Log in
LEED v2009
Existing Building Operations
Materials and Resources

Solid Waste Management Policy

LEED CREDIT

EBOM-2009 MRp2: Solid Waste Management Policy Required

See all forum discussions about this credit »

Credit achievement rate

XX%

Upgrade to LEEDuser Premium to see how many projects achieved this credit. Try it free »

LEEDuser expert

Trista Brown

LEED AP O+M, BD+C, Fitwel Ambassador

WSP USA
Project Director

LEEDuser’s viewpoint

Frank advice from LEED experts

LEED is changing all the time, and every project is unique. Even seasoned professionals can miss a critical detail and lose a credit or even a prerequisite at the last minute. Our expert advice guides our LEEDuser Premium members and saves you valuable time.

Credit language

USGBC logo

© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Have in place a solid waste management policy for the building and site addressing the requirements of the waste management credits listed below as well as recycling of all mercury-containing lamps. This policy must adhere to the LEED 2009 for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance policy model (see Introduction). At a minimum, the policy must cover the waste streams that are within the building and site management’s control.

  • MR Credit 7: Solid Waste Management—Ongoing Consumables
  • MR Credit 8: Solid Waste Management—Durable Goods
  • MR Credit 9: Solid Waste Management—Facility Alterations and Additions
This prerequisite requires only policies, not ongoing actual sustainable performance. See all forum discussions about this credit »

What does it cost?

Cost estimates for this credit

On each BD+C v4 credit, LEEDuser offers the wisdom of a team of architects, engineers, cost estimators, and LEED experts with hundreds of LEED projects between then. They analyzed the sustainable design strategies associated with each LEED credit, but also to assign actual costs to those strategies.

Our tab contains overall cost guidance, notes on what “soft costs” to expect, and a strategy-by-strategy breakdown of what to consider and what it might cost, in percentage premiums, actual costs, or both.

This information is also available in a full PDF download in The Cost of LEED v4 report.

Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »

Frequently asked questions

To comply with MRp2, the Solid Waste Management Policy must state goals associated with the requirements of MRc7, MRc8, and MRc9. Does the project team need to track the performance of these related credits’ goals during the performance period?

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)

Do the goals listed in the Solid Waste Management Policy need to match exactly the performance thresholds required for achieving MRc7, MRc8, and MRc9?

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)

The project building has multiple tenants, and several of the tenants manage their own recycling or waste diversion. Does the SWM Policy need to address the diversion of waste from those spaces?

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)

See all forum discussions about this credit »

Addenda

5/9/2011Updated: 2/14/2015
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
Replace "U.S. EPA WasteWise Program" title, website and description with the following:U.S. EPA WasteWise Programwww.epa.gov/wastewiseWasteWise is a free, voluntary EPA program that U.S. organizations can use to track, manage, and reduce their municipal solid waste and select industrial wastes.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
7/1/2016
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:

If a building has earned TRUE Certification, can that certification be used to document LEED Operations and Maintenance credits?

Ruling:

Yes, if a building has earned TRUE certification and the scope of the project (i.e. project boundary) is the same as a project pursuing LEED Operations and Maintenance certification, the TRUE certification can be used to document the following LEED credits, provided the corresponding TRUE credit is earned. A final review report for the TRUE Certification must be provided to demonstrate specific credit achievement.

LEED EB: O+M 2009
MR prerequisite 2: Solid Waste Management Policy; USZWBC includes a mandatory Zero Waste Policy
MR credit 6: Solid Waste Management – Waste Stream Audit; Zero Waste Analysis, Credit 1
MR credit 7: Solid Waste Management - Ongoing Consumables; both Diversion, Credit 1 and Hazardous Waste Prevention, Credit 5
Innovation in Operations credit 1 for Exemplary Performance if at least 95% diversion is achieved

LEED v4
MR prerequisite: Ongoing Purchasing and Waste Policy (waste policy portion only); USZWBC includes a mandatory Zero Waste Policy
MR credit: Solid Waste Management – Ongoing; both Diversion, Credit 1 and Hazardous Waste Prevention, Credit 3
Innovation credit for Exemplary Performance if at least 95% diversion is achieved

***Updated 9.30.2021

• Replace all references to USZWBC with TRUE
• Replace “scorecard” with “final review report”
• Under "LEED v4", on the line "MR credit: Solid Waste Management – Ongoing" change "Hazardous Waste Prevention, Credit 5" to "Hazardous Waste Prevention, Credit 3"

Campus Applicable
Yes
Internationally Applicable:
Yes
See all forum discussions about this credit »

Checklists

Step by step to LEED certification

LEEDuser’s checklists walk you through the key action steps you need to earn a credit, including how to avoid common pitfalls and save money.

See all forum discussions about this credit »

Documentation toolkit

The motherlode of cheat sheets

LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit is loaded with calculators to help assess credit compliance, tracking spreadsheets for materials, sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions, and examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects for you to check your work against. To get your plaque, start with the right toolkit.

