Establishing a reliable waste baseline with WATS Surveys

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COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE CASE STUDY

This NYC property owner, with both commercial and residential portfolios, needed a way to set an accurate baseline for waste diversion. Commercial invoices were unreliable, and residential buildings lacked any data since services were provided by the City.

Using WATS Surveys, the company was able to gather trustworthy data across its portfolio, debunk inflated diversion numbers, and track progress over time, including monitoring participation in the City’s new organics mandate.

"Surveys showed us the truth. What we thought was 95% diversion from invoices was clearly wrong—and now we finally have the data to prove it."

— Operations Manager, Residential Portfolio

95%

Invoice-based Diversion rate

26%

Survey-based Diversion rate

BUSINESS TYPE

Commercial real estate owner

BUSINESS DETAILS

Residential and commercial portfolios in New York City

Challenge

The client wanted to set a baseline for portfolio-wide waste diversion but lacked trustworthy data:

  • Commercial: Invoices showed inflated diversion rates (up to 95%) that didn’t change each month or reflect reality. The team wanted comparative data points to hold vendors accountable.

  • Residential: NYC Department of Sanitation provides waste collection as a public service, so there are no invoices or reporting data to rely on.

In both cases, the client needed to gather their own data to establish a meaningful baseline and measure progress.

Solution

The client deployed WATS Surveys, a mobile-friendly feature designed to collect site-level waste data. Surveys capture weights, container counts, contamination observations, photos, and notes, creating a detailed picture of waste activity at each site.

  • Corporate stakeholders scheduled quarterly surveys across the portfolio.

  • Site staff received training through short mobile videos to complete surveys consistently.

  • Commercial: Surveys revealed that vendor invoices were overstating diversion and reported the same number each month. With this new baseline, the team now uses survey data as their source of truth and plans to require better vendor reporting in their next RFP.

  • Residential: Surveys established baseline diversion rates and tracked changes over time. They were especially valuable in measuring participation in NYC’s new organics mandate, highlighting where tenants were adopting the program and where support was still needed.

Results

  1. Commercial: Proved invoice-reported diversion rates were unreliable, and replaced them with accurate, survey-based metrics. Surveys now drive vendor accountability and contract strategy.

  2. Residential: Established a baseline diversion rate across all properties, tracked changes in tenant behavior, and measured organics program participation as the mandate rolled out.

  3. Portfolio-wide: Ongoing surveys provide consistent, trustworthy data, enabling more strategic resource allocation and future program planning.