Higg FEM 2025: Get to know the Waste Management section webinar video (1hr 4m)

Hello, and welcome to today's Higg FEM session. My name is Leah Jaggars, and I am the senior education manager here at Worldly. Today, we're going to discuss the waste section and how to report your data. Before we get started, here are some logistics for the session. All attendees are muted for the duration of the webinar. There will be time for questions at the end of the presentation. So as you have them, please go ahead and submit them into the Q and A box so that they are captured. Any questions that I cannot get to during the session will be answered in a follow-up email as long as they are submitted in that box. This session is being recorded, and I'll share the recording with all registrants afterwards, subtitled in multiple languages. I will also be sharing helpful resources throughout the presentation. These resources, along with the presentation slides, will be shared with all registrants via email as well. We have simultaneous interpretation available in Chinese and Vietnamese today, so please select your preferred language through the interpretation icon. There are also machine generated closed captions in English and multiple languages available through the CC icon. I do also want to share that the slides are also shared now. So if you would like to, you know, have the slides on a separate screen or follow along as we go, that is available there in the resources section as well as the HowtoHigg website. So those are both at the should be at the bottom of your screen, I believe, and available to you now if you would like that to follow along. Here is the agenda for today. First, we'll do a really quick overview of the Higg FEM in general. Then we will review some key definitions in the waste section. Then we'll go over just some general best practices for collecting data and going over all of the questions in the waste section in general. And finally, we'll review additional resources available to you and have some time for questions and answers. So with that, let's review the Higg FEM and the waste section. Hopefully, everyone had a chance to review the resources I sent in advance so we can review this very briefly. It's important to understand who Cascale and Worldly are and our relationship to the Higg index. In short, Cascale develops the underpinning methodology and questions of the Higg FEM, and Worldly is the software platform that supports data collection and analysis for the assessment. The Higg FEM is an assessment or questionnaire that covers the following environmental impact areas, environmental management systems, energy use and greenhouse gas, water use, wastewater, air emissions, waste management, and chemical management. Cascale provides detailed guidance on each section and questions in the assessment where you can learn more. I already shared the link to the updated PDF how to higg guides in multiple languages where you can read more about each section, guidance for each question, and more. So go ahead and check that out. That is linked in the resources section. Within each section of the FEM, there are applicability questions and then three levels of questions. Applicability questions are questions that you answer before the main section so that the assessment can configure the questions only to those that are relevant to your facility. For example, if you do not produce hazardous waste, you won't be asked questions related to that. After you answer applicability questions, you move into level one questions. Level one contains questions around awareness and basic systems. Level two contains questions around baselines, targets, and improvements. Level three contains questions around leading aspirational practices. If you do not yet achieve level one, you are not required to answer level two and three, but you may optionally open those levels if you wish to answer additional questions voluntarily or as a requirement of a business partner. Alright. The waste management section is divided into three levels just like the other sections. Level one has fourteen questions, level two has thirteen questions, and level three has three questions. All of these questions may have additional sub questions associated with them. We will get more into what the levels contain further on in the session. So now that we have learned a little bit more about what the FEM contains and the general components of the assessment, here's a really quick overview of the FEM process. First, you will review the assessment questions and gather data from various sources. This is something you may have already started or can start now, especially if this is your first time completing the assessment. Also, during this time, you can identify any gaps in data or processes that you can mitigate and optionally arrange additional training. And I'm sharing a link to the Higg FEM trainer body list in the chat now if you would like to arrange additional training. Then step two is completing the self assessment in the Worldly platform. If you've previously completed an FEM, you can roll forward previous responses to questions that don't really change like your site information. If you use facility data manager, you can also import twelve months of quantitative data into your FEM to save time. Either way, you can review your data for accuracy and update anything that you import if you identify any errors. Once you have completed the assessment, you will post it in the platform. The next step would be if you are getting your assessment verified is to arrange verification with an approved verification body. I'm sharing the link to the approved verification body list as in the chat as well. Both of these links are also available on Cascale's website, so definitely check both of those out if you are in need to arrange verification. Then you can share your self assessment or your verified assessment with your business partners on the