General Introduction

Waste is any material or substance that is discarded from a factory site, which can pollute and contaminate the environment and surrounding communities.

Example of waste can include, but not limited to:

  • Non-hazardous waste is discarded materials from the consumption of goods and services and the manufacture of goods. Non-hazardous waste usually includes non-hazardous production waste and domestic waste. Non-hazardous production waste is generated from manufacturing process directly, e.g., cloth, leather, plastic, paper, metal or packaging waste. Domestic waste includes food waste and sanitary waste. Food waste is typically generated from facility canteens and kitchens. Sanitary waste is the household waste from office and dormitory areas, e.g., toilet paper, yard/garden waste, glass, and food packaging.
  • Hazardous waste is waste that could cause harm to public health and/or the environment because of its chemical, physical, or biological characteristics (e.g., it is flammable, explosive, toxic, radioactive, or infectious). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines hazardous waste as “waste that is dangerous or potentially harmful to our health or the environment. Hazardous wastes can be liquids, solids, or gases, or sludge. The requirements for managing hazardous waste are stricter than for non‐hazardous waste.” (http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/)

However, the classification into hazardous and non-hazardous waste may differ from one country legislation to another, defining which types of waste are categorized as hazardous differently. A facility should at minimum follow the legal waste requirements. If legal requirements are not available, it is recommended to select more stringent industry guidelines.

New Guidance for Hardgoods facilities:

For all companies manufacturing or distributing in or to the European Union, the WEEE (Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive is an important directive to follow.  The WEEE directive governs the reduction and separation of electronic waste.

The Higg Index Waste section requires you to:

  • Understand and track all hazardous and non-hazardous waste streams
  • Record and Report the volume generated and disposal method for all hazardous and non-hazardous waste streams
  • Segregate, properly store, and train workers to handle all hazardous and non-hazardous waste streams
  • Forbid open burning and dumping of waste on-site and properly control any onsite incineration
  • Set normalized baselines for waste generated (e.g., generated 20 Kgs of domestic waste per production unit in 2016) and percentage of waste to disposal methods (e.g., landfilled 80% of domestic waste in 2016)
  • Set normalized targets for waste reductions and improvements to preferred disposal methods
  • Set an action plan with specific actions and strategies to achieve waste reduction targets
  • Demonstrate waste reductions against the baseline such as “Last year we generated 16 Kgs of domestic waste per unit of production which is a 20% annual reduction since 2016.”
  • Leading practice: Divert at least 90 percent of all discarded materials from landfills, incinerators without energy recovery, and the environment
  • Leading practice: Upcycle waste by transforming waste materials into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value.

Waste performance can be improved in two ways:

  1. By reducing the total amount of waste generated for your facility. This is the most preferred method because it will reduce waste amount from the original source.
  2. By switching to preferred methods of disposal such as recycling, reuse, recycling, or appropriately controlled incineration with energy recovery.

Tracking and Reporting Waste Data in Higg FEM

Accurately tracking and reporting waste data overtime provides facilities and stakeholders with detailed insight into opportunities for improvement. If data is not accurate, this limits the ability to understand a facility’s wastes and identify the specific actions that will help reduce environmental impacts and drive efficiencies.

When establishing a waste tracking and reporting program, the following principles should be applied:

  • Completeness – The tracking and reporting program should include all relevant sources (as listed in the FEM). Sources should not be excluded from data tracking and reporting should be based on materiality (e.g. small quantity exceptions).
  • Accuracy – Ensure that the data input into the waste tracking program is accurate and is derived from credible sources (e.g. calibrated scales, invoices, established scientific measurement principles or engineering estimates, etc.)
  • Consistency – Use consistent methodologies to track waste data that allows for comparisons of waste quantities over time. If there are any changes in the tracking methods, waste sources, or other operations that impact waste data, this should be documented.
  • Transparency – All data sources (e.g., invoices, weighing records, etc.), assumptions used (e.g., estimation techniques), and calculation methodologies should be disclosed in data inventories and be readily verifiable via documented records and supporting evidence.
  • Data Quality Management – Quality assurance activities (internal or external data quality checks) should be defined and performed on waste data as well as the processes used to collect and track data to ensure reported data is accurate.

The above principles are adapted from The Greenhouse Gas Protocol – Chapter 1: GHG Accounting and Reporting Principles.

Waste – Level 1

Questions

Waste – Level 2

Questions

Waste – Level 3

Questions