How to Conduct a Waste Audit
There are many different methods for conducting waste audits of varying degrees; this is a simple, basic option. Waste (trash, garbage) audits help an organization determine what is being thrown away at its facility. This knowledge is helpful in determining what needs to be changed in current waste reduction and recycling programs and with choosing what new programs, if any, need to be implemented.
The tools you will need:
- 3-4 people
- Plastic tarp
- Rubber gloves
- Aprons
- 5-gallon buckets (at least 7)
- Signs for the buckets
- Scale (optional)
- Audit form (See "How to Use Form" below)
What do you audit?
This answer varies, but the basic answer is one days worth
of garbage. You may need to set this garbage aside so it doesn't get mixed with
the neighbor's garbage or any other days garbage, or one can time the audit so
there is only one days worth of material in the dumpster. The best option is to
label and set aside individual bags so you can determine where the garbage
originally came from. One day's worth of trash may also be overwhelming amount.
In that case, audit half a days worth or some smaller amount, but be sure to
sort bags from all areas of the business. The idea is to get a basic concept of
what is being thrown out, which may or may not change day-to-day. If the
facility's production changes day-to-day, you may what to conduct a couple
audits or try to choose an average day.
Sorting the Materials
When you are conducting a waste audit, there is no such
thing as trash. Everything gets sorting into one of several categories. A soda
syrup container is non-recyclable plastic; a beer bottle cap gets sorted into
the metal container or non-recyclable metal container, candy wrappers are
non-recyclable plastic and so on.
Step 1
Lay out the tarp and buckets. The buckets will be
used to collect and weigh items. If you do not have a scale, just calculate
your numbers by volume in gallons. If you do have a scale, don't forget to tare
the weight of the bucket. Label the buckets according to materials. The
different categories are usually metal, recyclable plastic, non-recyclable
plastic, glass, recyclable paper, non-recyclable paper such as paper plates, compostable
and non-compostable organics (meat, dairy, etc.). You may also need a bucket
for plastic wrap, reusable items and any other needed material designation. The
number of buckets will differ depending on what waste reduction programs are
available in your area. For instance, San Francisco has a citywide commercial
composting program that accepts all compostable material including meat, dairy
and bones. In this case, you would only need one compost bucket, but you would
still need a non-recyclable paper bucket if there if poly coated paper plates
in the waste. Changing to compostable plates would eliminate that waste.
Step 2
As mentioned, trash sorted by individual areas of a
facility is the best option. If you have separated and labeled individual bags,
sort and record each area individually. Dump one or two bags on the tarp at a
time and sort the items into the labeled buckets. Remember, there is no such
thing as trash; everything down to the smallest twist tie gets put into a designated
buckets. The one exception is bathroom garbage. You can record the amount, but
don't sort it.
Step 3
After sorting an area, record the numbers, either
weight, volume or both (recommended) on the audit form. If you are sorting
individual areas, use a separate sheet for each area. Kitchen, front of house,
prep kitchen, etc.
Step 4
Clean up then have a beer. You deserve it.
Step 5
Calculate your numbers and proceed with appropriate
actions. Did you find a lot of recyclable items in the sort? In what area(s)?
Who is throwing it away? Was the vast majority of trash food waste? Is there a
composting option in your area? Can you compost on-site? Was there a lot of
food packaging? Are there other product options that don't have as much
packaging?
Conducting a waste audit is one of the best actions a restaurant can take to reduce its waste production. Observing what you are paying to throw away can be a huge motivator.
How to Use Audit Form
The waste audit form is a Microsoft
Excel spreadsheet that can automatically calculate waste weight totals and percentages.
The form is divided into several sheets (Kitchen, Meat, Produce, etc.), denoted
at the bottom of the screen. Each of these sheets represents an area of the facility
being audited. A copy of the "Print Form" should be printed for each area and used to conduct the
actual audit. The other sheets (Kitchen - All) contain forulas for entering data.
Once all the data is entered, each sheet will calculate waste weight totals and
percentages for that particular area and the "All" sheet will calculate totals
for all the areas. You can use just one or all of the sheets. See the notes tab
in the file for info on adding additional sheets.
