With a raft of new regulations being introduced and budgetary pressures to navigate, it has never been more crucial to base waste management strategies on reliable high-quality data.
In many cases, authorities and businesses lack the granular levels of data they need to fully understand their current collection operations, leading to new services that lack the capacity and capability to successfully meet new obligations around food collections, EPR, DRS and Simpler Recycling.
Waste composition analysis
As the preferred partner leading many of the UK’s largest waste composition analysis projects, we provide governments, local authorities and private sector clients with the robust data they need to plan for a less wasteful future.
Our deep operational knowledge and experienced in-house team allow us to work all over the UK and further afield, providing a complete picture of what is being collected – and highlight areas where efficiencies can be found, costs can be reduced and recycling rates can be increased.
With over 20 years of delivering data gathering studies, we rigorously follow industry best practice around demographically representative stratified sampling to deliver robust data and reliable findings. Our approach is underpinned by recognised research methodologies and we continue to lead innovation in in this sector.
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How we can help you
Waste composition analysis studies
Whether you run local authority waste collections, develop resources and waste policy in central government, operate commercial or waste services, manage facilities and premises or operate a waste management facility, we can design and deliver robust data gathering studies to provide data on the amounts of items and materials making up your waste.
Our waste composition services include:
- Waste and recycling composition analysis/characterisation
- Kerbside collected household residual waste analysis
- Capture rate analysis of target recycling
- Recycling centre/civic amenity site (HWRC) analysis
- Municipal solid waste (MSW) Solid recovered fuel (SRF), refuse derived fuel (RDF) and other feedstock analysis
- Waste acceptance criteria analysis
- Plastic polymer identification
- Packaging content and policy reform in-scope
- Specialist plastic film analysis
- Feedstock analysis
- Extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) in-scope item quantification
- Biodegradability analysis
- Laboratory analysis (heavy metal content, moisture analysis, calorific value and other analysis suites)
- Office waste audits
- Food waste generation audits and behavioural surveys
- Bulky item, furniture and electrical reuse surveys
- Flats and estates waste composition analysis
- London Borough and London waste partnership composition studies (linked to ReLondon guidance)
Other data collection services
Recycling capture rate analysis
Residual waste and one or more recycling material types or streams are analysed at the same time to show how much material is recycled correctly compared to that still found on the residual waste. Materials include:
- dry recycling
- paper
- card
- plastic
- metal
- glass
- textiles
- food waste
- textiles
Policy reform data collection
We have supported the UK government with national data gathering studies to inform policy changes to UK recycling and waste systems, meaning we are uniquely placed to align item and material classification across all studies.
We can quantify the proportion of ‘in-scope’ items and materials included under the introduction of a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drink containers, reforms to extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR), aligned recycling collections as part of Simpler Recycling and quantifying materials related to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
HWRC waste composition analysis
We quantify the makeup and proportion of waste types and materials still contributing to the residual waste which is not recycled at household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) and civic amenity sites, focusing on individual sites or across whole HWRC networks.
Service changes, recycling intervention, and waste reduction campaign monitoring and evaluation
We design pre- and post-recycling and intervention or system change material composition studies to assess the impact of recycling system changes: including behaviour change campaigns, new service introductions and localised or premises specific or targeted recycling improvement works.
Service performance benchmarking
For local authority waste and recycling collections, we gather baseline data to:
- reveal how residents use their kerbside services
- show where improvements can be made
- compare current performance with similar authorities and collection system types.
Recycling contamination analysis
We will quantify the non-target and contaminant materials found withing your recycling collection systems to support improved communications messages to residents and service improvements.
AI and visual technologies auditing
We carry out manual audits to verify and validate counting and data capture of recycling and recycled outputs from AI and visual data capture technology systems at recycling facilities.
Waste facility input, processing and material acceptance testing
We work with waste management companies, material recovery facilities (MRFs), treatment facilities and local authorities to test and audit waste, feedstock (RDF, SRF, MSW) and recycling when accepted and at different processing and recovery stages.
We are really pleased with the outcome of the all-Wales compositional analysis, it provides a wealth of up to date and representative composition data for a range of municipal waste streams for all local authorities in Wales. Resource Futures’ experience in carrying out composition studies at this scale and their dedicated team enabled them to gather granular and robust new data. Their highly organised and methodical approach from inception to close out successfully fulfilled our original objectives.
Emma Hallet, WRAP Cymru
“Resource Futures’ experience in designing and conducting a range of representative waste composition analysis studies, coupled with their substantial working knowledge of waste and recycling infrastructure collection systems, makes them an ideal partner.”
Liz Morrish, CEFLEX
Do I need a waste composition analysis study?
Data is vital to manage, track and bring about improvement in any system. The same is true for waste and recycling. Waste composition analysis provides valuable insight into the items, materials and behaviours contributing to the waste you manage.
The findings allow calculation of the real costs and savings, along with possible performance improvements within an effective waste management system. The waste and recycling produced by residents or at your facilities is not static and the recycling you do collect tells only part of the story in how effective your systems are. Products, packaging, recycling collection systems, individual and collective behaviours all also change over time. Composition analysis is a vital tool to understand what remains to still be improved through reduction or diversion activities.
Understanding the items and materials making up your waste is a crucial step if you are working towards zero waste and zero to landfill targets, the insight it provides can support you in choosing the most suitable treatment and diversion options.
Coming changes to national policy measures for resources and waste are the most significant in a generation. Meaning that now is a good time to take stock of what the baseline tells you.
How do you ensure that the data you gather on our waste and recycling is representative?
As not all waste can be analysed as part of a composition study, representative samples need to be used. We use best practice research methods to devise a sample approach to capture variability within the items and materials which make up your waste and recycling. For studies looking at household waste, we always use a sociodemographic segmentation system as part of our sample approach which ensures characteristics of the wider population are represented. For other studies we work with clients to understand how their organisation operates.
How much does a waste analysis study cost?
There is no one size fits all study and gathering new data can be expensive. Every study we carry out for our clients is bespoke and is designed by highly experienced experts. We always work with clients to understand the purpose and objectives of the work and the level of detail they need while understanding their cost constraints. Our experts support clients in every step of the process and design quality studies to provide robust data and insights while offering the best value for money.
Our national coverage and ability to work across Europe helps us to support clients with the most cost effective means of gathering the data they need.
Work with us
Chat to our data and analysis team and find out how we can help you bring people together and make a positive impact in your area or sector.
Peter Wills
Principal Consultant
Gwen Frost
Director
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