4 Ways to Help Clients with Scope 3

Legislation has long been one of the main drivers for change. With so many environmental targets already on the horizon and the introduction of Scope 3 emissions (part of the GHG Protocol) reporting looming large – you’d be right in thinking that waste handlers are stood on the edge of a precipice.

They can either jump into change – embracing innovation and leading customers in the pursuit of better waste outcomes, or they can lose their footing as they scramble to make sense of ever rising costs, increased reporting and environmental pressure.

For regional waste handlers ready to embrace change –understanding how to help customers with Scope 3 is the perfect place to start.

Scope 3

Scope 3 refers to supply chain emissions. So for regional waste handlers’ customers, this means disclosing the emissions (in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) they are indirectly responsible for up and down their value chains – for example, the mileage associated with waste collections, as well as the emissions associated with the disposal method itself.

From January 2024, the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will strengthen and extend the scope of the existing EU reporting requirements and many UK companies trading in Europe will be subject to tighter Scope 3 reporting requirements.

To help waste creators understand the impact of their unrecyclable waste and comply with Scope 3, waste handlers have an opportunity to put themselves and their customers on the front foot of change and reap commercial and environmental benefits straight away. Here are four ways how:

1. Understand and offer direction
   Waste handlers must become knowledgeable about Scope 3 and its requirements. This requires an understanding of the three major steps – determining which of the 15 reporting categories are relevant to the organisation, estimating GHG emissions depending on the disposal method (landfill, SRF, RDF export, recovery for recycling etc) and identifying ways to make improvements over time. It also requires knowledge of the different scope three calculating methods – supplier-specific, waste type specific and average data – in order to help customers make the most appropriate choice.

   In a recent study Advetec conducted in partnership with Facilitate magazine, 69% of businesses said their waste handler could do more to help them with their environmental goals. Waste creators want guidance. Waste is no longer just a service to be provided, but a whole area of strategic focus for organisations as ESG goals rise up the agenda. Those regional waste handlers that truly understand Scope three, offer direction, suggest new strategies and share expertise stand to help customers’ net zero efforts the most.

2. Data collection and reporting
   While reporting on waste is already mandatory, waste handlers need to present waste data in a format that will help customers to meet reporting requirements. Accurately portraying key facts around road miles and the associated carbon, as well as how different waste streams are disposed of, will help business to feel empowered, equipped to report accurately and informed about where they can make improvements. This may also require regional waste handlers to ask more of their offtakers too – insisting that the right data is readily available to be passed on to customers.
   Making changes to all reporting documents, regardless of whether clients are asking, will show proactive change and help businesses all of sizes to improve their knowledge and behaviours.
3. General education
   Two thirds[1] of businesses have never audited their waste handlers – the likely result of not knowing the right questions to ask, and almost a quarter (24%) do not know what happens to their waste. This reveals a serious lack of knowledge on the part of waste creators – but in reality it can sometimes apply to some waste handlers too. Waste handlers must equip themselves with as much intelligence about different waste streams as possible and ensure they know the potential and possibilities associated with each. The more knowledge they have, the more they can help customers with greater environmental benefits and process efficiencies too.
4. Innovation
   It’s time for regional waste handlers to abandon the status quo and pursue innovation. As the Advetec and Facilitate data shows, waste creators are looking to the waste industry for answers. Whether its embracing innovations such as biotechnology to turn unrecyclable waste into SRF on site, encouraging new sorting behaviours among customers, investigating new offtake routes or using IoT-based sensors and data to monitor bins and optimise waste collection routes – it’s vital that regional waste handlers make it their business to find other ways to process and handle waste.
   The 2042 UK government deadline to halve the waste that goes to landfill and incineration, as well as the potential introduction of AT4 testing in England, make it clear that traditional disposal routes are no longer widely accepted. Innovation is key.

Knowledge is power. Knowledge is change.

To help customers reduce GHGs, lower costs and support the circular economy, regional waste handlers have to step up. It is only through greater education, proactivity and innovation in the waste sector that individual businesses will be able to report on and reduce their scope three emissions, and the UK will achieve its waste reduction targets. Regional waste handlers have an opportunity to become proponents of change.

Dr Stephen Wise, Advetec’s Chief Strategic Development Officer said: “The biggest obstacle standing in the way of the nation’s environmental performance is the belief that we are doing well. In order to make the radical changes needed to achieve net zero, we must address the fate of all waste and consider the implications of those choices. Scope 3 is one way of doing that, but it relies on regional waste handlers having the knowledge to show customers the way.”