Other > Garbage

Any type of waste your organization produces also produces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is a Scope 3 (direct) emission.

Enter data about the waste you sent to a landfill into Climate Smart to calculate the emissions from your inventory period.

On this page:

• Examples of emission sources
• Prepare the data you need
  • Option 1: The weight of your waste
  • Option 2: From a specific emissions factor (rare cases)
• Find your emissions data
• Enter data into your inventory

Examples of emission sources

Not sure if you should report this emission source? Here are some examples of waste that you should consider tracking in your inventory:

• Office waste or production and packaging waste that’s sent to a landfill
• Hazardous waste (such as medical waste) that gets incinerated

Note: This activity includes garbage that’s sent to a landfill, but not waste that gets recycled or composted.

Prepare the data you need

To get your emissions data ready for Climate Smart, choose one of the following options based on the information that’s available to you. This will be the method you use to calculate the GHGs emitted by your organization’s activities. 

Remember to collect information for the relevant inventory year.

Option 1: The weight of your waste

Most organizations will need to enter how much the waste weight to estimate their emissions. You’ll need to know:

• If the waste was sent to a landfill or incinerated
• The weight OR volume of the waste

To get the most accurate results, you’ll need to know the exact weight of the waste your organization produced. If you don’t know how heavy your waste was, you can estimate this amount by converting the volume of your waste containers (such as a garbage bin or dumpster) to mass.

Option 2: From a specific emissions factor (rare cases)

In rare cases, you might need to add data to your inventory from a specific emissions factor. This might be the case if you’re a regulated reporter, meaning the government needs your organization to report specific information from your major sources of emissions. If this applies to your organization, you’ll need to know:

• Weight of waste (kilograms or pounds)
• Your emission factor (kilogram CO₂e/unit)

Find your emissions data

Not sure where to find the data you need? Try the following suggestions:

Ask your accounting department

Your accounting department might already have the information you need! Ask your team about collecting data for your emissions inventory.

Check waste hauler reports

Do you pay another business to collect and dispose of your waste? Reports and invoices from your waste hauler include important information you need for your inventory, such as:

• Weight of waste OR size of dumpster,
• How the waste was disposed (landfill or incineration), and
• Cost of collecting your waste.

If your business has an online account with your waste hauler, you might be able to download a spreadsheet with the weight, location, and cost of each pickup.

Conduct a waste audit

Does your business produce very little waste? Is the cost of disposing waste included in your lease? Weigh your waste over a one-week period with a scale, then multiply that number by 52 to estimate the total waste generated over your inventory period.

Enter data into your inventory

When you’re ready to track emissions from this activity, you can start entering the data you’ve collected into Climate Smart. 

Add this activity to your inventory

Before you can enter information about your emissions, you need to add this activity to your inventory. Learn how to add new activities to your inventory.

Add an entry to your inventory

To enter your data into Climate Smart:

1. Choose a calculation method:

• If your waste was sent to a Landfill, select Landfill – Actual Waste and enter your information into Climate Smart.
• If your waste was incinerated, select Incineration – Actual Waste and enter your information into Climate Smart.
• If you’re reporting a specific emissions factor, select From a Specific Factor and enter your information into Climate Smart.

2. Enter the start and end dates of the activity you’re measuring. These will usually match the start and end dates of your inventory period. 
3. Enter the cost of waste removal (including taxes). If you’re estimating the amount, select the checkbox next to Cost is estimate. Tell us if you paid in Canadian Dollars (CAD) or United States Dollars (USD) from the Currency drop-down list.

      Note: If you didn’t pay for waste removal, enter 0.

4. Under Description, enter information such as:

• Account number with your waste hauler
• Waste bin size
• How often your waste is picked up

5. In the Note box, enter optional information including any details that might be helpful for you (or your Climate Smart Advisor, if applicable) in the future.  
6. When you’re done, click ADD ENTRY. Your entry will appear in the table below.