How is the landfill diversion rate calculated?

Diversion rate is the weight diverted from disposal divided by the total weight of waste collected. With 600 t of cardboard recycled, 80 t of solvent sent to energy recovery (counted as diverted) and 170 t sent to landfill, the rate is 680 / 850 = 80 percent, 10 points short of a 90 percent target, the same answer as the Landfill Diversion Rate calculator.

Does energy recovery count as diversion?

It depends on the programme you report to, so the workbook asks. Set 'Count energy recovery as diverted?' to Yes or No on Setup. Material recovery (reuse, recycling, composting, digestion) always counts; landfill and incineration without energy recovery never do. State the setting whenever you quote the rate.

My tickets come in pounds and tons. Can I mix units?

Yes. Each row carries its own unit: kg, t (metric tonne), lb or US ton. The workbook converts exactly (1 lb = 0.45359237 kg, 1 US ton = 907.18474 kg) and the Dashboard shows tonnes or US tons, whichever you pick on Setup. What you typed is never changed.

How do I record rebates for cardboard and scrap metal?

Type what the hauler paid you in the Rebate column and any charge in the Charge column. Net cost is charge minus rebate, so a load of baled cardboard that earned 320 shows as minus 320, and the net cost by stream chart shows it below zero.

What does the hazardous waste check do?

Streams marked Hazardous on Setup are totalled on the Dashboard, and the Check column flags any hazardous stream logged with the Landfill route so someone confirms the site and permit allow it. It is a prompt, not a legal determination; hazardous waste rules depend on your jurisdiction.

Energy and Sustainability

Waste and Recycling Tracker Excel Template

Log every waste collection from the ticket or invoice and see tonnes by stream and route, your landfill diversion rate against target, hazardous waste and the net cost after recycling rebates.

Overview

This waste and recycling tracker is a working Excel workbook for EHS managers, plant and facility managers who need to know how much waste the site makes, where it goes and what it costs. It ships with a fictional year of collections for a box and film converter, so the dashboard and charts are populated when you open it; replace the example rows with your own and everything recalculates.

Each collection is one row, typed from the weighbridge ticket or hauler invoice in whatever unit it uses: kilograms, metric tonnes, pounds or US tons are converted exactly to kilograms. Every route belongs to a treatment class on Setup, and the rule for what counts as diverted is written down rather than buried: material recovery always counts, energy recovery counts only if you say so, disposal never does. The diversion rate is total diverted kilograms over total kilograms, the same ratio the Landfill Diversion Rate calculator on this site uses, formed from sums so a month with one huge load is weighted correctly.

In practice, enter collections as invoices arrive and review the dashboard monthly. The by-month chart shows whether diversion is moving, the by-stream chart shows which stream is still going to disposal, and the net cost chart shows which streams cost money and which earn rebates. In the example, moving plastic film from landfill to a film recycler lifts the diversion rate past the 80 percent target from April.

What this template includes

Waste Log table: one row per collection with date, ticket number, stream, route, hauler, weight and its unit, charge and rebate
Exact unit conversion per row: kg, metric tonnes, pounds or US tons to kilograms, with Dashboard weights shown in tonnes or US tons
Routes grouped into treatment classes on Setup (material recovery, energy recovery, disposal) and a Yes/No setting for whether energy recovery counts as diverted
Per-row diverted kilograms and net cost (charge minus rebate), with hazardous streams flagged from the Setup list
Check column that names problems in words: stream or route not on the list, unknown unit, hazardous waste sent to landfill, duplicate ticket numbers
Dashboard with date filters, KPI tiles for total waste, diversion rate against your target, disposal, hazardous waste, net cost, rebates and net cost per tonne
Four native charts: waste by month and treatment class, diversion rate by month against target, diverted and not diverted by stream, and net cost by stream
Monthly, by-stream and by-route tables and a Pareto of streams by weight
Method sheet with every formula, and a Verify sheet that re-checks the workbook against an independent reference, including the Landfill Diversion Rate calculator's example

Suggested use case

Use it to run a recycling or zero-waste-to-landfill programme, to check hauler invoices against tickets, or to report diversion and hazardous waste figures in a monthly EHS review.

How to use it

On Setup, enter your plant name, currency, diversion target and whether energy recovery counts as diverted, and choose tonnes or US tons for the Dashboard.
Replace the example waste streams (marking the hazardous ones) and check the routes and their treatment classes.
On Waste Log, add one row per collection with the weight and unit from the ticket, the charge and any rebate.
Fix anything the Check column flags, then open the Dashboard.
Use the From and To dates to review one month, a quarter or a year.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the landfill diversion rate calculated?: Diversion rate is the weight diverted from disposal divided by the total weight of waste collected. With 600 t of cardboard recycled, 80 t of solvent sent to energy recovery (counted as diverted) and 170 t sent to landfill, the rate is 680 / 850 = 80 percent, 10 points short of a 90 percent target, the same answer as the Landfill Diversion Rate calculator.
Does energy recovery count as diversion?: It depends on the programme you report to, so the workbook asks. Set 'Count energy recovery as diverted?' to Yes or No on Setup. Material recovery (reuse, recycling, composting, digestion) always counts; landfill and incineration without energy recovery never do. State the setting whenever you quote the rate.
My tickets come in pounds and tons. Can I mix units?: Yes. Each row carries its own unit: kg, t (metric tonne), lb or US ton. The workbook converts exactly (1 lb = 0.45359237 kg, 1 US ton = 907.18474 kg) and the Dashboard shows tonnes or US tons, whichever you pick on Setup. What you typed is never changed.
How do I record rebates for cardboard and scrap metal?: Type what the hauler paid you in the Rebate column and any charge in the Charge column. Net cost is charge minus rebate, so a load of baled cardboard that earned 320 shows as minus 320, and the net cost by stream chart shows it below zero.
What does the hazardous waste check do?: Streams marked Hazardous on Setup are totalled on the Dashboard, and the Check column flags any hazardous stream logged with the Landfill route so someone confirms the site and permit allow it. It is a prompt, not a legal determination; hazardous waste rules depend on your jurisdiction.