In our latest episode of NothingWasted! Podcast, we bring you a dynamic session from WasteExpo: “Data Analytics & Measuring Success: Do They Go Hand in Hand?”

As today’s organizations are reaching for ever-loftier sustainability goals, the importance of data and analytics has naturally come to the forefront. But what are the best practices and some common pitfalls? This discussion features David Rachelson of Rubicon Global; Mark Spafford of the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska; and Amity Lumper of Cascadia Consulting.

Here’s a sneak peek into the speakers’ insights:

Amity Lumper: I encourage you to look at metrics and to measure in a more holistic way, to not forget your end goals and to revisit those end goals. This is a great time in our communities—for better or worse—people are very aware of recycling. So, this is a time to reengage and ensure those goals fit with the priorities and values of your community, and the metrics and measurement strategy you’re applying can really help you see if you’re making the progress you seek. 

David Rachelson: Waste is no longer an invisible problem. Almost every week, there is a mainstream story about the challenges of recycling or the plastics problem. The time to act is now. And data analytics is fundamental to drive meaningful zero waste programs. Understanding the lifecycle of a product or some of the new ways of thinking about how you measure the actual impact of a material from when it was taken out of the earth through its production life, into the supply chain and into end of life or next life … These are the types of objectives we’re being asked for by all our stakeholders. And data and analytics enable us to be more responsive to these stakeholders and deliver on their demands.