platform. Check with your business partners for requirements and deadlines. And finally, use Insights Hub to understand where your facility is doing well and where you can improve. Then during the year, you can use this information and analysis to plan changes and improvements and repeat the cycle. So now that we have reviewed what the Higg FEM includes, let's discuss some key definitions in the waste section that will help you understand the questions being asked in the assessment. Starting with waste types. The first waste type is hazardous waste. The definition is any waste that could cause harm to public health and or the environment because of its chemical, physical, or biological characteristics. For example, it's flammable, explosive, toxic, radioactive, or infectious. Hazardous wastes can be liquids, solids, or gases. Some examples of this include used chemicals, chemical containers or drums that have not been cleaned, waste oils, contaminated materials, for example, rags that got solvents on them, wastewater treatment sludge, fly ash, fluorescent light bulbs, electronic waste such as LED lights, printers, computers, phones, etcetera, and batteries. A few important notes about hazardous waste. What is considered hazardous waste can differ by country or region. At a minimum, facilities should follow local laws and regulations when classifying waste as hazardous or nonhazardous. If there are no clear legal requirements, facilities should use industry guidelines or internationally recognized definitions of hazardous waste. One example is the Basel convention, which I am sharing in the chat now. So feel free to check that out as a starting point. If industry guidelines are stricter than local requirements, it is recommended to follow the more stringent guidance. Next is nonhazardous waste. The definition is any waste that causes no harm to human or environmental health. Nonhazardous waste usually includes both nonhazardous production waste as well as domestic waste. So some examples of this would be textiles, leather, rubber, metal, for example, from broken sewing needles or metal etcetera, plastic, paper, cans, wood, food waste, glass, cartons, foams, pre-water treatment sludge that's nonhazardous. There's a general kind of catch all section and slag that's nonhazardous. The following waste materials should not be reported in the FEM as these types of waste are not generated from a business as usual situation. So this includes medical waste, major construction and demolition project waste, or waste from natural disasters such as flood, fire, tornado, or hurricane. So if you did have any, you know, construction projects, any natural disasters that caused, you know, an issue where you had to maybe tear down a wall and replace it, etcetera, the that type of waste as well as if you have, like, an on-site medical office that treats anything that might happen. That type of waste is not included in the FEM. Alright. Now let's review disposal methods. Within the Higg FEM, there are three broad categories of waste disposal methods. First is preferred, which includes reuse, recycling, up-cycling, and down-cycling. Then there is less preferred, which includes energy recovery, non valorized disposal, and responsibly managed landfills. And then, finally, least preferred, which includes incineration without energy recovery and landfill or dumping. Generally speaking, the goal is to progress upwards through these categories as much as possible for all waste streams. So I do want to note, please check out the slides. There is an appendices section that has a little bit more detail on all of these different waste types or waste disposal types. So if you do want to see more detail on each of these, then what we can get into during this session that is available in the slide deck as well as in the long form guidance on HowtoHigg. But I'll kind of cover the broader categories in general. So first is preferred disposal methods. They are the most environmentally beneficial options in the waste hierarchy. These methods keep materials in use and reduce the need for new raw materials. Common examples include reuse, recycling, and closed loop or circular systems. For many facilities, this might look like recycling textile waste, reusing packaging material, or sending waste to a recycler instead of a landfill. In the FEM, facilities are not expected to have all waste managed through preferred methods. Even one waste stream using preferred method can demonstrate progress. What's important is that the method is real, current, and supported by documentation from your waste vendor. Next are less preferred disposal methods. These are methods that are still used to manage waste but have a greater environmental impact than recycling or reuse. Examples often include responsibly managed landfills or incineration with energy recovery. These methods may be necessary where recycling is not available or feasible. In the FEM, these methods are not considered best practice, but they are sometimes the realistic starting point. Facilities using less preferred methods are encouraged to explore whether waste can be moved up a higher in the hierarchy over time. Understanding which waste streams fall into this category helps you identify opportunities for improvement. And then finally, there are least preferred disposal methods. These are at the bottom of the waste hierarchy. The most common example is a landfill without any control measures, but this category can also include uncontrolled dumping or disposal that does not recover value from the waste. Many facilities still rely on landfill and incineration for some waste streams, and the FEM recognizes that this may be unavoidable in certain regions. However, landfill is considered the highest impact option and, therefore, the lowest priority. When landfill is used, FEM encourages facilities to understand which waste streams go to landfill, set targets to reduce landfill use over