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Records examinations, facility walk-throughs, and waste sorts are three common approaches to conducting a waste assessment. Your assessment might require just one of these activities or a combination of approaches. The team should determine which assessment is best for your organization based on factors such as facility type and size, complexity of the waste stream, resources (money, time, labor, equipment) available to implement the waste reduction program, and scope of your waste reduction program.

• Records Examination
  Examining records can provide insight into your organization's waste generation and removal patterns. You might want to examine records such as purchasing invoices, sales logs, and waste hauling and recycling records.
  
  
• Facility Walk-Through
  A facility walk-through is a relatively quick way to assess your organization's waste generating practices. It involves touring your facility and its grounds, observing the activities of each department, and interviewing employees about waste producing activities and equipment.
  
  
• Waste Sort
  A waste sort involves the physical collection, sorting, and weighing of a representative sample of your organization's waste. The goal of a waste sort is to identify each waste component and calculate its percentage of your organization's total waste generation. Waste sorts can focus on an entire organization's waste stream or target specific functional areas
  (PDF 2 pages, 48 KB).

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Last Updated: January 17, 2006