vendredi 31 mars 2017

How And Why Do You Need To Conduct Waste Audit

By Anna Morris


The world is rewarding people and organizations that are sensitive about the environment. This is raising awareness about efficiency and maximum utilization of raw materials. There are cost implications whenever garbage is generated. This is why waste audit should be conducted on regular basis.

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.

With a figure or percentage indicating the level of efficiency, it is possible to evaluate the areas where budgetary adjustments can be made to minimize wastage. This will save the organization a lot of resources. You will re-evaluate the efficiency of systems to raise level or resource utilization by minimizing the amount wasted. This makes your systems and people more efficient.

Wastage sometimes emanates from lack of awareness of the levels of utilization and garbage produced. When the report is generated and shared with everyone in the organization, the level of awareness is raised. Making your workers more conscious of wastage will help improve their resource utilization and garbage sensitivity. Each department can establish how much it contributes in terms of garbage. The company can thus work towards reducing its carbon footprints and raise its profile in the community.

Auditing follows very simple steps. You are required to compose a group that brings together representatives from each department or sector. It is crucial to involve health and safety personnel as well as those in charge of finances. When everyone is involved, the exercise is supported across board. The custodian groups should be instructed to collect garbage disposed over three days. It should be labeled with the stream, source and collection dates indicated.

Ensure that you have the safety equipment required to handle the materials being audited. Apart from papers and containers to handle the discarded materials, carry protective clothing like gloves, safety shoes, overalls and eye protectors. Carry a checklist and camera for documentation purposes. The protective clothing used depends on the danger presented by these materials. Use disposed materials for a normal day other than days when there are events or 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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