Credit achievement rate

XX%

Upgrade to LEEDuser Premium to see how many projects achieved this credit. Try it free »

LEEDuser expert

Trista Brown

LEED AP O+M, BD+C, Fitwel Ambassador

WSP USA
Project Director

Get the inside scoop

Our editors have written a detailed analysis of nearly every LEED credit, and LEEDuser premium members get full access. We’ll tell you whether the credit is easy to accomplish or better left alone, and we provide insider tips on how to document it successfully.

USGBC logo

© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

Have in place a solid waste management policy for the building and site addressing the requirements of the waste management credits listed below as well as recycling of all mercury-containing lamps. This policy must adhere to the LEED 2009 for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance policy model (see Introduction). At a minimum, the policy must cover the waste streams that are within the building and site management’s control.

  • MR Credit 7: Solid Waste Management—Ongoing Consumables
  • MR Credit 8: Solid Waste Management—Durable Goods
  • MR Credit 9: Solid Waste Management—Facility Alterations and Additions
This prerequisite requires only policies, not ongoing actual sustainable performance.

XX%

Upgrade to LEEDuser Premium to see how many projects achieved this credit. Try it free »

Got the gist of MRp2 but not sure how to actually achieve it? LEEDuser gives step-by-step help. Premium members get:

  • Checklists covering all the key action steps you'll need to earn the credit.
  • Hot tips to give you shortcuts and avoid pitfalls.
  • Cost tips to assess what a credit will actually cost, and how to make it affordable.
  • Ideas for going beyond LEED with best practices.
  • All checklists organized by project phase.
  • On-the-fly suggestions of useful items from the Documentation Toolkit and Credit Language.

In the end, LEED is all about documentation. LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit, for premium members only, saves you time and helps you avoid mistakes with:

  • Calculators to help assess credit compliance.
  • Tracking spreadsheets for materials purchases.
  • Spreadsheets and forms to give to subs and other team members.
  • Guidance documents on arcane LEED issues.
  • Sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions.
  • Examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects.

To comply with MRp2, the Solid Waste Management Policy must state goals associated with the requirements of MRc7, MRc8, and MRc9. Does the project team need to track the performance of these related credits’ goals during the performance period?

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)

Do the goals listed in the Solid Waste Management Policy need to match exactly the performance thresholds required for achieving MRc7, MRc8, and MRc9?

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)

The project building has multiple tenants, and several of the tenants manage their own recycling or waste diversion. Does the SWM Policy need to address the diversion of waste from those spaces?

The answer to this question is available to LEEDuser premium members. Start a free trial »

(If you're already a premium member, log in here.)

5/9/2011Updated: 2/14/2015
Reference Guide Correction
Description of change:
Replace "U.S. EPA WasteWise Program" title, website and description with the following:U.S. EPA WasteWise Programwww.epa.gov/wastewiseWasteWise is a free, voluntary EPA program that U.S. organizations can use to track, manage, and reduce their municipal solid waste and select industrial wastes.
Campus Applicable
No
Internationally Applicable:
No
7/1/2016
LEED Interpretation
Inquiry:

If a building has earned TRUE Certification, can that certification be used to document LEED Operations and Maintenance credits?

Ruling:

Yes, if a building has earned TRUE certification and the scope of the project (i.e. project boundary) is the same as a project pursuing LEED Operations and Maintenance certification, the TRUE certification can be used to document the following LEED credits, provided the corresponding TRUE credit is earned. A final review report for the TRUE Certification must be provided to demonstrate specific credit achievement.

LEED EB: O+M 2009
MR prerequisite 2: Solid Waste Management Policy; USZWBC includes a mandatory Zero Waste Policy
MR credit 6: Solid Waste Management – Waste Stream Audit; Zero Waste Analysis, Credit 1
MR credit 7: Solid Waste Management - Ongoing Consumables; both Diversion, Credit 1 and Hazardous Waste Prevention, Credit 5
Innovation in Operations credit 1 for Exemplary Performance if at least 95% diversion is achieved

LEED v4
MR prerequisite: Ongoing Purchasing and Waste Policy (waste policy portion only); USZWBC includes a mandatory Zero Waste Policy
MR credit: Solid Waste Management – Ongoing; both Diversion, Credit 1 and Hazardous Waste Prevention, Credit 3
Innovation credit for Exemplary Performance if at least 95% diversion is achieved

***Updated 9.30.2021

• Replace all references to USZWBC with TRUE
• Replace “scorecard” with “final review report”
• Under "LEED v4", on the line "MR credit: Solid Waste Management – Ongoing" change "Hazardous Waste Prevention, Credit 5" to "Hazardous Waste Prevention, Credit 3"

Campus Applicable
Yes
Internationally Applicable:
Yes

LEEDuser expert

Trista Brown

LEED AP O+M, BD+C, Fitwel Ambassador

WSP USA
Project Director

See all LEEDuser forum discussions about this credit » Unsubscribe from discussions about EBOM-2009 MRp2