Waste Management & Recycling Flashcards

The 'waste hierarchy' concept is embedded in which major US environmental policy framework relevant to carbon auditors?

Answer: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)

RCRA establishes the framework for managing solid and hazardous waste in the US and incorporates waste reduction principles aligned with the waste hierarchy.

When auditing a retail company's waste emissions, which data collection approach provides the most accurate Scope 3 Category 5 calculation?

Answer: Collecting actual waste tonnage by material type and disposal method

Actual waste tonnage disaggregated by material type and disposal method allows application of material-specific emission factors, providing the most accurate calculation.

Which of the following represents an upstream avoided emission credit that could be claimed in a life cycle assessment (LCA) of recycled aluminum?

Answer: Avoided emissions from not smelting virgin bauxite ore

Recycled aluminum avoids the highly energy-intensive Hall-Héroult electrolysis process for primary aluminum production from bauxite, generating significant avoided emission credits.

A carbon auditor discovers that a client's hazardous waste is being incinerated. How should these emissions be classified?

Answer: Scope 3 Category 5 if incinerated at a third-party facility

Waste incinerated at third-party facilities generates Scope 3 Category 5 (Waste Generated in Operations) emissions for the waste-generating company.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs impact carbon accounting because they:

Answer: Shift end-of-life waste emissions reporting from consumers to producers

EPR schemes make producers financially and sometimes legally responsible for end-of-life management, which also shifts reporting accountability for those emissions toward the producer.

What is the carbon significance of 'avoided waste' compared to 'recycled waste' in a GHG inventory?

Answer: Avoided waste (source reduction) eliminates both production and disposal emissions, while recycling only addresses disposal

Source reduction (avoided waste) prevents emissions across the entire product lifecycle including manufacturing, while recycling primarily addresses only the end-of-life disposal phase.

Construction and demolition (C&D) waste is important in carbon auditing because:

Answer: It represents a large waste stream where concrete and steel have high embodied carbon that can be recovered through recycling

C&D waste is a major waste stream; materials like concrete and steel have high embodied carbon, and recycling them recovers significant carbon value compared to disposal and virgin production.