As our project is located in Northern CA, it is not diffidult to achieve this credit as there are many haulers with third-party certified diversion rates (RCI) in the area. They may not be lowest cost or be a part of the XBE vendors, which can sometimes lead to other haulers being chosen which align with the aforementioned conditions. Our company has a goal to use only certified haulers so this is easy for our project to achieve and we get accurate diversion rates.
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Michelle Rosenberger
PartnerArchEcology
523 thumbs up
October 11, 2024 - 3:49 pm
I agree with Kavita that Northern California makes the credit easy, as do jurisdictions that mandate the use of certain facilities that are RCI certified. However, it can still be difficult to achieve diversion rate thresholds as the industry struggles to find a market for recyclables.
Keaghan Caldwell
Bnbuilders IncDecember 5, 2024 - 6:56 pm
We managed to complete this credit in the Seattle area however we do have fewer options than in parts of California. In Seattle we have two options, both of which are outside of the City and would typically require incuring additional hauling fees to use due to their distance from the city. In this region one of the RCI facilities has a notibly higher diversion rate than the other so other project teams should consider what using a certified facility will do to their project's overall diversion rate. While the certified rates supported by this credit do bring reliability and better thransparency to the market the current diversion requirements by LEED are missmatched to this goal. We were recently told by a RCI representative that, in some cases, there is a negative feedback loop caused by minimum diversion requirements and certified diversion rates. When a project uses a certified facility it does in fact get better transportation in it's managment practices but it also requires the project team to do more on site source seperation which is often hauled to a different facility than where the mixed materials are going. This then means that that same RCI facility is getting less valuable materials which lowers their diversion factor further. Projects shouldn't get punished for deciding to use a facility with more transparent rates because their diversion target is prohibitive to their waste strategy.
Kavita Karmarkar
Sustainability ManagerWebcor Builders
May 16, 2025 - 6:08 pm
Working on a project in San Jose (South Bay),we only had 2 RCI facility options in the area. Owing to Webcor's commitment to using verified recyclers for all projects where avaialable, we did not consider other non-RCI facilities. Encouraging more facilities to get certification will result in a better/more competetive market in the area. One of the benefits of RCI facilities is the ability to go back in time and review their recycling rates over a period to understandif it fits the needs and goals of your project. For CA, we see with and without ADC rates. Although, it is hard to justify the potentially higher costs of RCI facility, if the project is not pursuing higher diversion goals, and is only following the mandatory diversion requirements.
Kristina Day
Sustainability CoordinatorBNBuilders
June 6, 2025 - 7:03 pm
Both great points, Kavita and Michelle. While using an RCI certified facility does increase reporting transparency, it also comes at a cost. From what I've seen in the industry as of late, more honest reporting typically means lower diversion rates. I saw this with the Seattle area facilities, which are undergoing verification currently. What used to be rates in the upper 70s and 80s have now downturned to 20s and 30s. To Keaghan's point, this increases the need for source separation on site as not to rely solely on a commingled bin. Luckily, our project pursuing this credit had extensive demolition and adequate laydown space to accommodate more bins on site. Projects without laydown space or demolition may face the difficulties described above with trying to achieve diversion rates while using an RCI certified facility. With the changing credit language/requirements for construction waste in LEED v5, it will be interesting to see new LEEDUser comments and if the achievability of both the pilot credit and 2pts changes significantly.