Getting started
A review is only as good as what it can see. Most of the difference between a useful evaluation and a superficial one comes down to whether the invoices, manifests and contracts were available, and whether anyone talked to the people who actually handle the material.
Twelve months of invoices, not a current rate sheet
A rate sheet shows what you are charged per unit. Invoices show what you actually paid, which is a different number once fuel surcharges, environmental fees, container rental, demurrage, contamination charges and minimum tonnage clauses are counted.
Twelve months also exposes seasonality and shows whether service levels match what is being billed.
Current contracts, including the end dates
Term, renewal mechanism, notice period and auto-renewal language all shape what can change and when. Evergreen clauses that renew unless cancelled in a narrow window are common and easy to miss.
Knowing the dates changes the sequencing of any recommendation. It is not unusual for the right answer to be a change timed nine months out.
Manifests, profiles and reports
For regulated streams, the existing profiles and manifests show what is being declared and whether the determinations still match current operations. Profiles written for a process that has since changed are a routine finding.
A walk of the generation points
The document review tells you what is leaving the site. Walking the floor tells you why. Container placement, labeling, who handles what and what is convenient at two in the morning explain most contamination.
This is also where the people who handle the material get a chance to say what does not work. They generally know, and they are generally not asked.
Any requirements you are reporting against
Customer scorecards, certification requirements, corporate diversion targets and public commitments all constrain what a good answer looks like. A recommendation that saves money but breaks a reporting obligation is not a saving.
What the review should answer
By the end you should be able to say, for every stream: what it is, where it goes now, what the full cost is including every line on the invoice, what other outlets exist, what documentation each produces, and what would have to change on site to reach a better one.
If an evaluation cannot answer those six questions, it has not finished, whatever recommendations came with it.
In short
- Twelve months of invoices beats a current rate sheet
- Contract end dates and notice windows shape what is possible and when
- Walking the generation points explains contamination that documents cannot
- Reporting obligations constrain what counts as a good answer
- Six questions per stream define a finished review
More reading
Other guides
What to do with off-spec and obsolete product
Surplus and failed inventory usually has four routes ahead of disposal. Working out which applies.
EvaluationHow to tell whether a stream is worth recycling
Five questions that decide whether a material actually has an outlet. Volume matters less than you would think.
MaterialsWhat actually happens to your universal waste
Where lamps, batteries and ballasts actually go after pickup, and what is recovered from each.
Start with the material,
not the invoice
Every engagement begins with a KODA Operational Review™ — a structured evaluation of your facility, materials, vendors and compliance requirements.