time, and explore alternatives where possible. Moving waste away from least preferred methods is one of the clearest ways to show improvement in the waste section. And I didn't have a slide for this specifically now that I've been thinking about it, but another thing is just reducing the overall waste is kind of your very first step. So if you can identify, you know, a better way of cutting a new pattern or using up all of the bits of, you know, a material that you have so that it doesn't become waste as well as reducing mistakes, you know, things like that, that is really the best way to start is to reduce the overall waste, and then you don't have to worry about as much waste leaving the facility in some way. Alright. So let's go over all of the questions in the section starting with level one. So the first question is about awareness, not performance. This question simply asks, do you know what nonhazardous waste your facility generates? This includes both nonhazardous production and domestic waste. For example, textile offcuts, packaging, food waste from the canteen, and general paper waste from the offices. A very common issue we see is facilities selecting general waste when more specific categories apply, especially for textile, plastic, and carton waste. A good starting point is a waste walk. Walk the facility, observe what is being thrown away, and list everything before answering the question. If you generate textile waste, remember there is a follow-up question about segregation by material type. The next question is asking whether you track at least one nonhazardous waste stream. Tracking can be based on invoices, wait tickets, internal logs, or reasonable estimates, but it must result in a quantity. You do not need to track everything yet to answer yes here. If you are new to tracking, start with one major waste stream such as textile waste or general waste. What verifiers will look for is evidence that tracking actually happens, not just that it is claimed. Question three is a step up from question two. Here, the expectation is that every nonhazardous waste stream that you selected earlier now has quantity data. This is where many facilities lose points within this section, especially for textile plastic or carton waste, which are identified but not fully tracked. A strong practice is to compare your waste inventory directly to your tracking records and ask, do we have quantities for every stream we listed? So, again, the first question is, do you know what you produce? Second question is, are you tracking any of them? And then this question is, are you tracking all of them in the nonhazardous category? Alright. Now we're getting into hazardous waste. So this question mirrors question one, but for hazardous waste. Hazardous waste often comes from chemicals, maintenance activities, wastewater treatment, or production chemical containers. One of the most common issues here is missing or incorrect quantities for production chemical drum waste or misclassifying hazardous waste as nonhazardous. If you are unsure about whether something is hazardous or nonhazardous, review your safety data sheets and local regulatory classifications. It is better to correctly identify hazardous waste now than discover it during verification. The next question mirrors question two and asks whether you track at least one hazardous waste stream. In many regions, hazardous waste tracking is already required by law, so manifests or invoices are often available. Tracking must show quantities and relate to the reporting year. If you are not tracking yet, start with the most common hazardous waste stream at your facility and build from there. Alright. And then this is also mirroring that question three. So, here, the expectation is full tracking of all hazardous waste streams that you identified earlier. Common issue is having manifest for some hazardous wastes but not all, especially for smaller or irregular streams. Verifiers will compare your hazardous waste list to your tracking records. A good check is to ask, can we account for every hazardous waste stream from generation to disposal? And I really quickly want to do a quick knowledge check just to check-in on knowledge and keep you guys engaged a little bit. So you should see on screen a question. Which of the following are generally considered hazardous waste? Please select all that apply. So the first option is textile waste. The next option is chemical drums uncleaned. The next option is batteries. There's fluorescent light bulbs, plastics, or glass. And again, it is a select all that apply. I'll give you guys a moment. Thank you so much for participating. So for those of you who selected the chemical drums uncleaned batteries and fluorescent light bulbs, that is correct. Textile waste, generally speaking, you know, obviously, if you got a hazardous chemical or something on it, that would become contaminated and that might be a little bit different. But generally speaking, textile waste is nonhazardous. Again, plastics, generally speaking, are also nonhazardous. You know, if it has a solvent in it or something like that that, you know, is uncleaned and it's a plastic drum of some sort keeping chemicals, that might be a different story. But generally speaking, that would be considered nonhazardous and then same for glass. So, hopefully, that helps to clarify. All of those definitions as well are within the Higg FEM guidance. So definitely check that out if you're ever, you know, in doubt onto whether you count something in one category or the other. Alright. Thank you all so much for participating. So the next question focuses on on-site practices. Hazardous and nonhazardous waste should not be mixed, and segregation should happen at the point of generation, not later. This is often verified visually during an on-site visit. Even if you have procedures, inconsistent implementation, for example, during busy production periods, is a common issue. Clear labels