Friday, March 31, 2017

How And Why Do You Need To Conduct Waste Audit

By Anna Morris


There is growing sensitivity regarding the environment. People and organizations are cautious about what is thrown away and how it is thrown. Organizations produce substantial garbage which also has financial implications. The need to know the performance of an organization and develop ways of reducing wastage is why waste audit is importance.

Why should you go around auditing materials that are no longer useful to an organization? The main reason is to establish the position of the organization in terms of volume and composition of garbage. This gives you an idea of what you order or bring into an organization and what is discarded. You can tell the level of utilization of different substances ordered in such an organization.

Having a percentage or figure indicating how efficient your system is and areas where there is wastage, you will adjust your budget by addressing wastage. This leads to savings and better utilization of resources. It is an opportunity to raise the level of efficiency in an organization. Resource utilization within your organization will therefore be more efficient.

When the auditing results are shared with everyone in the organization, the level of awareness about wastage and utilization of resources is raised. All arms or departments in your organization should be notified. They become conscious and establish their contribution towards wastage or efficiency. This promotes prudent utilization of resources as statistics are glaring on the face of all people involved. It leads to reduction in carbon footprint and raises the profile of your company or organization externally.

The process of auditing is rather simple. You need to gather people from various departments in your organization. Ensure that guys in finance and those in charge of health and safety are involved. Involving everyone generates support for your audit results. The custodial team is required to gather three days waste in one section. Provide labels to indicate dates, source and stream from where the garbage has been obtained.

The auditors should be provided with protective and safety gear like gloves, safety shoes, eye protectors and overalls. Where hazardous materials are involved the safety precautions must be enhanced. You will need a checklist to fill your findings as well as a camera to document the kind of waste collected. The garbage to be audited is that collected on a normal day as opposed to days when there are special occasions.

The team goes through the garbage and classifies it as either biodegradable or not. Each category should be weighed and the results entered in the checklist. The report should capture the stream and source location of this garbage. Other points to note include elements initiating decomposition and contamination. They will guide your report writing and intervention strategies.

It is time to calculate the diversion rate. You divide the weight of materials being recycled by the sum of garbage recycled and overall garbage weight. You then multiply the resulting figure by 100 to get a percentage. When communicating your results to the organization, let everyone know the major sources of garbage. Use the opportunity to ask for suggestions on how each can play a part in reducing wastage or improving efficiency.




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