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Original Date: 01/23/1995
Revision Date: 01/18/2007
Information : Benchmarking for Waste Minimization Project
The Department of Energy was ordered to reduce 50% of its hazardous waste streams by the year 2000, and executive orders were issued stressing source reduction and purchase of recycled products. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) was funded to investigate waste minimization options. After finding that information on waste minimization was not readily available to specific generators of DOE waste, Sandia concluded that a benchmarking project needed to be implemented to obtain meaningful information on the best practices available.
This benchmarking program was conducted in four major phases:
Planning phase. SNL established a commitment from management, identified manageable processes, and built a team of experts in the processes of interest.
Collection phase. The chosen processes were studied by DOE-wide team members, and metrics were collected to provide points of contrast between before and after. Potential partners were identified and contacted to collect suitability information. Two partners were selected for each waste stream being benchmarked.
Analyze phase. SNL and the benchmarking team conducted site visits and interviewed the selected partners. The interview information was analyzed and a report was prepared.
Adapt phase. The report provides information that DOE sites can use to modify their waste minimization practices in their own organization. The waste generators are encouraged to continue the benchmarking process by continual improvement of their processes.
As a direct result of this benchmarking, savings of $100K in disposal costs at one DOE site have been realized. SNL believes that benchmarking is versatile, adaptable to any organization, and is a cost-effective way to introduce new information into an organization.
For more information see the
Point of Contact for this survey.
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