and simple instructions go a long way here. The next question looks specifically at hazardous waste storage conditions. Verifiers will check, excuse me, whether hazardous waste areas are clearly marked, containers are appropriate, and waste is stored safely. Missing labels, unclear signage, or incompatible containers are common reason for lost points here. A strong practice is having one clearly designated hazardous waste storage area with standardized labeling and regular checks. The next question focuses on how non hazardous waste is stored on-site. Even though the waste is nonhazardous, it still needs to be stored in designated, clearly marked areas. Verifiers are checking that it is easy to understand what waste goes where and that nonhazardous waste is not mixed with hazardous waste. A common issue is nonhazardous waste being placed in temporary or mixed areas without labels. Clear signage and consistent container use make a big difference here. Think about this from a visitor's perspective. If someone unfamiliar with your site walked through, would they immediately understand how non hazardous waste is managed? The next question is, does your facility forbid irresponsible waste disposal actions. For example, open burning, dumping, or burying waste. So this policy is about policy and expectations, not daily operations. The facility must clearly forbid practices like open burning, open dumping, burying waste, or releasing waste into soil or water. This is usually demonstrated through an environmental policy, waste management policy, or similar documented procedure. A common mistake is having a very general policy that talks about protecting the environment but does not clearly prohibit these actions. Verifiers are looking for explicit language. It's also important that this policy applies to both employees and contractors working on-site. The next question is about basic awareness training for waste segregation. The expectation is that employees understand how to separate waste correctly, not that they are experts in waste regulations. This training often applies to production staff, cleaning staff, and anyone involved in daily waste handling. One of the most common issues here is that training is being done verbally or informally, but it is not documented. If there is no training record, attendance list, or material uploaded, the answer cannot be verified. Even a short talk and demonstration with a sign in sheet can be sufficient if it clearly covers waste segregation. The next question goes a step further and applies only to employees who handle hazardous waste. This usually includes maintenance staff, chemical handlers, wastewater operators, or custodial staff dealing with hazardous materials. The training should be role specific and cover safe handling, storage, and what to do in case of an incident. This is one of the most commonly missed questions because facilities often provide training but do not document who was trained, what topics were covered, how often the training occurs, and how employees are evaluated after training. A strong practice is having a simple training record that shows the audience, topics, frequency, evaluation, and date. All right. That was all of the questions in level one. So some key takeaways for that question or for that section is know all of your waste streams that you generate, both production and domestic, hazardous and nonhazardous. Track your waste honestly. There's those kind of two questions that relate to each other. The any and each options are different questions. So just remember, any is do you have at least one that you're tracking, and each means every single one that you currently produce. You also want to store and segregate waste clearly and consistently. Training must be documented, not just delivered. And most level one issues come from missing waste streams or missing records. So that was all of the level one questions. So let's now get into level two. If you achieve level one, you will automatically move to level two and three. Or if you did not achieve level one, you may optionally answer questions in level two or three if you would like for your own tracking or if requested by a business partner that you share your data with. Please note that if you voluntarily answer additional questions in level two and three without achieving level one, these questions will not contribute to your self assessed score. Now, let us review the questions in level two. Level two is worth fifty percent of the total section points. So the first question is, has your facility set a baseline for non hazardous waste? A baseline is simply a starting point that future performance is compared against. For this question, you need to select a year where your non hazardous waste data is complete and reliable. The baseline should cover all nonhazardous waste streams, not just one. A common issue is selecting a baseline year without clearly documented which data was used and which data was used. If you could explain how the baseline was calculated, you are usually on the right track. A good starting point also is if you completed an FEM last year, especially if it was verified, that's a great place to start for your waste baselines if that's your most recent or your most complete dataset. If you even have it further back, you know, you can use your FEM data from further back in time. The next question mirrors the previous one but focuses on hazardous waste. Because hazardous waste is often tracked through manifests, many facilities already have the data needed. The key is making sure all hazardous waste streams are included in the baseline. If some hazardous waste streams were added later, the baseline may need to be reviewed or updated. The next question is about understanding how waste is treated after it leaves your facility. It is important not to assume disposal methods. The FEM looks for evidence from waste vendors showing how each waste stream is treated. If