Landfill-Free and Waste Diversion Leader Verification

We offer two verification services to support companies at different stages of waste management:

Proving your commitment to responsible waste management is a powerful way to demonstrate ethical leadership and environmental stewardship.

Embedding ESG principles into your strategy pays off. Independent verification of your waste efforts can build trust, proves ethical action, and can unlock new opportunities.

Our landfill-free verification service is for companies that have a mature landfill-free process and policy. With a 99% or higher landfill-free status, you will be helping set the benchmark in your industry for others to follow.

NSF landfill-free verification will provide proof that you are:

• Operating effective waste management processes and are meeting the 99% or higher target. This includes confirmation that you have the correct and current permits in place, and your disposal methods are accurately documented.
• Achieving a 99% or higher rate for waste recycling, reclaiming, composting, reusing or waste to energy (WTE).*

When your organisation achieves successful verification, it will receive a Landfill-Free certificate, a verification mark, and a publicly accessible online listing.

*Up to 50% of waste can be sent to a WTE facility, but only after all opportunities for recycling and reuse have been explored. A continuous improvement plan to reduce WTE rates is required.

Our waste diversion leader verification is for companies working towards becoming landfill-free. It will demonstrate your strong commitment to waste reduction, with landfill diversion rates approaching best-in-class standards. Waste diversion leader verification is a key milestone on the journey to 99% landfill-free operations.

NSF waste diversion leader verification will provide proof that you are:

• Diverting between 75 and 98.99% of your waste.
• On a journey to landfill-free through waste reduction and landfill diversion.

When your organisation achieves successful verification it will receive a Waste Diversion Leader certificate, a verification mark and a publicly accessible online listing.

We take a holistic approach, looking at every part of your company’s activities. At its heart is a process that tracks and verifies that waste is not sent to landfill.

If you meet the requirements of the verification process, you will receive a certificate, the relevant verification mark, and will be listed in the NSF online directory, which is publicly available.

What you can expect as part of the verification process:

• Waste tracker: A streamlined system designed to monitor and report on waste management practises, including how waste is categorised, handled, and diverted from landfill. It supports compliance and sustainability goals by tracking key metrics and methods used throughout the waste lifecycle.
• On-site audit: In addition to thoroughly reviewing all documentation, we conduct comprehensive onsite audits to further substantiate each claim. This approach ensures that we go beyond document analysis, engaging directly with your team to gain a deeper, firsthand understanding of the operations and context behind the documentation. Without this level of engagement, it’s easy for important details to be overlooked, so we make sure that doesn’t happen.
• Documentation: Transparency is a key factor in the verification process and in building trust among your stakeholders. That’s why you may need to provide proof of where waste is sent, to demonstrate compliance with landfill-free standards.
• Verification certificate: The final step of the verification process is the issuing of the certificate that publicly displays the % of total waste landfilled. And for complete transparency, it will show the percentage of waste sent to a waste-to-energy facility.

Your verification certificate lasts 12 months at which point reassessment will be required. Annual verification demonstrates your ongoing commitment and helps you to track your waste management journey.

NSF verification provides independent, expert validation of your sustainability claims — giving stakeholders confidence and your organisation additional credibility.

Organisations that achieve verification can:

• Achieve meaningful cost savings through landfill-free initiatives.
• Reduce spending on raw materials, energy, and labour by minimising waste.
• Unlock new economic opportunities by recovering and selling materials instead of disposing of them.
• Boost employee engagement through participation in sustainability efforts and idaea generation.
• Deliver stronger consumer appeal among environmentally conscious audiences.
• Enhance industry reputation through sharing best practises and collaborating on common challenges.

NSF verification enables you to make transparent and credible claims stakeholders can trust and use the widely recognised NSF mark to support your claim.