In order for a hotel or restaurant to determine the most efficient and cost effective method for managing the large quantities of waste they generate, they must determine both the volume and composition of the waste. The most effective way to determine this is to conduct a waste stream assessment. A waste stream assessment quantifies the amount and proportions of materials being disposed of. Solid waste should be separated into material types such as cardboard, paper, plastic, glass, aluminum, and food waste (if appropriate). Determining the proportions of each category of material, allows the establishment to better tailor a recycling program to their waste needs.An assessment can be physical or visual. A physical assessment entails hands-on sorting of waste to determine the composition. This type of assessment should only be done if the goal is to reduce a specific category of waste. For example, if an establishment conducts a waste assessment on the assumption that they are generating mostly cardboard, and want to determine if it would be feasible for their produce to be delivered in reusable containers, a physical waste assessment would be warranted.
Physical assessments are the most accurate, but are labor intensive, and must be done over a period of several weeks to ensure accurate representation of the waste. This type of assessment is practical only for restaurants or small hotels that do not generate large quantities of waste. For a hotel that generates ten tons of garbage every day, a physical assessment would be highly impractical.
Visual waste assessments involve monitoring of the waste stream to estimate the quantity and categories if materials in the waste. As with physical assessments, a visual assessment should be conducted for a period of several weeks to ensure that the establishment accurately estimates waste composition. Unlike physical assessments however, visual assessments are minimal in labor, and can typically be conducted by one person. Reviewing purchasing records of the hotel or restaurant will also help account for materials that may not be obvious in the visual monitoring. Visual assessments are most practical for establishments that generate large quantities of waste.
Since waste hauling rates in Las Vegas are not based on volume or weight, a visual assessment and review of purchasing records is often sufficient to estimate the proportions of cardboard, glass, aluminum, plastic, and food in the waste. This is the method I used to establish a baseline of information needed to develop programs for those hotels and restaurants that participated in the UNLV/CCHD Clark County Solid Waste Management Study.
Characterizing the specialized waste stream of hotels and restaurants can help with the development of plans to divert recyclable material from the current disposal method of landfilling. By determining the amount of materials that can be feasibly removed from the waste stream, hotels and restaurants can develop a recycling plan that will balance their individual waste hauling needs with their recycling needs. By calculating the amount of materials diverted, and the amount of waste disposed of, hotels and restaurants can adjust their waste hauling schedules to accommodate the reduction of material to be landfilled, thereby reducing costs.