Fwd: June 3 Webinar: Designing Waste Audits

[Alec Cooley]

FYI - Please share with interested colleagues. 

This upcoming program will focus more on the big picture aspects of planning waste audits (setting project objectives, designing the methodology, etc.).  In addition to a best practices primer from Michelle Leonard and Laura Johnson of SCS Engineers, we’ll have a case study presentation from Eric  Meliton of Wilfrid Laurier University (Ontario, Canada) describing how they’re using waste audits to advance zero waste priorities.    

 

Details and registration link below.

 

Thx,

Alec

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Waste composition studies (a.k.a. “waste audits”) come in all shapes and sizes to serve a range of purposes and budgets. But whether an audit results in meaningful information or just a report gathering dust depends on the way it’s carried out. Factors like which collection streams to sample and how sorting categories are defined become critical to ensuring the right data for effective program planning. This webinar will feature industry experts reviewing best practices to design audits, starting by identifying project outcomes and the questions that composition data needs to answer.  Presenters will also cite case study examples from residential, university, commercial and other settings, showing how audit data was analyzed to guide diversion and upstream decisions.    CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW        Michelle Leonard Senior Vice President SCS Engineers View LinkedIn Profile     Eric Meliton Manager, Sustainability Office Wilfrid Laurier University View LinkedIn Profile   Laura Johnson Senior Project Professional SCS Engineers View LinkedIn Profile     Alec Cooley (Moderator) Senior Advisor Busch Systems View LinkedIn Profile

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[Maggie Clarke]

Hi Alec 

This looks very interesting and potentially helpful to what we're trying to do in New York City. A couple of years ago we did a reuse characterization study on the curbside of a couple of blocks in the upper west side. We wanted to characterize the potential for repair and reuse of what was left at the curbside. So we set up categories, we also set up a system of grades for repairability, took pictures, took down the address even took down the number of recycling bags and black bags so that we would know how much reuse potential there was compared to recycling and what's thrown in the trash. We were struggling with whether to open black bags to look for small appliances, books and other reusables. We also realized that our grading system needed some rigor to be applied accurately to everything on the curb. It was: 

1. Reusable as is 

2. Requires minor repair or part replacement 

3. Requires major repair 

4. Can't be rehabilitated but parts can be salvaged for reuse 

5. Can't be salvaged but can be recycled 

Perhaps the most difficult is to determine the repaired value of everything on the curb, as well as the value of salvaged parts or recyclable parts. But being able to determine all of these are absolutely necessary if we are to demonstrate to city officials that a universal curbside collection and repair system is necessary and might even make economic sense compared to exporting all of this to incinerators and landfills. I hope your experts would be able to help with this? And how have they convinced city officials to do the studies and pilots necessary?

Maggie Clarke, Ph.D.
www.maggieclarke.com
www.maggieclarkeenvironmental.com
New York City

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