SCS Global Services launches zero waste standard

SCS Global Services (SCS), a third-party environmental auditor in Emeryville, California, has announced the launch of the Zero Waste Standard. According to SCS Global Services, the global certification standard enables companies to demonstrate the degree to which their waste streams are prevented, reused or diverted from the landfill. 

As companies look to improve their environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings and strengthen their corporate messages and investment profiles, this third-party certification will provide assurance annually for corporations and their individual facility sites.

SCS says its Zero Waste Standard stands apart from other zero waste standards in a few ways:

• Facilities participate and are recognized for waste diversion of 50 percent or greater. The actual diversion percentage achieved at each facility over 12 months is certified, and this percentage is reflected. Facilities achieving 99 percent diversion are certified as “Zero Waste.”
• The standard provides a cost-effective option for multisite certification where all participating sites are assessed, involving a representative sampling of sites for on-site audits each year.
• It allows for the diversion of hazardous waste to count toward overall diversion.
• It recognizes waste to energy if a facility diverts no more than 25 percent of its waste using waste-to-energy production.

“This is a different kind of Zero Waste standard,” says Stanley Mathuram, SCS executive vice president. “It aims to meet companies where they are in their waste reduction journey at their individual facilities by acknowledging the waste diversion they’ve already achieved, as well as continuing to drive waste management toward the zero goal post.”

Since SCS Zero Waste certification takes place at the facility level, corporations can include the findings for that specific facility in their overall sustainability goals and reporting. This approach encourages corporations to benchmark best practices at one facility and expands those practices across their corporate facility footprint.

“SCS has always identified gaps where existing standards do not fully address real-life business needs,” says Inna Kitaychik, operations manager for the SCS Zero Waste Standard. “We saw a need for businesses to have more flexibility in documenting their waste minimization and diversion efforts to showcase their commitment to sustainability and the environment. We developed this standard to enable companies to be more transparent with the progress of their sustainability goals and give them the confidence of accurately reporting and communicating their waste diversion data.”

According to a news release from SCS, the third-party certification to this standard provides credible assurance for companies tracking the progress of their waste minimization through internal recordkeeping.