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Urban Impact is excited to announce that our newly redesigned and fully electronic Certificates of Diversion are available by request. To request your certificate, please send us an email to reporting@urbanimpact.com.
At Urban Impact, we make every effort to ensure that our customers have the right information and communication tools to inform their teams on how to divert their waste from landfills.
Our Certificate of Diversion is our way to salute our customers’ efforts in diverting waste and redirecting that waste to recycling efforts. We measure our customer’s diversions efforts by measuring how many Kilograms of weight they divert and calculate how many Metric Tonnes were saved. We then translate that into the number trees, water and electricity that saved.
Urban Impact is proud that many customers display their Certificate of Diversion in their main reception area and/or post on their website and in their social media.
Thank you to all our customers for your recycling efforts, making the world greener and reducing your environmental footprint!
Frequently Asked Questions
How are the diversion numbers calculated?
The Certificate of Diversion is an estimate of the total weight of the materials diverted from disposal. The diversion weights are shown in kilograms (kgs). To accurately document the diversion, we measure the weight of various materials in various bin styles and sizes. Urban Impact conducts a detailed study each year, where the outcome is to assign each of the materials an average weight per yard. The Certificates of Diversion will consider the type of container that each customer is provided, the size of the bin, the # of bins and the different materials collected.
How do you determine the weight of an average bin?
We have collected a great deal of real-time bin weight data and used it to determine average bin weights. The weight study is updated yearly, and its methodology has been consistent since the inception of all diversion reporting since 2012. Please Note:
- The weight (kgs) per yard considers all services including Cardboard, Office paper, Mixed Containers (glass, metals and plastics) and Organics.
- Water / Trees/ Electricity / Carbon saved equivalents consider only paper materials.
- Non-paper materials also result in environmental savings, especially energy. These materials are highly variable depending on the specific material and are therefore, to keep diversion reporting accurate they are not converted into equivalents for Certificates of Diversion.
Does the total weight diverted include all materials?
The weight diverted numbers include all traditional recyclables: all types of paper/fibre (including cardboard), glass, metal, rigid plastic, soft plastic, and compost. Certain materials are excluded: wood/construction waste and fluorescent light bulbs/tubes, as well as any materials collected using roll-off bins, compactors, bales, cages or pallets, and any one-time shredding and recycles. Unfortunately, the estimation methodology that we use cannot accurately account for these materials due to the sporadic and highly variable nature of these pick-ups.
What source does Urban Impact use to make the calculations for Water /Trees / Electricity / Carbon equivalents?
There are a number of industry standards accepted for calculating environmental savings from recycling paper. Although there is some variation based on the type of paper recycled, the following figures offer a good general approximation that we use for Certificates (please note these numbers are sourced from the American EPA, so are in Imperial rather than Metric units – all numbers are converted to Metric Tonne).
Recycling one ton of paper saves approximately:
- 17 trees
- 2 barrels of oil
- 7,000 gallons of water
- 4,100 kilowatt hours of electricity
- 3.3 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents
Can I get a Paper Copy of my Certificate of Diversion?
Starting in 2022, Urban Impact moved to providing certificates electronically. Please request from reporting@urbanimpact.com.
Can I get the name on my certificate changed? multiple sites aggregated/disaggregated? previous years’ certificates? more accurate weight data?
Urban Impact can make certain adjustments to your Certificate and provide additional reporting, but these services will come at an additional cost.
Why did I not get a Certificate this year?
Certificate of Diversion are issues by customer request. Please send us an email request!
