Course Project: Benchmark Analysis

Course Code- MGMT8420

Professor Name – Robert Greene

Due Date April 09,2023

Name- Bavleen Kaur

Student ID- 8821387

Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................3
Benchmark Analysis.....................................................................................................................................4
SDG Goal Aligned.........................................................................................................................................5
Recommendations to reduce Individual Environmental Footprint..............................................................6
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................6
References...................................................................................................................................................7
Appendix A..................................................................................................................................................8
 Executive Summary
This section of report provides an analysis of the baseline data on Garbage, paper and
Plastic collection over the period of 5 weeks in my household. There are 3 people living
in the home, and it is assumed that each person contributes approximately equally to
the waste generation. Following the guidelines of Region of Waterloo waste collection
measurements, my household follows two stream blue bin system. In first one, plastic
and wrapping is collected and other one contains the cardboard and recyclable paper.
Over the period, with this method Municipality of Region of Waterloo is able to recycle
90% of this material (Region of Waterloo, 2020). Similarly, different regions across
Canada are working on efficient waste management system, so that they are able to
achieve the target of reducing emissions by 2030. For this report, collected data is
analyzed using the year 2020 datapoints as its benchmark. The source for the data is
Statistics Canada. For the comparison with the collected data, the benchmark garbage
data is assumed to be the total of organic waste, glass, mixed metals, gable tops and
aseptic(Appendix A). This has been done because the waste material collected as
garbage at my place consist of these items only. Further, the data for paper and plastics
description is like the baseline data collected for audit.
Benchmark Analysis
Table 1
Benchmark Data
Type of Waste Amount in Tonnes Population Per Per Per capita
capita in capita in weekly(kgs
tonnes kgs )
Garbage 2,894,362 36,991,981.00 1.50
0.07824 78.24
Plastic 239,874 36,991,981.00 0.12
0.00648 6.48
Paper 1,548,028 36,991,981.00 0.80
0.04185 41.85
Note Adapted from (Statistics Canada, Profile Table, 2021); from (Statistics Canada,
Waste Material Diverted, 2020); Appendix A
Baseline Data
The Following data is the average of 5 weeks datapoints collected
Type of Waste Total 5 Weeks Average Each house
Collection(Kg) Collection(kg) member
Contribution(Total
3 members)
Garbage 21.35 4.27 1.42
Plastic 1.03 0.2 0.067
Paper 0.88 0.176 0.059

Comparison of Benchmark and Baseline Data- Benchmark Analysis

Type of Waste Per Capita Weekly Per household Percentage of
generation(Benchmark member weekly Household
) waste waste in
generation(Baseline) comparison to
Benchmark
Garbage 1.50 1.42 94%
Plastic 0.12 0.067 55.8%
Paper 0.8 0.059 7.37%
 Comparison of Baseline and Benchmark Data
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
Weight in Kgs

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
Garbage Plastic Paper

Per Capita Weekly generation Per household member weekly waste generation

Comparing the numbers of baseline data and performing benchmark analysis, following
points are observed:
1. I am contributing generating almost 95% of garbage in relation to the general
population collection. It implies as the general population, I am a significant
contributor of producing garbage each week
2. While comparing the plastics data, it is analysed I am producing almost half
percentage of plastic in contrast to the per capita contribution. It indicates that my
household is contributing moderately to the plastic waste.
3. Further, as per benchmark per capita generates 0.8 kgs of paper each week,
however my household is producing just 0.059 kgs. This is just the one tenth of
the benchmark data. This suggests, that I am contributing very less or negligible
amount of waste paper to the environment.
Finally, it is deduced that my household is having an indispensable impact on
environment through maximum generation of garbage. Although contributions in the
paper and plastic waste are less, but these are recyclable items, and thus eventually
their impact on surroundings is minimized, however garbage is dumped, and is the
burden on surroundings. A significant amount of landfill is created, and in reality the
number of sights to dump the waste has also drastically reduced.

SDG Goal Aligned

As stated in the part 1 of this project, the aligned SDG goal number is 12, which implies
Responsible Consumption and Production. This goal is designed to decrease wastage,
and sustainable demand and supply activities. Since each household is generating
approximately 1.5 kg of garbage each week, it implies a significant portion of the
products are wasted and left to be dumped in the environment. Human beings are
demanding more products than they need, and generating waste. My activities have so
far also caused harm to the environment, and almost similar amount of waste is
generated by me each week. My environmental impact is almost similar to the
population, and it is high time that I should take necessary steps to reduce my
environmental footprint at an individual level.

Recommendations to reduce Individual Environmental Footprint

1. Composting food waste- In my house, a significant amount of waste food is
thrown into garbage. I can make the compost of this compost of this food waste
weekly and use it is a nutrient for the soil in backyard, and grow plants. This will
be an appropriate measure to reduce impact of food waste, as it is indirectly used
to enrich the land and perform afforestation which is a crucial activity to improve
the environment.
2. Decreasing the use of non-recyclable packaging- My household must be
using products with packaging that cannot be recycled. This leads to an increase
in the garbage. I would in future look for such products that either includes
recyclable material, or either made from sustainable products that last longer.
3. Reuse- There are many products used at home which can be reused for
example, curd plastic containers, plastic bags, vegetable containers and so on. A
large amount of these packaging cannot be recycled, and they can be used to
store things at my home. For instance, storing lentils in curd container. Such
reuse of the non recyclable products will put a significant impact on the
environment.
4. Reduce single use plastics- In my house, we use single use plastic bottles,
straws and plastic bags. Although they may be recyclable, but I should prefer
reducing its usage to decrease the plastic waste contribution by my house. I
would prefer carrying own water bottles, reusable straws, and reusable bags that
will help me in achieving sustainability into my activities.

Conclusion
To conclude, each individuals’ activities has an indispensable impact on the
environment. Garbage and waste generation is an important environmental issue, as
the landfills capacity has been reducing, and continuous dumping has become a threat
to the ecological balance. Together, as the population is educated about their impact on
environment, and individual steps taken to reduce the footprints, humanity will be able
to achieve the better living surroundings.
References
Region of Waterloo. (2020). Waste Management, Annual Report 2020. Retrieved from
https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/living-here/resources/Documents/Waste/
WM_04_WasteManagement_AnnualReport2020_Final_AODA.pdf

Statistics Canada. (2020). Waste Material Diverted. Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-

recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?
Lang=E&DGUIDList=2021A000011124&GENDERList=1,2,3&STATISTICList=1,4&HEADERList=0&Se
archText=Canada

Statistics Canada. (2021). Profile Table. Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-

recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?
Lang=E&DGUIDList=2021A000011124&GENDERList=1,2,3&STATISTICList=1,4&HEADERList=0&Se
archText=Canada
Appendix A
Analysis of Waste Audit, benchmark year 2020

Garbage Glass 303,780

Organic 2,511,704
Mixed Metals 61,025
Gable tops and aseptic 17,853
Total 2,894,362

Plastic All plastic material 239,874

Paper Mixed paper, cardboard boxes 1,548,028

Note From (Statistics Canada, 2020)