The GSSB (Global Sustainability Standards Board) that operates under the auspices of GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) is currently overseeing a project to review and update the content of GRI Waste disclosures related to GRI sustainability reports in the current GRI Standard 306: Effluents and Waste.
Achieve best-practice disclosure of waste-related activities
The main target of above-mentioned project is to review and update the content of GRI Standard 306: Effluents and Waste. Work-related issues include updating, expanding or deleting existing content, where appropriate. This includes also disclosures from “GRI 301: Materials” as there are some linkages between these two standards.
The main reason for this revision is the update of “GRI 303: Water” between 2016 to 2018, where some contents from “GRI 306: Effluents and Waste” were incorporated into the new “GRI 303: Water and Effluents”. In this sense, a specific project working group (PWG) was formed to review the current GRI Waste Standard 306. Following the GSSB Due Process Protocol, this is one of several necessary steps for developing new or rather, reviewing existing GRI Standards. The PWG has developed the draft Standard “GRI 306: Waste”, which can be currently reviewed publicly. This means, that the current project stage is the ‘public comment phase’ where stakeholders as well as interested parties and individuals have the opportunity to give some useful tips related to the developed draft for the GRI Waste standard. This is valid until the 15th July 2019.
Significant proposals and changes include the following:
- New waste-specific management approach disclosures
- Greater emphasis on impacts in the value chain and how the organization manages these
- Introduction of the concepts of circularity and waste prevention
- Reporting requirement on waste streams
- Revised waste management methods
- Reporting requirement on how the waste has been managed
- Removed disclosure on the transport of hazardous waste
- Revised definitions
- More extensive guidance throughout the draft
Facts related to waste and how sustainability reporting can support to achieve improvements in such areas
Planet and humanity are facing currently with a lot of problems and challenges related to waste in several contexts and perspectives. A few examples are listed below showing some negative aspects of our behaviour:
- According to WWF one third of all food produced globally ends up in waste along the whole value chain of food producing (see WWF and DFGE blog from 1st August 2018)
- In 2010 eight million tons of produced plastic waste (approx. 3%) entered the ocean (see ourworldindata.com)
- Especially developed countries are the world largest producers of plastic waste, e. g. China, USA, Germany (see ourworldindata.com)
Nevertheless, there are also several positive examples:
- Zero waste strategies by companies
- Several projects and initiatives aiming for reducing plastic pollution and quantity in oceans, e. g. The Ocean Cleanup
- EU directive on prohibition of producing one-way plastic products (e. g. plastic bags, plastic cotton swabs) from 2022 (see European Commission)
- Shops and supermarkets that are offering products and food without any packaging (e. g. Ohne-Laden, Munich)
Sustainability reporting with a strong focus to waste-related issues can help companies understand and reflect on their own commercial waste behaviour. In this context, actions in order to reduce waste can be implemented. Several KPIs, provided for example by the GRI Waste Standard 306, are useful to track the integrated measures as well as to initiate a company specific improvement process.
Support by DFGE
The DFGE has been supporting companies in their sustainability efforts since 1999 and has extensive expertise in CSR reporting and accounting. With customized service packages, the DFGE advises companies based on their individual needs. Related to GRI we assist you in the materiality analysis, in the data and key figures collection as well as in the complete creation of a GRI report. Furthermore, DFGE will keep you informed regarding the next project phases and outcomes of the GRI Waste Standard revision. For more details in this context, please see the GRI project page as well as the latest project proposal for the review of GRI Waste Disclosures. If you have any questions related to this topic or any other requests, please contact us via or by phone on 08192-99733-20.
