it inspires, and taking steps toward a more environmentally friendly operation is easier with the right sustainability and solutions partner behind you. From packaging and cleaning to facility supplies and general support, Veritiv Pollock works alongside businesses across industries to help them implement more sustainable practices. No matter what your waste audit reveals, we’re here to help with custom solutions tailored to your facility’s needs. Learn more about our sustainability support here or contact us online to get started!