The SWEEP Standard

SWEEP-- Solid Waste Environmental Excellence Performance-- is a leadership standard to support the transition of communities and the waste industry to sustainable, efficient and economically viable materials management. SWEEP promotes continuous improvement towards a zero waste society. The US generates over 400 million tons of municipal solid waste each year. Currently, over 60 percent of this waste is disposed of in landfills, with the rest recycled or incinerated for energy. The embodied energy and resources of still-useful materials that are thrown away, plus the methane generated from rotting organic material is responsible for up to 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the US. Using integrated Sustainable Materials Management practices it might be possible to reclaim and repurpose up to 95 percent of discarded materials, while also significantly reducing the amount of material disposed of. We believe that communities and the solid waste management industry are the key to eliminating and mitigating this complex environmental challenge.