Journey · Waste Data
Compare a waste management scenario
Model today's waste handling against an alternative, such as more recycling or composting, and see the difference in greenhouse gas, energy, labour, wages and taxes.
Before you start
- A facility and reporting year
- Tonnages by material for today's handling
By the end you'll have
- A baseline and alternative analysis, calculated
- A defensible net impact, with a per-pathway breakdown
About 15 minutes.
1. Create the analysis
- 1
Waste Data → New Analysis
Give it a name (required), an optional description and a “prepared by”.
- 2
Choose Reporting Year and Facility
At the bottom of the form.
- 3
Open Advanced Configuration if you know your site
Landfill gas recovery, collection efficiency, moisture, digester type, US state and transport distances. Defaults are EPA national averages.
2. Add material records
Open the analysis, go to Records, click Add Material. Pick the category and material once; a Baseline / Alternative toggle swaps the quantity fields. Fill in both and one save creates both records.
Same material on both sides
Once you switch to Alternative, the material locks to match the baseline. Comparing different materials would measure the materials, not the management change.
Only the pathways a material supports appear as fields: recycled, landfilled, combusted, composted, anaerobic digestion, and (alternative only) source reduced. Units default to short tons.
3. Calculate
Click Calculate on the analysis header. Every record in both scenarios is recalculated, existing results are overwritten, and the current reference-table factors are used. A percentage shows on the button while it runs.
4. Read the comparison
Results show Baseline, Alternative and the Incremental difference for GHG, energy, labour, wages and taxes. Green is better, red is worse. Click any record row to expand a per-pathway breakdown and see which pathway drives the impact.
Use Scenario Analysis first
The Scenario Analysis tab gives a quick, unsaved what-if with four sliders. It uses approximate coefficients, so use it to decide what is worth modelling, then build the real Alternative.