What’s new with the NABERS Waste Platform

By Hash Fonseka

Earlier this year after much anticipation, NABERS released their new Waste Rating Platform, allowing more buildings to participate and receive a certified NABER Waste Rating.

There are two major changes to note: the first being that the tool is now online and can be easily accessed by building managers, and the second that the mandatory requirement of a two week long audit process has been replaced with a once-off audit, making it easier than ever to get a rating completed for many commercial buildings. The updated version of the rules (V1.1) released only days ago, introduces whole building ratings as well as an adjustment to the rating scale. As a result of this adjustment the maximum rating achievable by a base building is 6.5 stars correlating to a recycling rate of above 81% and above 92% for a whole building.

The flexibility of the tool allows for buildings of varying sizes and capacities to gain an indication of their recycling rates, with multiple layers of integrity that can be applied. Buildings hoping to achieve top results would aim towards an ‘excellent’ standard of data quality assessment involving data verification, onsite weighing and an audit run by a NABERS accredited assessor.

Watch the video below for an overview of the new NABERS Waste Platform.

Since the release of the NABERS Waste Platform, Ausnviro have been working across multiple commercial sites implementing our Waste Manager App™  and onsite weighing system to help buildings reach the highest level of data quality. Throughout this process our biggest takeaway is that data integrity is key to understanding the recycling habits of a building, in order to create positive change. By having a detailed understanding of the waste habits and processes in place, we are able to provide tailored initiatives to improve the performance of the site, as well as continuously monitor for any unexpected changes that may occur.

We look forward to assisting these buildings in monitoring their waste performance and achieving their recycling targets in the coming years, and anticipate that the new waste platform will be embraced by many waste-conscious commercial buildings in the near future.

For any enquiries regarding our onsite weighing system or the new NABERS Waste Rating tool, please contact Hash Fonseka (0468 791 121) hash(at)ausnviro.com.au or Stacey Ward (0431 920 336) stacey(at)ausnviro.com.au.