you are unsure, this is a good opportunity to ask your waste service providers for clarification. Knowing your disposal methods is essential for improving them later. Next is, did you set a baseline for waste disposal methods for your facility's overall waste? Here, the baseline is not a quantity. It's a snapshot of how your waste is disposed of. You are documenting starting point for disposal methods, such as landfill, recycling, or incineration. This allows you to later show improvement by shifting waste to more preferred options. A clear baseline year and supporting documentation are key. The next question is, does your facility set formal targets to reduce your non hazardous waste generation? This question is about commitment. Targets should be specific and measurable, such as a percentage reduction or a reduction per unit of production. They should also be connected to your baseline data. A common mistake here is setting a general goal without defining how much reduction is expected or by when. The next question follows the same logic as the non hazardous waste targets, but focuses on hazardous waste. Targets often relate to process changes, chemical substitutions, or improved handling practices. Even small reductions in hazardous waste can significantly reduce risk. Targets must be supported by an evaluation of what reduction is realistically achievable. The next question is, does your facility set a target to improve waste disposal methods? This question is about moving up the waste hierarchy that we discussed earlier. Examples include shifting waste from landfill to recycling or from incineration to reuse. The target should clearly state what improvement is expected and when. It is important that the target relates back to your disposal method baseline. The next question is, which of the following are you doing to manage your waste? This question asks you to select the waste management practices that you are actually implementing. Only select options that are currently in place and documented. Over selecting practices without evidence is a common issue here. If a practice is planned but not yet implemented, it should not be selected here. And I can show you what this list looks like during the demonstration as well. The next question focuses on planning, not results yet. So this is, does your facility have an implementation plan to switch to a more preferred disposal method? The implementation plan should identify which waste stream will change, what the new disposal method will be, and who is responsible and when it will happen. Even a simple plan is acceptable if it is clear and documented. The next question is, has your facility reduced non hazardous waste generation compared to the baseline? So this question asks whether your actions have led to measurable reductions. You will need to compare your reporting year data to the baseline and show the calculation. If waste increased, it does not automatically mean failure, but the change must be explainable. Consistency in units and tracking methods is critical here. So a good example of an inconsistent unit would be having an overall waste amount and then comparing it against, like, a production per production unit amount. Those things aren't going to be the same, and so you would just want to make sure that you're comparing apples to apples or like to like, so to speak. This the next question mirrors the previous one, but for hazardous waste. Again, reduction should be clearly calculated and linked to specific actions. Temporary changes or one time events should be explained in comments. And, generally, the FEM looks for clear data continuity between years. The next question is, has your facility improved waste disposal methods compared to the baseline? So this question confirms whether your disposal improvements have actually happened. You should be able to show that waste has moved to a more preferred disposal option to be able to answer yes to this question. Updated vendor documentation is often used to verify this. Improvements must be compared directly to the disposal base line set earlier. And finally, does your facility validate the final disposal and treatment of all hazardous waste? This is a critical risk management question. Facilities must go beyond the first waste hauler and understand final treatment and disposal. This is usually demonstrated through vendor permits, licenses, and contracts. A common issue here is knowing who collects the waste by not knowing what happens after. Validation protects the facility from environmental and legal risk. All right. That was all of the questions in level two. So some key takeaways for this level is baselines are the foundation for improvement. Targets must be specific and linked back to your baseline data. Improvement claims must be calculated and explainable. Disposal methods should be understood and known, not just assumed. And level two is about using data to manage, not just report. Alright. The next so that was all of the level two questions. So let's move on to level three. Level three is worth twenty five percent of your total section points. So the first question in level three is, does your facility validate the final disposal and treatment of all non hazardous wastes? So this question builds on level two, but goes one step further. At level three, the expectation is that the facility does not just know who collects the waste, but also understands how it is finally treated and disposed of. So, again, just like with the hazardous waste question, this often requires asking waste vendors for additional documentation, such as downstream treatment information or certificates. A common challenge is assuming that nonhazardous waste does not need the same level of scrutiny as hazardous waste. Validation here helps ensure that non hazardous waste is managed responsibly and aligns with sustainability goals. The next question is, has your facility disposed of waste through preferred