Woodnote
We conducted a waste audit at the Woodnote cooperative on 5th and 12th of December 2021. We went through 12 days’ worth of waste totalling 395.1 kg in order to develop a plan to implement organic waste collection (composting), and reduce contamination.
Process Summary
enuf auditors first canvased the waste disposal area and noted down the signage, number of bins and layout of the area. All the bins were moved to a staging area provided by the Woodnote. The auditors then proceeded to weigh each bin full and empty to identify an initial quantity of waste in each one of the bins.
Then, we safely sorted the content into separate containers to weigh each waste stream:
The total weight from the sorted bins was matched to the total initial weight. A discrepancy of 5% was allowed, however, almost none of the bins sorted and weighed reached that threshold. We then proceeded to return the waste to their proper containers.
Data
Number of bins
Contamination level
Overall Waste Composition per Week
About 14 waste bins (240L) are used every week: 7 recycling and 7 landfills. On average, each resident generates 235 grams of waste every day. Only a quarter of the waste generated has to go to landfills. About 38% of the waste produced is organic and can be composted.
Average weight/bin = 16.5 kg
Takeaway: Implementing organic waste collection (composting) can effectively double the waste diversion rate of the Woodnote cooperative.
Composition of the recycling and landfill bins
About 29% of what is in the 7 recycling bins is not actually recyclable. Further, only 28% of what is in the 7 landfill bins is actually trash.
Capture rates of different waste streams
About 70% of recyclable material is captured in the 7 recycling bins, while 84% of the trash is captured in the 7 landfill bins. The highest capture rates are of the trash and cardboard at ~83%. Lastly, less than half of plastic and metal is captured.
Takeaway: In the recycling stream, plastic and metal have the lowest capture rate, and therefore the biggest opportunity for improvement through education.