Domain: Waste Management & Environmental Services
Question:
A commercial office tenant occupies the majority of a multi-tenant property but shares all centralized dumpsters and compactors with other tenants. The tenant is required to report its waste generation and diversion performance for an external sustainability program, even though no tenant-specific measurement exists.  What considerations should guide how the tenant represents its waste generation so that the results are reasonable, defensible and consistent over time despite shared infrastructure and incomplete data?

Expected points in a correct answer:
Clear opening statement outlining answer that when dumpsters are shared tenant-level reporting is an allocation problem, not a measurement problem
States the need to base waste estimate on defensible "as-serviced" totals
States the importance of using service charged totals with actual tonnage used from disposal company (defensible)
Explains how the calculator estimates the tonnage and the importance of site using those totals
States that a documented allocation basis must be applied to estimate each tenant's share of the shared waste system
Identifies specific allocation proxies such as percentage of leased/rentable square footage, percentage of occupancy/headcount, or a hybrid approach
Provides reasoning to use single method for tenant waste application, and not to switch methods for better defensibility and justification
States the need to clearly state the allocation is an estimate on calculations, not actual measured waste for each tenant
Explains that tenant diversion cannot be claimed as a directly measured value when waste infrastructure is shared among multiple tenants
States that the reported figure is an estimated allocation of shared-system performance, not a direct measurement of tenant waste
States importance that credibility of tenant waste allocation comes from clear assumptions, stable methodology, and documented triggers for reallocation
States that documentation should be structured so that auditors can follow the logic of the estimation methodology
States to document that the estimations are using shared-service level data (not tenant specific)
States to document the chosen allocation method and how it fits the site
States to document what changes require review of method or adjustment
Gives examples of possible reasons that would require changes or review of system such as new tenant, major occupancy changes, hauling frequency changes, compactor additions, etc
States how auditors tend to act toward waste management situations asked in this prompt if handled properly
States the material/stream selection list is in the calculator tab cells B9:B23
States the final tons/month (primary numbers) are in the calculator tab cells G9:G23
States if item based section is used it is located in the calculator tab cells G27:G32
States the total site generated is SUM of used rows in calculator tab cells G9:G23 (G27:G32 if used)
Restates to use the same allocation method each period for trend comparison to stay valid
Provides supporting workbook tabs for better defensibility and validation of remainder of workbook such as waste log and conversion factors for estimates
States to calculate tenant estimated generated = total site generated × allocation %
States to calculate tenant estimated recycled = total site recycled × allocation %
States that the goal of the estimation is not perfect precision but rather a method that is reasonable, repeatable, explainable, and consistent over time
Identifies specific service-level data elements needed to establish site totals: container type, container size, number of containers, and pickup frequency
States that the allocation factor is applied outside the workbook (i.e., the workbook calculates site totals, and allocation is a separate step)
References specific supporting workbook cell locations: Waste Log!B5:F7 for service/pickup tracking and Background Data!B9:F15 for conversion factors
References that conversion factors in Background Data are used via Calculator!K9:K23