top of page

Visual Waste Audit

What is a
visual waste audit?

A visual waste audit entails walking through your building, identifying the location of your waste and/or recycling receptacles, and estimating the percentage of materials in each.

​

Most offices have standard waste streams and a visual audit is usually sufficient to determine the main types of waste and recycling your organization produces.

Ready to get started?

Here's how you prepare.

01

Map Collection Points

Map the location and size of each waste, recycling, compost receptacle, dumpster, and cart located throughout your building.

  • Performing a visual audit entails looking into dumpsters and interior bins to estimate materials quantities and understand how materials flow through the building.

  • Even if you don’t plan to visually audit every individual bin, it’s still important to know the location of each collection point as it allows you to make informed decisions on which are best to include in the audit.

Next, get your
Materials Ready.

Here is what you will need to conduct your Visual Waste Audit

Clipboard and Pen/Pencil

Or tablet if you would like to record measurements electronically during the walkthrough

Data Collection Sheets

Or tablet if you would like to record measurements electronically during the walkthrough

Optional: Gloves

It’s not necessary to touch any trash or recycling during a visual audit walkthrough. However, it can be helpful to move pieces at the top of a receptacle to better see the materials at the bottom.

Optional: Camera

It can be helpful to take pictures to highlight aspects such as uncommon items, receptacles overflowing, or a lot of contamination.

camera-thickerline.png

Optional: Calculator

It can be handy to have a calculator to ensure the material estimates for each bin totals 100% and/or if you would like to convert your material volume estimates to weight-based estimates.

calculator-icon.png

It's now time to
Conduct a Visual Waste Audit.

01

Get Ready

Gather your materials and have the list of exactly which dumpsters, carts, and receptacles you’ll be auditing that you identified in the planning process.

Waste Audit Toolkit

A resource provided by:

HamCty-Resource-HORZ-RGB-color (1).png

Providing recycling and waste reduction assistance to residents, communities, schools and businesses in Hamilton County, OH.

bottom of page