disposal methods? This question focuses on outcomes, not intentions. Preferred disposal methods typically include reuse and recycling and avoid landfill or incineration where possible. Facilities do not need to convert all waste streams to preferred methods to answer yes. Even one qualifying stream can count. What matters is that the preferred method is real, documented, and currently in use. Claims must be supported by vendor documentation or clear evidence. All right. And finally, do you or are you willing to work on circular economy systems? This is the most aspirational question in the waste section. It recognizes facilities that are exploring or participating in circular economy solutions, such as material take back programs, closed loop recycling, or partnerships with brands or recyclers. Facilities can answer yes even if they are still in the early stages as long as there is evidence of engagement or willingness. For example, pilots, feasibility studies, or partner discussions. The goal here is progress, collaboration, and innovation, not perfection. Alright. And that was all of the questions in level three. So some key takeaways from that level is know what happens to your waste after it leaves the facility. Preferred disposal methods show leadership even if it's just for one stream so far. Circularity starts with small practical pilots, and level three recognizes progress, not perfection. Collaboration with vendors and partners is key. Alright. With that, that is all of the questions in the waste section, at least the, like, main numbered questions. Again, as you answer questions, sometimes it does open up more, but I'll show you, you know, what that looks like in the demonstration in just a second. But let's just review some additional resources that are currently available to you. We offer resources in a variety of ways so that you can learn more about the Higg FEM and the Worldly platform in your preferred method. We have e-learning courses and curriculum, live learning opportunities with language interpretation, like today, and written resources. I'll go over a few specifics for each of these now. So first, I'd like to highlight some e-learning courses. All e-learning courses on the Worldly e-learning platform are free and available to all Worldly platform users. Simply access the learning center from the question mark in the upper right hand corner of the platform and log in with your Worldly platform credentials. If you have any trouble at all accessing the elearning platform, please reach out to the support team at Worldly, and we are happy to help. All elearning courses are also subtitled in multiple languages. You can check out the course list that we currently have in the link that I just shared in the chat. In addition to e-learning, we're also hosting plenty of live opportunities to learn more and ask questions. First, we have our series of FEM q and a's cohosted with Worldly and Cascale facility tools and verification teams starting in this month. We are also hosting a series of sessions on each section in the FEM like today. All future sessions are on the training schedule, which I am sharing in the chat now. The next section is on the water use session section. I've completed all of the other ones so far. So if you do want to see another one again, you can check out the link that I'm sharing now in the chat, and it'll also be in the follow-up email for all of the recordings. But if you do want to see or have another another live opportunity for a section deep dive into a particular section, do just let me know. That's helpful for me to know so I can plan some additional ones. Lastly, I'd like to highlight a few key written resources to check out to better prepare you for this cadence. First is the HowtoHigg website, which I shared earlier. This is where Cascale publishes the full long form PDF guidance translated into multiple languages along with Higg FEM methodology, scoring, and verification guidance. HowtoHigg is the best place for technical guidance on how to answer questions. I've shared some direct links already, but in the presentation file, you can find all of the links on screen as well. On the Worldly side, we have the support site. I've highlighted a few articles that should help get you started during this cadence, but there is much, much more. We have a written guide for importing FDM data into FEM and a quick start guide on Insights Hub and Facility Data Manager, which is a great place to start if you haven't had a chance to explore those tools yet. Our knowledge base is fully translated into our supported languages and contains resources on how to navigate the platform, FAQs, and additional guidance. In addition to those items that you can start now, you can also complete the Worldly platform experts program. The Worldly platform experts program is a blending blended learning curriculum that provides everything you need to understand facility environmental tools like the Higg FEM in the Worldly platform. You'll complete a series of e-learning courses, attend live sessions, and join a community of your peers to discuss problems and learn together. With this program, you'll gain additional support throughout the cadence, access to experts, and exclusive access to community features coming soon. After successful completion of the curriculum and program requirements, you'll earn a badge for your efforts. Learn more in the resource I'm sharing now, and I shared it in the chat. I do want to note, though, that this is not a requirement for FEM completion. So just to make that very clear, this is not something that you have to do in order to complete FEM. This is just an additional program if you would like some personal recognition and additional opportunity to gain support and engage with the community of your peers. And that link is in the chat. So with that, let me go ahead and pop out of my presentation, and I can pull my platform over. So for anybody