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Waste Diversion
Waste diversion is the process of diverting waste from landfills through recycling and source reduction activities. This can be calculated in different ways. As a global community, we can measure the size and number of landfills from one year to the next. If the landfills have shrunk or decreased in number, then it can be gathered that we are successfully implementing a waste diversion plan. If landfills have increased in number, then we are not doing enough to combat the growing population and growing waste we produce. On a smaller scale, we can track our week to week, or even day to day, waste diversion rate.

Waste Diversion Rate
Calculating waste diversion rates is an important tool for households and especially businesses to use. It is a KPI in indicating a successful recycling program. By tracking progress weekly, changes can be made to improve week to week. A simple formula is used to calculate the waste diversion rate, as follows:

(Weight of Recycling / (Weight of Recycling + Weight of Garbage)) X 100

Waste should be labeled with the name of the area in which they were received. For businesses, this will be helpful in implementing programs; what may work for one part of the company may not work for another. The goal is to calculate a number as close to one hundred as possible. This would imply that one hundred percent of your waste is recycled. If a lower number is calculated, changes are required to improve the score. When a need to change the recycling plan is recognized, you must effectively communicate the plan to all members involved to make sure it is implemented in full. After the plan is implemented, try measuring the waste diversion rate again. Measure the changes to see if the new plan has produced clear benefits.

Waste Diversion Validation
The UL is a global independent safety science company which is working to find and improve current technologies and the public use of these things. They work to innovate the usage to promote a world where these luxuries and a healthy environment can co-inhabit the planet. They are three different levels of validations which the UL uses to honor the companies who manage their waste in environmentally healthy ways. Facilities are recognized as "Zero Waste" if they can consistently measure at a waste diversion rate of 100 percent. Facilities which are granted "Virtually Zero," maintain a waste diversion rate of 98 percent or higher. If facilities can manage to keep a waste diversion rate of 80 percent or higher, they are recognized as operating with landfill waste diversion.

Methods of Achieving Zero or Virtually Zero

 * Recycle waste products
 * Return waste to supplier of original material
 * Reuse waste in the same production process
 * Reuse waste in a different production process
 * Processing the waste materials to sell to a third party
 * Commercial composting of waste
 * Convert waste to energy