How do you calculate waste recycling rate?
Understanding how to assess your recycling efforts is crucial for tracking your company's sustainability performance. To do this effectively, you need to calculate the waste recycling rate – a clear indicator of how much waste is being diverted from landfills to recycling processes.
Steps to Calculate Your Recycling and Garbage Quantities
Follow these three simple steps to gather the necessary data to calculate how much you recycle each month:
- Identify the size of your outdoor recycling container(s) by checking your monthly invoices or contacting your recycling collection service.
- Determine the frequency with which your recycling container is emptied each month.
- Compute the total monthly recycling quantity using the formula: size of the container multiplied by the number of collections.
For instance, if your recycling container holds eight cubic yards and is emptied four times per month, your total recycling for that month would be 32 cubic yards (8 x 4 = 32).
Calculating Your Monthly Recycling Rate
Once you have the recycling quantity, the next step is to find out your recycling rate by dividing the recycling quantity by the total amount of solid waste generated. Ensure that you're using the same units of measurement, such as cubic yards, gallons, pounds, or tons, for both recyclables and waste.
For example, if you recycled four cubic yards of material and disposed of six cubic yards of garbage, your total solid waste would amount to ten cubic yards. Consequently, your recycling rate would be calculated as follows:
Recycling Rate (%) = (Recycling Quantity / Total Solid Waste) x 100
Recycling Rate = (4 / (4 + 6)) x 100 = 40%
Measuring Waste per Employee
Another useful metric is to assess the amount of waste produced per employee. This information can help identify areas for efficiency improvements in waste management. To calculate waste generated and disposed of per employee, use the following formulas:
Waste Generated per Employee = Total Waste Generated / Number of Employees
Waste Disposed per Employee = Total Waste Disposed / Number of Employees
Understanding these differences provides insights into your company's waste practices, ultimately guiding internal policies towards better recycling initiatives.
The Importance of a Waste Audit
Conducting a waste audit is a crucial step in understanding and improving your recycling efforts. This can be performed internally, by your waste hauler, or outsourced to an external company. The cost-effective approach is to carry out the audit yourselves. Here are some best practices:
- Assemble a dedicated team for the audit.
- Notify custodial staff about the audit plan.
- Conduct the audit over a three-day period.
- Use clear bags for easy visibility of contents.
- Label each bag by the collection area.
- Weigh each bag and record the source.
- Assess recycling contamination visually.
Calculating Your Waste Diversion Rate
Sum the total weights of recycling, compost, and waste collected during your waste audit. Use this formula to determine your waste diversion rate:
Waste Diversion Rate = (Total Weight of Recyclables + Compost) / Total Waste x 100
Once you know your current diversion rate, set targets for improvement. Implement effective practices like clear communication and instructional graphics to enhance participation in your recycling program.
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