who's brand new to the Worldly platform and maybe this is your first time seeing it, up in the upper right hand corner, this is where you can access your account information. If you have access to multiple accounts, this is where you can switch between them. Here, you can also access your account profile, update your subscription information if needed, add people to your team, etcetera. You can also translate the platform using the little world icon here into your preferred language. And then in the question mark icon, this is where you can get our help center, which is written documentation, the learning center, which is elearning. You can chat with our support team, or you can submit a support ticket if you're running into a problem. With that, once you have the FEM, you'll pop into the assessment. And I already started mine for this year, so I'm just going to open it. But if you hadn't, you'll probably see, like, a blue banner if you've done it years prior, or you'll see, like, an initiate button if you haven't yet. And let's just pop over to the waste section. So you can use these options on the left hand side to navigate between each section. So, you know, if you were making your way through the assessment and needed to come back to something, you can always pop back to that. At the top, you can also filter by answered or unanswered. I generally like to start with these unfiltered so that I can see if there's new questions being revealed as I'm answering questions. And then once I've kind of made my first pass, then I'll go back and mark unanswered just to make sure that I've answered everything else. And then finally, you can also navigate between different levels and different reporting periods. So if you want to see all of the questions that are specifically for the current time period versus reporting or level one, etcetera, you can do that. But with that, let me pop over to the q and a. So the the first question is, what disposal method do you suggest for non-woven scraps or cutouts containing polyamide? Usually, it isn't good to incinerate together with textile cotton polyester cutout or scraps. So that is a great question. There's probably a lot of different ways that you could go about that. One way that I've seen a facility use kind of different scraps like that that you maybe don't want to incinerate, for example, at, like, a swimsuit factory, was reusing them for, like, luggage tags, which I thought was a really innovative way to to think about that. Also, using them to bound up samples, you know, just using the little offcuts if they're long enough to, you know, tie up a sample if it needs to be sent out, something like that. So it doesn't have to be super complex or complicated, but that's a good way to just reuse something really easily. Another option would be within the guidance, there are a bunch of different helpful links to different types of recyclers. So I don't know, like, just from my own experience, whether polyamide is, like, recycled in that recyclable in that way, I'll say. But one of the things that I always recommend checking out let me get to one of the questions that has that link. I think it's in level two. I also sent that in the previous email where I sent some helpful links ahead of time. I'll find it, and it'll be really annoying that it took me forever to find it. But there's a bunch of different groups that can do different sourcing things. So they might be able to help you find, oh, this company is looking for this type of material to then recycle into a new type of fabric, or is it looking for this to do x y z? So those are some different ways. Let's see if there's in this section, I know that's probably not, like, as detailed as maybe you would want, but, hopefully, that kinda gets your there we go. Gets your brain thinking, and then I'll share these links. This is in the guidance. So there's a bunch of different kind of, like, online waste sourcing and material procurement platforms that you can check out. There's also a few others that I'm not seeing in this particular question, but I do know that they are in the guidance for some different, you know, websites and resources where you can connect with others that then you could help to source a new way to dispose of that particular material. Or maybe, you know, I don't know what type of factory you're at or what's feasible. Right? But maybe you figure out your own way to recycle it and turn it into a different material. Or if you also make something that has padding, you can use that to pad it. You know? There's the world is open to you for for new ideas. So, hopefully, that gives you something to start with, but do let me know if you have any follow-up questions. Alright. The next question is medical wastes from facilities owned medical center won't be reported in the waste section for FEM. Right? Correct. So medical waste generally is excluded. So you can find that in just the general introduction. So here's kind of that list of what's excluded. So medical waste is excluded because it's not considered part of business as usual. The next question is, suppose there is a waste which is not present in both the hazardous and nonhazardous waste list. Then how is the facility or verifier to know about the waste type? For example, hazardous or nonhazardous. So generally speaking, we've got our list here. So there are kind of other categories that you can select. So if it's not captured there, that's one way. That's what you can use to literally enter it. However, one of the best ways would be to refer to this list. You may also want to refer to there's a note about electronic waste. So if this might be a helpful place if, you know, this question is pertaining to that type of waste. So there's that. There's also, you know, the basic convention. And then if if in doubt, if you're not sure and you're like, I really don't know where this should go, If the material has a safety data sheet, you know, if it's