Resources
Practical tools for people working on waste
Free guides, tools, standards, and learning materials produced by the Circular Innovation Hub for municipalities, facility managers, policymakers, producers, educators, and researchers. Everything here is free to use.
Featured resource
Online guide · Working draft
Waste Audit Field Guide
A complete, step-by-step guide to running a waste audit, from planning and sampling through sorting, weighing, analysis, and reporting. Separate paths for facility (ICI) audits and curbside or residential composition studies, with a sample-size calculator, printable field forms (F-00 to F-09), an audit workbook with live formulas, a worked example, and a report template.
Eight steps
1 Plan
2 Prepare
3 Collect
4 Sort
5 Weigh
6 Record
7 Analyze
8 Act
Start here
Find resources for your role
Municipalities and program managers
Facility and sustainability managers
Producers, brands, and compliance teams
Communicators and outreach staff
Educators and families
Measure
Waste audits and measurement
Tools for measuring what is thrown away, analysing the results, and reporting them.
Online guide · Working draft
Waste Audit Field Guide
A complete, step-by-step guide to running a waste audit, from planning and sampling through sorting, weighing, analysis, and reporting. Separate paths for facility (ICI) audits and curbside or residential composition studies, with a sample-size calculator, printable field forms (F-00 to F-09), an audit workbook with live formulas, a worked example, and a report template.
For: Municipalities · facility and sustainability managers · consultants · students
Online tool
Waste Audit Emissions Dashboard
Enter audited weights by material and stream (recycling, green bin, garbage) for 73 materials and see the net greenhouse gas impact, broken down by stream and material group and translated into EPA equivalencies.
For: Anyone reporting audit results
Report · PDF
Waste Management Key Performance Indicators
Indicators for measuring and comparing the performance of waste management programs.
For: Program managers · researchers
Policy
Policy, EPR, and data
Open references for designing, evaluating, and complying with packaging and producer responsibility policy.
Online library
The Packaging EPR Library
46 evidence-reviewed articles on packaging extended producer responsibility, plus an interactive map of every packaging EPR system in the world.
For: Policymakers · producers · municipalities · researchers
Online library
The Packaging Label Atlas
Labelling rules, symbols, green-claims limits, and research evidence for 63 jurisdictions, with a map of the highest labelling obligation in force.
For: Producers · compliance teams · regulators
Standard · PDF, 66 pages
Open Data Standard for Plastics
A free, non-proprietary data standard for plastics in packaging and waste electronics: entities, identifiers, and 15 controlled vocabularies, from base material to end-of-life route.
For: Producers · EPR programs · regulators · recyclers
White paper · PDF
EPR for Packaging: Frequently Asked Questions
Plain-language answers to the questions most often asked about extended producer responsibility for packaging.
For: Policymakers · municipalities · public
Programs
Program best practices
Evidence-based guidance for designing and running diversion programs.
Best-practice guide · PDF
Organics Diversion in Multi-Residential Buildings
A review of the literature on what works for food and organics diversion in apartments and condominiums, where participation has historically lagged.
For: Municipalities · property managers
Best-practice guide · PDF
Recycling in Public Spaces: Top 20 Best Practices
Twenty evidence-based practices for bins, signage, placement, and servicing in parks, streetscapes, and other public spaces.
For: Municipalities · facility managers
Policy guide · PDF
Addressing Illegal Dumping of Durable Waste
A guide for policy makers on the drivers of illegal dumping of mattresses and other durable goods, and the measures that reduce it. Prepared for the Mattress Recycling Council.
For: Municipalities · policymakers
Communication
Sustainability communication
Research-based guidance on messaging that people understand, trust, and act on.
Best-practice guide · PDF, 47 pages
Sustainable Communication for Minority Communities
How to design sustainability programs and messaging that build trust and participation in minority and newcomer communities, with recommendations and evaluation approaches.
For: Municipal outreach staff · program designers
Guide · PDF
Cognitive Accessibility in Sustainability Communication
A guide for decision-makers on making complex environmental information understandable without losing accuracy.
For: Communicators · decision-makers
Learning series
The Language of Sustainability
Chapters on framing, cognitive accessibility, and psychological distance in sustainability communication.
For: Educators · communicators · students
Education
Youth and education
Free games, picture books, and guides for classrooms, families, and the institutions that serve young people.
Classroom resources
Material Literacy for Youth
Games, picture books, and classroom activities built around three questions: What are you made of? What’s your job? Where do you go after?
For: Educators · families
Browser game · Free
Sortify
A match-three puzzle game in which tiles match by material family, teaching what newsprint, PET, and aluminum are and where they go.
For: Children · classrooms · families
Browser game · Free
Stackify
A falling-item sorting game: correct sorts build clean stacks, wrong ones contaminate them.
For: Children · classrooms · families
Policy primer · Working draft
From Eco-Anxiety to Agency
How schools, municipalities, and governments can close the awareness–agency gap, with six pillars and five priority actions.
For: School boards · municipalities · public health
Can’t find what you need?
Our full list of research reports and papers is on the Publications page, and corrections or suggestions for these resources are welcome at lakhanc@yorku.ca.