Open AccessUsing a Baseline to Improve Accuracy of Waste Diversion Rate
Author(s) -
Breitner S. Marczewski
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the world conference on waste management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Conference proceedings
ISSN - 2651-0251
DOI - 10.17501/26510251.2021.1101
Subject(s) - baseline (sea) , incineration , waste management , sustainability , greenhouse gas , track (disk drive) , environmental science , waste collection , municipal solid waste , computer science , engineering , ecology , oceanography , biology , operating system , geology
As part of its new sustainability goal “Zero Waste”, General Motors aims to divert 90% of its total waste generation from landfills and incineration with or without energy recovery by 2025. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to determine the correct method to track the percentage of waste diverted over time, since it will be the key performance indicator (KPI) of the program. The most accepted method to calculate this KPI is by dividing the total amount of waste diverted from landfills and/or incinerators by the total amount of waste generated in a specific time period. This methodology presents a simple snapshot of the current performance and does not fully address the long-term performance. The new proposal aims to track performance over time using similar approach as defined in the revised edition of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The new methodology uses a baseline to track performance and determines the diversion rate by comparing the total nondiverted material against the baseline. This method has shown accurate percentage of diversion rate and improved the company’s data management since past data was used to calculate the baseline. Keywords: Waste, Diversion Rate, Baseline, Landfill