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Waste Emissions Calculator: Reducing your business’s carbon footprint
Businesses can significantly reduce their carbon footprint by following the waste hierarchy and avoiding waste disposal in landfills.
Calculate how many kilograms of CO2 (and equivalent gases) can be avoided by recycling, composting and incinerating this waste before it reaches landfills using our Waste Emissions Calculator:
How are business waste carbon emissions calculated?
Business waste carbon emissions are calculated by assessing the greenhouse gases generated from waste production, transport and management.
Our waste emissions calculator simplifies this by taking you through the process, step-by-step, incorporating the following steps to calculate waste emissions in kg of CO2 per tonne of waste:
1. Choose waste type
Each waste type has a different carbon footprint.
Our waste emissions calculator considers 12 broad types of waste that are commonly found in commercial waste in the UK.
2. Enter waste quantities
Enter the number of tonnes of each waste type generated by your business.
As a rough guide, a full 1,100-litre commercial waste bin filled with general waste holds about 200 kg.
3. Select disposal method
Each disposal method has a different carbon footprint. For example, melting glass in furnaces is the most carbon-intensive component of glass recycling, while aerobic composting releases small amounts of CO2 during breakdown by microorganisms.
Landfilling waste emits the most greenhouse gases out of all methods because of harmful methane emissions associated with the rotting of buried organic waste.
The footprint of each method also includes the emissions of transporting the waste to the relevant disposal facility.
4. Calculate using emission factors
Emission factors represent the volume of greenhouse gases emitted per unit of waste for each combination of waste type and disposal method.
Our calculator uses WRAP’s published Carbon Waste and Resources Metric stats.
Waste emissions calculator limitations
The calculator inherits the limitations in WRAP’s WARM methodology. These limitations are mostly due to the generalised nature of the figures used in the calculations. For example:
- Waste transportation emissions are estimated using average transport distances, typical waste collection vehicles, and representative fuel efficiencies.
- Emissions from closed-loop and open-loop recycling processes are based on the most common processing methods rather than site-specific operations.
- Waste categories assume effective waste segregation, with separate collections for common recyclable materials instead of commercial dry mixed recycling.
- The model excludes emissions associated with waste exports, assuming that waste is recycled or disposed of within the UK.
Absolute and relative waste emissions
When calculating commercial waste emissions, the following two approaches can be used:
Absolute waste emissions
An absolute emissions calculation determines the total emissions from waste management. This method is best suited to businesses that need to take an inventory of their carbon emissions across the entire organisation, including heating, electricity, transport fleets, etc.
Relative waste emissions
A relative emissions calculation determines the carbon emissions per tonne of waste managed relative to the emissions of landfilling. This method is best suited to businesses that want to analyse emissions savings by optimising their waste and recycling processes.
Our calculator
Our waste emissions calculator uses relative waste emissions to allow businesses to calculate the carbon savings achieved by adopting the following recycling services we offer:
The importance of reducing your waste carbon footprint
Reducing business waste carbon footprint brings environmental and economic benefits to the UK.
Environmental benefits
Waste is a major contributor to a business’s carbon emissions, accounting for 10-20%. Most of these are emissions associated with avoidable landfilling of recyclable materials that can no longer be recovered and organic waste that rots when buried to produce methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
As a result, businesses are increasingly under pressure from the UK government to reduce their carbon emissions. As a signatory of the Paris Climate Agreement, the UK has committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
Additionally, landfilling causes many other environmental problems, such as groundwater and soil pollution, loud noise and putrid smells, which can affect nearby wildlife, crops and the quality of life of people who live in the area.
Economic benefits
Reducing the carbon footprint of business waste entails sending less waste to landfills, which reduces businesses’ landfill tax liabilities, saving them money.
The business waste collection cost of recycling services is significantly lower than general business waste due to the inherent value in recycled materials such as cardboard and glass.
Businesses in some carbon-critical sectors like heavy industry and aviation have an allocated emissions reduction in line with the UK’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), so reducing emissions is to their financial benefit.
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