Most businesses have no idea what they are actually throwing away or what it costs them. A waste audit changes that. Sorting, weighing, and categorizing your waste stream gives you a clear baseline. That can help you cut disposal costs, improve your diversion rate, and back your sustainability goals with real data.

Key Takeaways

• A waste audit identifies exactly what materials your facility generates, where they go, and what you pay for waste disposal.
• Reducing recycling contamination alone can lower disposal costs by showing where contamination is driving unnecessary waste expenses.
• Waste audit data gives LEED certification, zero waste initiatives, and any other sustainability programs a starting point. 

Key Terms

• Waste audit: Process of sorting, weighing, and categorizing what a facility throws away during a defined timeframe.
• Waste stream: Specific category of material (paper, organics, plastics, hazardous, etc.) flowing out of a facility.
• Diversion rate: Percentage of total waste redirected away from landfill through recycling, composting, or reuse.
• Baseline: Starting measurement of waste generation used to track progress over time.
• Contamination: Recyclables that can’t be processed because they were sorted wrong or mixed with trash.
• Zero waste: Sustainability goal of diverting 90 percent or more of total waste from landfill.
• LEED certification: Green building rating system that includes credits for waste reduction and diversion

What Is a Waste Audit?

A waste audit is the process of collecting, sorting, and measuring what leaves your facility. It includes trash, recyclables, and organic waste. The goal is to understand your waste streams: what your business throws away, how much of each material it generates, where it comes from, and where it ends up. The U.S. EPA has identified three main waste assessment approaches: records review, facility walk-throughs, and physical waste sorts. A thorough audit often incorporates all three. 

Why Conduct a Waste Audit?

• Cut disposal costs: Once you know what you’re hauling and how often, it gets much easier to right size your hauler service. A waste audit helps you spot issues like recycling contamination before they become a problem. 
• Meet sustainability goals: Sustainability goals without baseline data like recycling rate are hard to measure. A waste audit gives you the numbers to set realistic waste reduction targets, track your diversion rate, and report results for LEED certification, ESG, or zero waste programs.
• Ensure regulatory compliance: Organic waste diversion mandates and landfill restrictions are expanding. A waste audit identifies gaps in your waste management practices before a regulator does.

What Types of Waste Does an Audit Examine?

Waste Category	What It Includes
Paper and cardboard	Office paper, corrugated cardboard, packaging
Organics and food waste	Food scraps, coffee grounds, compostable packaging
Plastics	Bottles, bags, film, packaging, containers
Metals	Aluminum cans, scrap metal, steel containers
Electronics	Computers, phones, batteries, small appliances
Hazardous materials	Chemicals, solvents, fluorescent bulbs, motor oil
Landfill residuals	Materials with no current recycling or composting pathway

How a Waste Audit Works: Step by Step

1. Define goals and scope. Set objectives up front: cost savings, reduction goals, diversion rate target, LEED documentation, or establishing a baseline. Determine which facilities and waste categories are in scope.
2. Review existing records. Hauler invoices and service schedules can show pickup mismatches and container size problems that are already costing money.
3. Walk the facility. Map where waste is generated and where recycling bins and signage are placed on-site. Simple fixes, like moving a bin or adding compost containers, can quickly improve diversion rates.
4. Conduct the physical sort. Waste collected over the defined timeframe is sorted by waste category, weighed, and documented. Gloves, safety glasses and face masks are required PPE.
5. Analyze the data. The waste audit report shows how much of each waste stream you generate, your diversion rate, and contamination levels. 
6. Build the action plan. Prioritize recommendations by ROI: optimize the recycling program, create composting initiatives, update signage, and renegotiate hauler service.
7. Follow up. Schedule follow-up audits annually or quarterly to measure progress, catch new inefficiencies, and keep sustainability efforts on track.

Who Benefits From a Waste Audit?

• Disposal costs have increased and the reason isn’t clear
• A sustainability or ESG program needs baseline data
• LEED certification or zero waste designation is part of the plan
• Operations span multiple sites with inconsistent waste collection practices
• A recycling program is in place, but diversion rates are lower than expected
• State or local regulatory compliance require waste documentation

Waste Audit FAQs

How long does a waste audit take?

The physical waste sort usually takes one to five days. The full process typically takes two to four weeks for a standard commercial facility.

What is a good diversion rate?

Many programs target 50 percent or higher. Zero waste certification requires 90 percent or more. Most facilities find their actual rate is lower than they expected.

Can it support LEED certification?

Yes. LEED includes credits for waste diversion and sustainable waste management. A waste audit provides the baseline data LEED requires, but the method needs to meet LEED documentation standards from the start.

How often should you audit?

Start with a comprehensive audit to set a baseline, then follow up annually or semi-annually. Quarterly mini-audits catch new issues between full audits.

Start With a Waste Audit

Managing waste across multiple sites shouldn’t mean managing multiple headaches. ZTERS provides waste audit services to help teams understand what they’re throwing away, spot inefficiencies, and make better decisions about service levels and diversion. We also offer a full range of commercial site services, including dumpster rentals, portable toilets rentals, temporary fencing, and storage containers. Everything runs through one account manager and one invoice. 

Get a free quote from ZTERS or call (888) 251-2660.

Can I just do it myself?

Possibly, if you have enough people willing to sort through the waste and recycling dumpsters. However, if you’re looking for a more specific or large-scale purpose, such as proposing a waste-related project or seeking zero waste certification, you’ll want to bring in an expert. With ZTERS, our professionals will sort everything for you, analyze the data, and use it to create a detailed report.

Managing multiple sites can cause multiple headaches. Your waste doesn’t have to be one of them. ZTERS waste audit program makes it easy to understand and identify crucial improvements in your waste and recycling practices.