Developing a Waste Baseline

Practice Greenhealth recommends a common framework for initiating and managing sustainability programs. This framework includes developing a baseline for every sustainability program area—often starting with waste. Hospitals engaged in sustainability have recognized that the old adage is true--you can’t manage what you don’t measure. PGH can assist any healthcare organization in developing a basic, quantitative waste baseline.

What do most waste baselines look like? Well, there is no typical hospital! Each organization is going to have a different patient mix, different specialties, different levels of recycling and waste diversion programs, and different access to haulers and service providers. That’s why this process is so critical. Two hospitals right next door to each other could have completely different waste stream baselines.

Designate a lead individual or group to gather waste invoices, tracking documents, contracts and other documentation to capture the volume and costs associated with waste removal from each individual site. The point person can be a sustainability leader, from Environmental Services, the Green Team or the Hazardous Waste Subcommittee of the Environmental of Care team. Title is not nearly as important as having a committed individual in place who can spend the time and attention necessary to determine the proper data.

Collecting Waste Data

Initially, collecting waste disposal and recycling data for the organization may seem like a daunting task, but using this information is a critical part of managing your facility’s waste reduction program. To simplify data collection, the organization should establish a system to collect and record data for all waste streams, including solid waste, hazardous waste, and recycled waste. It should also record data on waste diverted through reuse and donation programs because these can represent significant savings through avoided disposal costs.

Different waste streams are often serviced by different vendors, requiring coordination with each to collect the necessary data. Waste data can be collected from several sources:

• Invoices and receipts
• Manifests
• Tipping slips
• Other records or forms

Gather at least six months of data for each waste stream defined below to get a clear picture. This is not a dumpster dive! This is a paper and number crunching exercise. So gather the documents, call the vendors, talk to accounts payable, get out a calculator and start crunching the data.

1. Solid Waste
   Gather invoices or talk to the facility’s waste hauler to figure out how many tons of solid waste is generated per month. The vendor may provide weights upon request which makes it easier. But if not, find out how the waste is removed, a rough idea of the weight per pickup and develop an estimate. Scale weights can be provided by the vendor for compacted waste (they are weighed when taken to land­fills and incinerators). If waste is removed uncompacted (either loose or in open top containers), you can estimate the amount of waste and calculate the generation rate. (Tip: If waste is removed in a waste compactor, ensure that it’s going out full to maximize efficiency. Track the weights of compactors and make sure they have at least 7- 8 tons.)
    
2. Regulated Medical Waste (RMW)
   Most often, RMW is charged by the pound and less often by the container. Get out your calculator, invoices and add up the number of pounds removed and the associ­ated costs. Make sure your sharps waste is included in this calculation. If you have a reusable sharps collection system or other methodology, these invoices would be sepa­rate. Pathological waste and residual/trace cytotoxic drugs may be included in these numbers. If the facility pays by the container and does not track weights, use a linen scale to weigh a random selection of bins to get an average weight per container and then calculate generation rate based on the number of bins removed each month. Make sure you capture any hidden costs—trucking fees, container costs, fuel surcharges, equipment rental, etc. If you are treating this waste onsite (i.e. autoclave before land fill­ing) you still need to track this waste steam; decreasing RMW will decrease your labor and energy costs to treat your waste, and reduce your landfill costs. (Tip: If you pay by the container you want to fill those containers to the maximum to get the best pricing.)
    
3. RCRA Hazardous Waste
   While this waste stream is much smaller than the proceeding two, it is very costly, potentially dangerous and cannot be overlooked to get a complete picture. Check with purchasing or accounts payable departments to identify the num­ber of vendors that are currently removing hazardous materials from the various depart­ments within the facility. Reach out to the departments using these vendors to let them know the organization is developing a waste baseline. Between the generating departments and the vendor(s) you can get a report of the amount and asso­ciated costs for hazardous waste removal. Every hospital generates some type of haz­ardous waste and if you don’t have invoices, contracts or reports, there may be hazard­ous materials sewered, flushed or discarded in an alternate (and wrong) waste stream. Hazardous pharmaceuticals are getting a lot of attention right now and many hospitals are just getting started in this area. Proper man­agement of hazardous pharmaceutical waste will increase this category, and the associated costs. Very low volumes of hazardous waste (less than 0.5% generation rate) may flag a regulator that appropriate segregation of haz­ardous pharmaceuticals is not taking place.
    
4. Universal Waste
   If your facility is managing a portion of its hazardous waste stream as Universal Waste, the vendor, most likely, has detailed reports on the amount of mate­rial removed and the associated costs. Some facilities are charged per unit. In this case, weigh a sampling of the materials and multi­ply by the number removed. Organizations may be able to negotiate a price per pound in the con­tract or a reporting structure with the vendor. Universal waste requires special management and tracking requirements—less stringent than those for RCRA waste, but more stringent than other waste streams. Regulators may ask about proper labeling, storage and storage times for these waste streams.
    
5. Recyclables
   While there often is much recy­cling going on in healthcare facilities, often there is little to no data. It’s important to track, even if roughly, the amount of recy­clables removed from the facility. So whether it’s paper or corru­gated cardboard bales, pallets, electronics or mixed plastics, organizations should track the materials as it leaves the facility. You can weigh a sampling of bins or items and then track the number removed each week or make a conversion from uncompacted cubic yards to pounds. (Check out this link for some recycling material conversion rates: http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/approvals/dsconv.pdf or reach out to the recycling vendor and ask for their guidance in gathering this information.)
    
6. Other Waste
   Ask around to make sure you capture all other waste items including composted food waste, oil from the kitchen, landscaping debris, surplus equipment, empty tanks, pallets and furniture donations or bulky waste from an open box. This is a great opportunity for the organization to get a complete picture of the various programs going on that it might not have even been aware of! By now you have the idea…what is it, how is it pre­pared for removal, what is the average weight per unit and how many units are removed per week? What is the fee (or income) for removing this item?

Compiling Data

Now that all of the information is gath­ered, it should be compiled to better comprehend the opportunities and assist with goal setting.  Some organizations develop tracking toolsranging from simple Excel spreadsheet to complicated databases to contractor-based tools. Make sure to utilize a mechanism that will allow you to regularly access and update the data. The collected data should be used to continuously track waste programs and enable performance tracking to demonstrate outcomes of various waste reduction or diversion activities.  The collected data will allow the organization to do a basic gap analysis and can help plot the next stops of the organization’s waste reduction journey.  

It is important to recognize that every facility and organization is unique.  Collecting a comprehensive waste baseline for the first time can be daunting and the numbers may be surprising—in either a good way or a not-so-good way. But by getting your arms around the numbers, you can begin to develop appropriate management and reduction strategies that will help the organization achieve better efficiencies.

Learn more about Practice Greenhealth’s guidance on:

• Benchmarking Waste Performance
• Setting Waste Goals
• Waste Tools & Resources