Sustainability and resource use
How to set an event waste baseline
Your committee wants less waste at the next event, but nobody can say what this year's event produces today.
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The short answer
A waste baseline is a record of what your event used or discarded, by stream, taken from records you already hold: print invoices, catering orders, signage lists and what the venue or caterer is willing to report. It is the starting point that lets you say later whether anything changed.
Build it from counts and supplier statements, not estimates. Where you have no figure, write not measured and record this year as the baseline, then track it with the benefit evidence tracker. Objectives come after the baseline, as in sustainability objectives.
Choose the streams you can actually see
List the streams your own decisions create: printed programmes and badges, registration items, signage, welcome items, catering, packaging from deliveries and exhibitor or sponsor give-aways.
Leave out streams that sit wholly with the venue, such as building waste, unless the venue agrees to share its figures.
Match each stream to a record
| Stream | Record that already exists | Unit to note | Who holds it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Printed materials | Printer quotation and invoice | Copies ordered, copies left over | Secretariat |
| Signage and banners | Signage supplier list | Items produced, items kept for reuse | Operations lead |
| Catering | Catering order and caterer's closing count | Portions ordered, portions served | Operations lead |
| Delivery packaging | Delivery notes | Deliveries received; packaging taken away by whom | Operations lead |
| Give-aways | Purchase order | Items bought, items left over | Sponsor liaison or secretariat |
Ask suppliers early, in writing
Ask the venue, caterer and printer what they can report and in what form. Some will give counts, some a short statement, some nothing. Record exactly what each one says.
Do not convert counts into weight, volume or carbon unless a competent party has agreed a method. A count you can show is worth more than a figure you cannot defend.
Sequence
- Pick three to five streams and name one owner for each.
- Write down the record each owner will use and the date they will hand it over.
- Send the data request to venue, caterer and printer before contracts are signed where possible.
- Capture counts on the day or the next working day, while people still remember what happened.
- Mark each figure observed, estimated or not measured, and keep the source.
Common mistakes
- Starting with a reduction target before any baseline exists.
- Comparing this year with last year when last year's records are missing or counted differently.
- Treating a supplier's verbal estimate as a measured figure.
- Collecting numbers nobody owns, so they are never reported.
Worked example · Fictional example
A first baseline for a members' conference
Fictional organisation and figures, for illustration only.
A fictional engineering association expects about 280 attendees over one day. It has no earlier records, so it names this year as the baseline for four streams: printed programmes, signage, lunch and give-aways.
The secretariat records copies printed and copies left, the operations lead records signs made and kept, and the caterer is asked for portions ordered and served. Delivery packaging is marked not measured because the venue has not agreed to report it.
Use this yourself
Waste baseline log
Copy one row per stream. Fill the status cell only when the source record is attached.
| Stream | Baseline figure or none | Source record | Owner | Captured on | Status: observed / estimated / not measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Printed programmes | |||||
| Signage | |||||
| Lunch and refreshments | |||||
| Give-aways | |||||
| Out of scope this year |
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- One event, a few streams and a secretariat that can read invoices and ask suppliers for counts.
- Supplier contacts are friendly and share simple numbers.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- Several venues, caterers or events need a consistent method.
- Records are scattered across departments with no single owner.
- Supplier contracts need data requests written in before signing.
Want the baseline built into your supplier plan?
An Event Blueprint can set the streams, owners, data requests to each supplier and the log, so the baseline is collected as part of planning rather than after the event. It also records what is out of scope. Send your event outline and the suppliers you already have.
Questions organisers ask
What if we have no records from last year?
Say so in the log and treat this year as the baseline. Comparisons can start next year, using the same streams and the same way of counting.
Do we need to weigh the waste?
Not to get started. Counts of items printed, portions ordered and signs reused are measurable by most secretariats. Weighing needs an agreed method and a party able to do it.
Can the baseline include the venue's waste?
Only if the venue agrees to share its figures and says how they were produced. Otherwise mark that stream out of scope.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.