“Zero waste” has no legal definition in the United States, which is why facilities that want a credible claim turn to a third-party standard. The most widely used is TRUE, administered by Green Business Certification Inc., the same body that certifies LEED buildings. TRUE is a facility-level certification, not a corporate one, and its core requirement is simple to state and hard to meet: divert at least 90 percent of waste from landfill, incineration and the environment.
Where the 90 percent comes from
The threshold traces to the Zero Waste International Alliance, which defines zero waste as the conservation of all resources through responsible production, consumption, reuse and recovery, and sets 90 percent diversion as the minimum for a facility to call itself zero waste. TRUE adopted that figure as its entry requirement.
What counts as diversion
Diversion includes reuse, recycling, composting, anaerobic digestion and other recovery methods that return material to productive use. It also includes source reduction that can be documented. The 90 percent must be sustained over the most recent twelve months, calculated by weight, across all streams at the facility.
What does not count is as important. Waste-to-energy incineration is not diversion under TRUE. Neither is landfill gas recovery. Material sent to a recycler that is later landfilled as residue is a gray area that the standard addresses through documentation requirements. In practice this means a facility needs to know where its material actually ends up, which is why certified recycling partners that provide certificates of recycling and downstream documentation are part of most successful applications.
The point system
Meeting 90 percent diversion makes a facility eligible. Certification is then earned through a points-based rating system with credits across categories including redesign, reduce, reuse, compost, recycle, zero waste purchasing, leadership, training, zero waste analysis, upstream management, hazardous waste prevention, closed-loop systems, innovation and reporting. Points determine the level, from Certified through Silver, Gold and Platinum.
Many credits reward process rather than outcome: a written zero waste policy, employee training, supplier engagement, a waste audit within the last year, and public reporting all earn points. This is deliberate. The standard is trying to certify a system that will keep working, not a single good year.
What the process looks like
- Register the facility with GBCI and pay the registration fee.
- Collect twelve months of data on every outbound material stream, with weights and destinations.
- Complete the credit documentation, typically with photos, policies and hauler records.
- Submit for review. GBCI reviewers may request clarification or additional evidence.
- Recertify periodically to keep the designation.
Fees scale with facility size. Smaller sites can complete the process for a few thousand dollars in GBCI fees plus staff time; the larger cost is usually the operational changes required to get to 90 percent in the first place. Our zero waste business checklist covers that part.
Is it worth it?
For facilities that already divert 80 percent or more, certification is a modest step that produces a defensible claim, which matters as regulators and customers scrutinize environmental marketing. For facilities starting from 30 percent, the certification is a long-term target and the checklist is the near-term work. Either way, the useful part of TRUE is not the plaque. It is the discipline of measuring everything that leaves the building and knowing where it goes.
Alternatives
UL 2799 (Zero Waste to Landfill) is the other common standard, used heavily by manufacturers. It validates a diversion percentage with claims at 80, 90, 95 and 100 percent levels and, unlike TRUE, allows waste-to-energy to count toward some claims. Companies choosing between them usually pick based on which their customers recognize.
Need a disposal or recycling partner?
Real Zero Waste is published by Wasteless Group, a U.S. inventory destruction, recycling and sustainable disposal company. If you have product, scrap or equipment to move, these are the services:
Disclosure: these services are operated by our publisher. Editorial coverage is not influenced by them.
