Collecting & Managing Data:
Why Bother?
lbs
H
W
tons
RM
W
$$
MS
W
$/ton
50
%
John Leigh
Recycling & Waste Management
Coordinator
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Lebanon, New Hampshire
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Agenda
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Data, What Data?
Why? What am I going to do with it?
Okay then, how do I collect it without having it
take up all my time?
Once gathered, how do I make sense of it?
Can’t I just steal your spreadsheet template and
modify it for my own program? (yes!)
Walk me through a spreadsheet? Yuck!
Lots of Q & A
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What kind of data?
Amount of waste –Weight
 By Category & Material Type
 Costs
 Revenues
 Avoided costs
 Ultimately calculate:
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– Rates
– Trends
– Future estimates
lbs
RM
W
H
W
$
50
%
tons
MS
W
$/ton
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Collecting data allows you to:
Establish a baseline
 Track changes (generation, costs,
composition)
 Generate ideas, prioritize actions, set goals
 Measure progress, see what needs more
attention
 Quantify, report & celebrate achievements
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Good data management allows you to…
Utilize information for decision making
 Better manage your:
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Haulers
Processors
Equipment
Budget
lbs
RM
W
H
W
$
50
%
tons
MS
W
$/ton
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Good data management allows you to…
Advocate environmental initiatives backed
by cost avoidance figures
 Justify:
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Labor requests
Capital expenditures
Space requests
A new waste management position!
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Ultimately, one can…
Track generation rates & changes by
department
 Track generation rates on a per hospital
activity basis
 Compare with other hospitals
 Compare with national averages
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Make data collection easier…
Unbundle hauler charges (know your
fees/rates for hauling, tipping, processing,
equipment leasing)
 Pay by weight, not volume or frequency
 Get comfortable with MS Excel
 Buy a good scale and weigh as much as is
practical
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Resources
H2E’s Self Assessment Guide
www.h2e-online.org/pubs/selfasmt.pdf
EPA’s Vol.-to-Weight Conversion Factors
www.epa.gov/epaoswer/nonhw/recycle/recmeas/docs/guide_b.pdf
(link to full Recycling Measurement Guide:)
www.epa.gov/recycle.measure/download.htm
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