How Do I Benchmark My Waste Costs Against Industry Standards?

Most businesses know what they pay for waste — but very few know whether those costs are good, fair, or far above industry standards.

Waste is one of the easiest operational costs to overlook. Prices creep over time, services stay the same even when business activities change, and multiple providers across multiple sites create complexity that hides overspend.

At Nationwide Waste Solutions, we regularly speak with organisations that have used the same services for years without a review. When we benchmark their waste system, we often find unnecessary lifts, outdated pricing, or recycling opportunities that have never been activated.

Benchmarking your waste costs helps you understand whether you’re paying market-aligned prices, whether your system is right-sized, and whether you’re achieving the environmental outcomes expected by customers, regulators, or internal ESG frameworks.

This guide explains how benchmarking works, what to measure, and how businesses can use this process to reduce costs and improve performance across every site.

What Benchmarking Waste Costs Actually Means

Benchmarking is not simply comparing the price of one bin to another.
True benchmarking evaluates how your entire waste system performs against industry averages, regulatory expectations, and sustainability standards.

A meaningful benchmark looks at:

The types of bins you use
How often they’re collected
Whether the services match what your business actually produces
Whether volumes and costs align with similar sites in your industry
Whether landfill could be reduced through better recycling
How contamination affects cost and emissions
Whether transport, levies, and service fees are competitive

This makes benchmarking both a cost exercise and a performance exercise.
It’s about understanding whether the money you spend reflects an efficient, compliant, and sustainable waste system — or whether hidden inefficiencies are driving avoidable expenses.

Why Benchmarking Matters

Benchmarking waste costs creates clarity. It highlights whether a site is performing well, performing poorly, or simply operating on “set and forget” services that no longer reflect the business.

For multi-site organisations, benchmarking is even more important. Each location will have different waste volumes, different staff behaviours, and different operational challenges — but they all need consistent outcomes and cost efficiency.

Benchmarking helps businesses:

Identify overspending caused by outdated contracts or unnecessary lifts
Compare similar sites to highlight inconsistencies
Understand where recycling performance lags
Support ESG reporting through improved transparency
Improve diversion rates and cut landfill fees
Forecast future costs using real market data
Strengthen supplier accountability
Build a roadmap for improving the entire system

When done properly, benchmarking is one of the fastest ways to regain control over waste costs and strengthen sustainability performance.

How to Benchmark Your Waste Costs

Benchmarking begins with gathering accurate data — not estimates, assumptions, or what individual staff believe is happening.

To benchmark your system properly, you’ll need visibility over:

1. Service Types and Frequencies

Start with a clear list of every service across every site.
This includes bin sizes, collection days, recycling services, food waste, cardboard, general waste, and any ad-hoc or bulk services.

In many organisations, this is where the first problems emerge.
Multiple providers, inconsistent bin types, and outdated schedules create unnecessary complexity — and unnecessary costs.

2. Waste Volumes and Weights

To compare your costs to industry standards, you need to understand your actual waste volumes.
For example, a site generating two tonnes of cardboard per week should not require multiple general waste lifts for the same material.

Waste weights also directly influence landfill fees and emissions reporting.

3. Bin Utilisation

Right-sizing is one of the largest cost drivers in waste management.

If bins are half-full, you’re likely overpaying.
If bins overflow, contamination increases and recycling declines.

Benchmarking looks at the percentage fill rate against industry norms — typically 70–90% utilisation on scheduled services.

4. Cost Per Lift and Cost Per Tonne

These two metrics provide the clearest picture of whether your pricing is competitive.

Industry standards vary by region, levy rates, haulage distances, and waste type — but benchmarking identifies whether your rates fall into reasonable ranges or stand out as excessive.

5. Diversion Rate and Recycling Performance

Benchmarking also evaluates how much of your waste ends up in landfill compared to businesses with similar operations.

Low diversion often signals:

Incorrect bin types
Poor staff education
Lack of recycling streams
Contamination issues
Over-reliance on general waste bins

Recycling performance is now directly tied to ESG and Scope 3 emissions, so benchmarking includes environmental outcomes — not just financial ones.

6. Compliance and Reporting Standards

Industry best practice includes:

Transparent reporting
Consistent data across all sites
Monthly summaries
Clear landfill vs recycling volumes
Audit-ready documentation

Benchmarking identifies whether your current providers meet these standards or whether gaps could create compliance or reporting challenges.

How Benchmarking Improves ESG Performance

Benchmarking is not only about reducing spend — it’s also about increasing responsibility and credibility.

Businesses with strong ESG goals need accurate, consistent waste data to calculate Scope 3 emissions, report landfill diversion, and demonstrate continuous improvement. Benchmarking provides the baseline required to measure that progress.

Once the baseline is established, the business can set achievable targets for:

Reducing general waste
Increasing recycling
Introducing food waste separation
Improving staff compliance
Reducing contamination
Supporting circular economy outcomes

Benchmarking ensures that ESG performance is based on real, verifiable data — not estimates.

What Businesses Discover When They Benchmark

When Nationwide Waste Solutions benchmarks a client’s waste system, the patterns are remarkably consistent. We often find that businesses:

Haven’t reviewed their waste system in 5–10 years
Are using the wrong bin types for their actual waste
Are paying for unnecessary lifts or oversized bins
Are missing key recycling streams
Have inconsistent pricing across sites
Are sending recyclable material to landfill
Lack reporting to support ESG frameworks
Have contamination issues that inflate costs
Have services that reflect the past, not current operations

The most significant insight is usually this:
Cost inefficiency almost always starts with system inefficiency.

Once the system is redesigned, the cost savings follow naturally.

Why Multi-Site Businesses Benefit Most

Benchmarking becomes even more powerful when you manage multiple sites.

Variations between locations can be significant:

One site may be over-serviced
Another may experience regular overflow
A third may have excellent recycling
A fourth may have inconsistent or missing services

Benchmarking highlights these inconsistencies and provides a roadmap for standardisation. This helps ensure every site performs well, supports sustainability goals, and operates at the right cost level.

For national organisations, this leads to predictable budgeting, better reporting, and stronger operational stability.

How Nationwide Waste Solutions Supports Benchmarking

As Australia’s leading waste management brokerage, Nationwide Waste Solutions works with businesses across all major industries to benchmark and redesign waste systems for performance, sustainability, and cost control.

Our role is to simplify the process and give you clarity.

When we benchmark your system, we:

Analyse current services and pricing
Identify inconsistencies and overspending
Assess bin utilisation and site needs
Review recycling performance and contamination
Compare your costs to industry standards and real market data
Provide clear recommendations for right-sizing and system improvements
Consolidate reporting across all providers into one simple format

Because we don’t own trucks or landfills, our recommendations are independent and based solely on what is best for your business.

For organisations focused on ESG performance, we provide diversion reporting, emissions calculations, and monthly summaries designed to feed directly into sustainability frameworks and internal dashboards.

Conclusion: Benchmarking Creates Better Waste Systems

Benchmarking your waste costs isn’t just about finding out whether you’re paying too much — it’s about understanding whether your waste system supports your operational, financial, and environmental goals.

A system that hasn’t been reviewed in years is unlikely to be efficient.
A system that doesn’t match your waste streams is unlikely to be cost-effective.
A system without accurate reporting is unlikely to support ESG commitments.

Benchmarking gives you the visibility you need to improve performance across the entire business.

Nationwide Waste Solutions helps organisations across Australia take the guesswork out of waste, with benchmarking, system improvements, and reporting that drive measurable results.

Less waste. Lower costs. Better outcomes.