One of the biggest challenges Property Managers face in trying to achieve waste reductions, is knowing where to start. There is only so much headway to be made with processes and monitoring at a macro level.
There are two ways to get a lot more detail on the sources and volumes of waste, which allow you to find and adjust the levers controlling your results.
1) Benchmarking. By establishing your typical results over any time period, you can quickly assess whether waste diversion is up or down. A side benefit is that it can make the process of establishing hauling and disposal contracts more targeted and cost-efficient.
2) Granularity. By taking your measurements down to a tenant, floor or department basis, you can understand who is generating waste, and why. For example, if one tenant is constantly including waste paper with general trash, you have a touchpoint. If a cafeteria isn’t separating recycleables, you have another.
Combining these two gives you benchmarks by tenant – and can increase awareness and responsibility levels within tenants. When they know what they are doing, they can help manage it.
Benchmarking, and identifying the source of each type of waste to a micro rather than macro level, gives you the information needed to effect change. And these changes are easier simply because you know what needs to be changed. Knowledge is power, but it’s also the key to achieving platinum level recognition – much easier than you thought possible.
