Avoidable waste management costs

This report describes the activity based costing method used to acquire variable (volume dependent or avoidable) waste management cost data for routine operations at Department of Energy (DOE) facilities. Waste volumes from environmental restoration, facility stabilization activities, and legacy waste were specifically excluded from this effort. A core team consisting of Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, and Oak Ridge Reservation developed and piloted the methodology, which can be used to determine avoidable waste management costs. The method developed to gather information was based on activity based costing, which is a common industrial engineering technique. Sites submitted separate flow diagrams that showed the progression of work from activity to activity for each waste type or treatability group. Each activity on a flow diagram was described in a narrative, which detailed the scope of the activity. Labor and material costs based on a unit quantity of waste being processed were then summed to generate a total cost for that flow diagram. Cross-complex values were calculated by determining a weighted average for each waste type or treatability group based on the volume generated. This study will provide DOE and contractors with a better understanding of waste management processes and their associated costs. Other potential benefits include providing cost data for sites to perform consistent cost/benefit analysis of waste minimization and pollution prevention (WMIN/PP) options identified during pollution prevention opportunity assessments and providing a means for prioritizing and allocating limited resources for WMIN/PP.