From Manual Data Collection to Automated Waste Tracking

Illustration of a document with financial data, a light bulb with a bar graph inside, and a magnifying glass.

LOGISTICS CASE STUDY

A logistics client needed accurate waste data for 2024 GRESB reporting across a 100+ site portfolio. With only 12% of sites providing reliable data, their sustainability team had to rely on estimates and an error-prone manual spreadsheet process to request site-level data from operations teams.

By partnering with WATS, the client eliminated spreadsheet consolidation, reduced reporting errors, and began transitioning to automated invoice ingestion, laying the foundation for data-driven cost and sustainability improvements.

"The shift from manual spreadsheets to automated tracking has saved our team countless hours and given us the confidence to report accurate waste metrics."

— Sustainability Manager

1,000+

Invoices processed via WATS

100+

Spreadsheets consolidated

BUSINESS TYPE

Marine terminal operator

BUSINESS DETAILS

Portfolio of 100+ sites requiring annual GRESB sustainability reporting

Challenge

With 100+ sites and spreadsheets, this client faced significant barriers to accurate GRESB reporting. Only 12% of sites had access to actual waste data; the rest required estimates based on service levels - calculated from their waste streams, collection containers, and the frequency of collection.

The process was manual and inefficient:

  • Site-level stakeholders filled out spreadsheet templates

  • Analysts manually consolidated 100+ spreadsheets into a single dataset

  • Multiple rounds of corrections were required due to missing units, incorrect vendor names, and unclear waste streams

  • The data aggregation process had to restart from scratch due to persistent data quality issues

This consumed significant analyst resources and created high risk of inaccuracies in final reporting.

Solution

The client partnered with WATS to streamline data collection and reporting. In the early phase, WATS supported external calculations using service level data (Waste By Schedule) to deliver reliable GRESB submission metrics. Corporate stakeholders also scheduled quarterly surveys across the portfolio.

The partnership quickly evolved to automation:

  • Over 1,000 invoices from the first half of the year were ingested and processed through the WATS platform

  • Invoice ingestion replaced manual spreadsheets, reducing errors and centralizing data

  • Gaps in service level data were automatically identified by WATS and can be filled over time with user-friendly tools

  • The client began building a scalable infrastructure for accurate waste management and reporting across its full portfolio

Results

  • Eliminated manual consolidation across 100+ sites

  • Reduced reporting errors through automated invoice ingestion

  • Enabled streamlined GRESB reporting with automated WATS calculations

  • Freed up analyst capacity for higher-value sustainability work

  • Established a foundation for future accuracy, enabling comparison of actual invoice data against previous estimates