A waste assessment is a visual analysis of waste composition to give an overarching understanding of problems and also identify potential opportunities for your organisation. A waste assessment is ideal to satisfy a range of client objectives within set budgets and limited timeframes. A waste assessment may be undertaken to:

• Determine the quantity and type of waste being generated.
• Measure performance against current waste plans and targets.
• Identify areas of non-compliance.
• Review efficiency of waste and recycling systems.
• Identify opportunities for cost savings and efficiency gains.
• Identify potential areas of exposure and risk.
• Measure performance against Best Practice.

A waste audit is a physical analysis of waste composition to provide a detailed understanding of problems, identify potential opportunities, and give you a detailed analysis of your waste composition. A waste audit will help you clearly identify your waste generation to:

• Establish baseline or benchmark data.
• Characterise and quantify waste streams.
• Verify waste pathways.
• Identify waste diversion opportunities.
• Identify source reduction opportunities.
• Assess effectiveness and determine ways to improve efficiency of your current waste management systems.
• Gain specific information for local government or NABERS accreditation.
• Obtain detailed data on waste generation.

When you know what you generate, how much you generate and where you generate it, you will manage waste cost-effectively and in a more environmentally friendly manner. Expert waste auditors can not only help you to find potential problems, but identify ways to save on waste and look for efficiencies to save your organisation time and money.

A Waste Management Plan is designed to guide your corporate practice and waste policy for efficiency, compliance and achieving optimum waste performance targets. A formal waste management plan will cover all of your organisation’s waste streams. A formal and detailed document, the Waste Management Plan is a key element of the Environmental Management Plan or Environmental Management System (EMS) and will form a key part of your risk management strategy. Waste Management Plans are practical, living documents designed to guide organisational practices and maintain compliance with required waste legislation, while guiding performance to established waste targets.

Yes, all Councils around Australia require you to submit a Waste Management Plan as part of your DA. Typically, this plan will cover how you are going to manage waste generated during the demolition and construction stage of your project as well as the waste generated from the ongoing use of the development. Waste Audit has extensive experience in this area and can assist you to meet your DA requirements.

Most companies are recycling primary recyclable materials (cardboard, paper, glass, aluminium cans) but very few know what percentage of this material they are capturing and how much is making its way to landfill. There may be markets for other materials in your waste stream if they are generated in quantities that can justify the cost of operating the program. Although there may be recycling programs in place, these may be inefficient or costly. A detailed waste review will identify areas of improvement and apply customised methods to put these in place to suit the capabilities of your organisation.

A detailed Waste Due Diligence review will assess your current waste systems and practices against State specific waste legislation and Industry Codes of Practice. Environmental legislation in most States recognises the generator of waste to be responsible for their waste until it is finally disposed of or processed. Simply engaging the services of a reputable contractor does not alleviate any of these responsibilities. To demonstrate your full compliance with legislation and Industry Codes of Practice you must ensure that the right practices are in place and that they are properly documented.