Great Forest partnered with this leading health insurance corporation to create a strategic roadmap for achieving TRUE Zero Waste certification at two of their major campuses. Through a comprehensive TRUE Feasibility Assessment, we evaluated all 81 potential credits across 16 categories, giving the corporation a clear plan and actionable timeline to drive waste reduction, diversion, and circularity to achieve their goals.
Client
A multinational health insurance company with campuses across the country.
Challenge
The client was interested in achieving TRUE Zero Waste certification, but faced significant challenges:
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Limited Knowledge of the Certification Process
The internal team lacked clarity on the requirements, steps and resources needed for TRUE certification. -
No Dedicated Waste Management Team
With no internal specialists managing waste reduction efforts or the pursuit of TRUE certification, the company struggled to make measurable progress toward their goal. -
Operational Complexity
Multiple campuses with diverse waste streams and operational practices made standardizing efforts challenging.
Solution
To set the company on the path to TRUE Zero Waste certification, Great Forest designed a two-pronged approach to establish a clear baseline understanding of the corporation’s waste profile.and provide actionable guidance.
1. Comprehensive Waste Audit
Our team performed a detailed audit at both campuses to answer three critical questions:
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How much waste is being generated?
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Where is waste being generated?
Identifying generation points, for example: common office areas, cafeterias and kitchens. -
What types of materials are being discarded?
Each waste stream and generation point was sorted into 22 material type categories.
2. Infrastructure Assessment
Great Forest conducted a detailed walkthrough of each campus, reviewing:
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Waste collection infrastructure – to assess all areas where waste was generated, transported, and stored.
- Compliance with regulations – verifying that handling and waste removal processes and protocols met local and state requirements.
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Opportunities for optimization – identifying gaps and recommending upgrades to improve efficiency and reduce contamination.
Using waste data collected, Great Forest conducted a TRUE Feasibility Assessment, evaluating each of the 81 possible TRUE credits across 16 categories, taking into consideration cost, effort and impact. The assessment provided a clear breakdown of:
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Achievable credits: High-impact actions that could be implemented immediately or with modest adjustments to the existing program.
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Potential credits: Goals that could be achieved with additional investment, program changes or access to local markets/opportunities.
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Non-applicable credits: Targets that were either irrelevant or unattainable due to a variety of constraints.
Results
Great Forest’s TRUE Feasibility Assessment delivered a comprehensive 3-5 year roadmap designed to cultivate a culture of zero waste that would lead to TRUE certification. Our recommendations included:
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Infrastructural enhancements – optimizing collection, sorting, and storage systems to improve efficiency and diversion.
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Source reduction strategies – guidance on procurement and purchasing to reduce waste at the source.
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Employee engagement programs – education and training to engage stakeholders, ensure cultural buy-in and build a culture of zero waste to secure active participation across all departments and across all levels of the organization.
NOTE: While designed to meet TRUE certification standards, the roadmap also delivers measurable benefits in waste reduction, operational efficiency and cost savings, even for organizations not pursuing formal certification.
Photo: dylan-gillis, unsplash