Are you being held hostage by your recycling diversion rate? As more and more companies begin to measure their recycling efforts, this figure is often used as the only performance indicator for recycling. A high diversion rate is seen as an indicator of success, while a low diversion rate assumes an inefficient recycling program.
This reliance on the diversion rate has led to an increasingly skewed understanding of the real impact of recycling programs. By focusing on diversion rates, corporate green teams may be missing the full picture.
Diversion Rate Formula
First, we have to understand how the diversion rate is calculated. The diversion rate or ratio (often used interchangeably with recycling rate/ratio) is calculated as the total recyclables collected over the total waste generated (trash + recyclables), giving you the proportion of a building’s total waste that is recycled.
Depending on a number of factors, diversion rates can vary considerably regardless of actual recycling compliance levels.
Weight Matters
One of the main factors affecting diversion rate is weight. Here’s an example:
Take two buildings of the same size with the same number of floors and the same number of employees. They have the exact same recycling program and compliance levels. But building A has a low diversion rate and building B has a high diversion rate. Why? The only difference is that building A has a cafeteria and building B does not. Because cafeteria waste is heavy, Building A’s waste stream weighs more than Building B’s waste stream. So even though both buildings are recycling the same amount and generating the same amount of waste, building A has a lower diversion rate because it generates heavier waste.
Read the complete article at Environmental Leader