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About the Data |
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Background The core dataset used for this website's online tool is a collection of industry specific waste profiles. This profile data (also known as "waste composition data") provides an estimate of the percentage of each material type found within the waste stream of a "typical" business from that industry. Rather than expending significant time and money towards the collection and development of this data, considerable effort was put into the location and validation of pre-existing waste profile data sets. A suitable data set was located, the details of which are discussed below. For
similar reasons an exhaustive search was conducted for suitable waste
generation data.
Typically waste generation rates are measured on a volume and/or
weight basis and then may be averaged and normalized across a collection
of businesses based on facility square footage or number of employees.
The development team elected not to use this data directly but
did use density measurements from one of these studies. Details on this
data are discussed below. The most extensive and authoritative source
of waste profile data is the State of California Integrated Waste Management Board's (CIWMB)
1999 Statewide Waste Characterization Study. Data on the waste
streams of over 1200 individual businesses throughout the state was
collected by examining waste from the dumpsters of each business.
Samples of waste were physically sorted into 57 material types, such as
newspaper, white office paper, clear glass, green glass, ferrous metals.
etc. The amount of each material in each sample was weighed, and
converted to a percentage of the sample. Data from individual
businesses were grouped in 39 business sectors, and an average waste
profile was developed for each sector. Although similar data collected from Florida businesses was available for broad industry sectors, nothing compared in scope or detail to the data available from California. Several comparative and statistical analyses were conducted with county-level data in Florida and similarities at the aggregate level suggest that the California database can reliably be used for business planning purposes. |
