Solid Waste Environmental Excellence Protocol (SWEEP): Draft Municipal Standard Issued

The Solid Waste Environmental Excellence Protocol (“SWEEP”) issued a December 14th document titled:

The SWEEP Municipal Standard (“Municipal Standard”)

Municipal Standard is characterized as evaluating the environmental, economic, and social aspects of delivering municipal solid waste activities.

The SWEEP describes itself as a market transformation standard targeting municipalities and waste management service providers to identify and reward leaders in Sustainable Materials Management. It is also stated to define a roadmap to evaluate comprehensive policies and calculate achievement metrics. Further, it is stated to provide performance benchmarks for sustainable waste collection, recovery and disposal practices in technologies.

SWEEP is modeled after the LEED standard for green buildings.

The Municipal Standard is composed of six performance categories which include:

• Sustainable Material Management Policy
• Waste Generation and Prevention
• Solid Waste Collection
• Post-Collection Recovery
• Post-Collection Disposal
• Innovation

A separate innovation performance category recognizes measures and approaches that are beyond best practice.

Credit is provided in the performance categories for “specific measurable and verified actions.” They are organized by what are described as key performance indicators, which include:

• Efficiency and Effectiveness
• Environmental Performance
• Economic Performance
• Public Participation
• Working Conditions and Social Impact

SWEEP credits are structured as follows:

• Intent – States the underlying purpose of the credit
• Requirements – Describes the specific actions the applicant needs to take to achieve credit toward certification
• Potential Strategies – Examples of how to achieve the requirements

The draft standard was developed by SWEEP volunteer committees.

A copy of the Municipal Standard can be found here.