My project is having problems tracking their trash and recyclables by volume. The trash is compacted 4:1 in a trash compactor. This trash remains in its compacted state even when it is in the landfill. The recyclables are collected loose and not compacted. I assumed we would be tracking the loose recyclable volume vs a calculated loose trash volume, in order to compare apples to apples. But could we consider the reduction in total volume in the landfill by the compacted trash as fulfilling the credit intent and count the compacted volume against the loose recyclable volume?
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Dan Ackerstein
PrincipalAckerstein Sustainability, LLC
LEEDuser Expert
819 thumbs up
May 25, 2011 - 10:00 am
I don't think that will fly Kristen. LEED allows projects the option of volume or weight because neither metric is really perfect, and because tracking by weight (which seems on balance the better measure) is very difficult for many projects which do not have appropriate scales available. But as you said - the apples to apples comparison doesn't work if you are compacting one of your streams and not the others. LEED is less worried about the actual displacement of air/space resulting from your waste than in the relative amounts of waste vs recycling. So your original assumption was accurate - you should compare your loose recyclable volume vs a calculated loose trash volume. And make sure you clearly document your method for that calculation! Hope that helps,
Dan