Global reporting Initiative launches its new Waste Standard - and is looking forward to your comments.

Date
16 May 2019
News type
Key Area
Country
EU
In the face of a growing global waste crisis, new corporate reporting disclosures are being developed by Global reporting Initiative (GRI) to help organizations better understand and communicate their waste impacts.
 
International recognition of the need for action on waste is increasing. The scale of the issue – from the effect of plastics in marine ecosystems to the mounting disconnect between food waste generation and global hunger – illustrates why businesses and other organizations need to play their part by improving waste management practices.
 
It is in this context that the GRI Waste Standard is under development, and open to public consultation and comment until 15 July 2019.
 
The draft Standard recognizes the importance of the transition to a circular economy and includes:
  • A fundamental shift in the perception of waste – from an unwanted burden to a source of valuable materials;
  • Greater emphasis on how decisions on procuring and using materials relate directly to waste generation and waste quality;
  • New disclosures to understand how discarded waste has been created and the significance of this impact;
  • Recognition of an organization’s impacts in the value chain and reporting how this is managed.

The draft GRI Waste Standard recognizes that our linear, ‘take-make-waste’ approach is contributing towards a global waste crisis. As the world moves to a more circular economy, in which we treat waste as an input material for production, a new approach to reporting is needed.

This Standard will help companies better understand and measure their waste impacts, disclosing reliable and comparable data that ultimately supports better decisions. It also encourages creativity and lateral thinking – something that’s needed to tackle the issue internationally.

Judy Kuszewski, Chair of the GRI Global Sustainability Standards Board



The draft Standard will update GRI 306: Effluents and Waste 2016. It has been developed by a multi-stakeholder Project Working Group, appointed in 2018 by the GRI Global Sustainability Standards Board to review, revise or expand the content of waste disclosures.