Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Fact Sheet: Developing a Facility Plan - Components of a Waste Audit Report

A fact sheet designed to assist the user in the development of a facility pollution prevention plan. In addition it explains the components that should be included in a facility Waste Audit Report.

This fact sheet is designed to assist the user in the development of a facility pollution prevention plan. The fact sheet is only intended to explain the components that should be included in a facility Waste Audit Report. Other guidance is included in the following fact sheets:

• Definition of Pollution Prevention
  
• A First Step to Waste Reduction: The Six Step Waste Audit
  
• Sample Waste Audit Report
  
• Components of a P2 Project Plan
  
• Sample P2 Project Plan

This Waste Audit Report should be divided into 2 sections:

• An audit of current facility practices and associated waste streams
  
• An opportunity assessment which includes a compilation of available pollution prevention opportunities, a feasibility assessment and an environmental assessment of acceptable options.

Section I, Current Facility Practices, will show where improvements can be made and provide a baseline for measuring changes. Section II, the opportunity assessment, should produce a complete laundry list of available options for improvement, both feasible and infeasible. These options are then evaluated for economic and technical feasibility and environmental benefit.

In each section, brief descriptions of the processes, options, waste streams, benefits, etc. can be entered into a table for easy comparison. The tables should supplemented by a more in-depth description.

Units used in the Waste Audit Report should be mass per unit time or volume per unit time. Concentrations are not considered appropriate units. The time unit should be sufficient to average out abnormalities. Some typical units used are "drums per month" (hazardous waste), "gallons per week" (waste water) or "pounds per year" (air emissions). Waste quantities should include air emissions, waste water streams, solid wastes and hazardous wastes.

Source reduction has the highest potential for environmental and economic benefit and worker safety. Therefore source reduction is the highest priority type of pollution prevention project. Waste minimization and on-site recycling are second and third in priority. These terms are defined in the fact sheet "Definition of Pollution Prevention."

I. Current Facility Practices

This section of the report should include:

• Basic facility information, including name, address, number of employees and a brief description of the facility.
• Names and phone numbers of personnel involved in the waste audit.
• Identification and description of processes or operations which produce a waste stream.
• Mass balances to include
  
• Identification and quantification of input materials for each process.
  
• Identification and quantification of materials consumed in process.
  
• Identification and quantification of each waste stream for each process.

• Simple Flow Diagrams
• Supporting documentation

II. Pollution Prevention Opportunity Assessment

This section should include the following components:

• Comprehensive List of Options

For each waste producing process the following P2 options should be considered and recorded:

• Process Elimination: Can an acceptable product be achieved without this process?
  
• Process Substitution: Can an acceptable product be achieved with a cleaner process?
  
• Input Material Substitution: Can a less polluting chemical or substance be used in the process?
  
• Waste Reduction: Can the process be run with less waste?
  
• In-process Recycling/Reuse: Can used process materials be used in place of virgin materials in the same process?
  
• Out-process Recycling/Reuse: Can used process materials be used in place of virgin materials in another process?
  
• Waste Segregation: Will the segregation of wastes result in a usable waste product?
  
• Improved Maintenance and Housekeeping
  
• Improved Operational Procedures or Scheduling
  
• Improved Equipment Layout, Piping or Automation

Note that, at this point, all options should be considered and recorded. Many of these options may be eliminated in the next step.

• Feasibility, Cost and Environmental Benefits

This is a first cut evaluation. Using all options identified previously, determine which are obviously feasible and which are not. For those alternatives deemed technically and economically feasible, determine the environmental, safety and other benefits.

This section should include:

• Description of process
  
• Description of P2 option
  
• Technical feasibility
  
• Approximate cost
  
• Description and quantity of waste to be reduced
  
• Description and quantity of waste that will increase
  
• Other benefits
  
• Supporting documentation

- in the Jacksonville area, call 904-448-4300
- in the Tampa area, call 813-744-6100.