like a a chemical of some sort and it has that type of information with it, that is a good place to look because it will have that information if it's hazardous. If it's a nonchemical thing that does not have a safety data sheet and you're not sure and it doesn't really fall into these sections, highly recommend just reaching out to Worldly support. We have the Cascale tools team help with some of those more complex questions. So feel free to do that. Or if you have, like, a a member manager at Cascale, or anything like that, then you can reach out to them to verify. But generally speaking, they're pretty broad. The other thing is that look at your legal require or legal and regulatory outline, like, for your local area. So, you know, in the United States, that's going to have a different list versus India, versus China, versus Turkey. So each jurisdiction will have kind of a different criteria for this. Start there, and then you can kind of build up. And then, hopefully, you know, if if you're still not seeing something on these options, another thing just for general reference is Cascale is constantly looking to improve those options and the assessment in general. So you can always come here and submit feedback to be like, hey. This is commonly coming up for me when I'm filling this out, or maybe you're a verifier. You know, I'm seeing it when I'm verifying. It would be helpful if this were added to the list. So that would also be helpful. And I'll just link to this again. And this goes for anyone. So if you do have feedback about, like, the you know, how questions are worded, how things are explained, or, you know, things that you think should be asked that aren't yet, that's a super helpful place to start. So it's just in this bottom right hand corner, and Cascale reviews that with the coalition of partners. Alright. Let's see. Okay. So this question, I don't know that I'll be able to answer due to my lack of expertise, but I will read it out, and I will get an answer for you. So I will follow-up with Cascale. So the question, for everybody's reference, is if the facility is currently renovating the hazardous and toxic waste, aka b three waste, temporary storage to meet regulatory requirements, and the temporary storage area does not yet fully comply with the criteria, how should the explanation be provided to ensure that the b three waste storage is considered compliant with the condition that it will meet the required standards? So I'm going to double check on that. One thing I do know is that when you are filling out some of these, we find that storage question. Segregate. So if we're talking about, like, this question, for example, there's a series of questions about hazardous waste. So and how you're storing it. So if you say, you know, do you have well marked designated areas? That's kind of and proper containers is the first question. And then if you answer yes to that, then this will open up additional questions. So it depends on if you can answer this with a yes first. If you can't right now, I do want to note this is a current requirement. So at the time that you're, like, answering the question, these little date reference points are referring to the time frame that is outlined in the field guide here for verifiers. So there is a time ordinance section. I always go here. So for each of the questions, you'll see if it says reporting, reporting in current, or current. That's going to be below each question, and that tells you, you know, when a verifier is coming to double check things, what time period are they going to be looking at. So in this case, that specific question is a current question. You can always view the guidance below that. And then, you know, if you can answer yes to that first question, then you'll answer the rest accordingly. And in some cases, maybe you can answer yes to the first question, but you can't answer you know, maybe this you don't have, like, a lock on the area or something. Right? Like, it's not segregated in that way, so you would answer no to that subquestion. So just as an example. So, hopefully, that helps. I'll try to get a better answer for you as far as, like, when you're kind of in process for that question and maybe a better recommendation for you. But, hopefully, that kind of gets you started. Also, you can also upload, like, images here. So, for example, if you're like you can show, like, an in progress update or something like that maybe. But, yeah, I'll get back to you on that, and I'll put that in the Q and A report. So the next question is if the facility generates waste activated carbon, which category should it be classified under for hazardous waste, other, or contaminated materials? So let's go back. So if it's waste activated carbon so I'm assuming that's from, like, wastewater treatment or maybe even, like, waste treatment or so on and so forth, maybe air emissions. Let me know if I'm wrong in that assumption, though. So let's just go into here. Just wanted to pull up my options. So it sounds like you generally know that that would be hazardous waste in general, whichever way that you classify it. So I would probably say it's contaminated materials. That's just me. But it this this option isn't as stringent in that. Basically, when you make these selections, then you get a line item that you can fill out the amount within the actual assessment. So that's all that you need to do is just be consistent in whatever you're labeling that. So if you do do contaminated materials, just know that, you know, you can describe it. And so if you chose contaminated materials here I don't want to spend the time to update that, but just pretend this says contaminated materials. You can put in waste activated carbon, like, in this little description so that you know what you're referring to. Then the verifier can also know what you're referring to. And then when they look at your records, that will make sense. Or if you used other, same thing goes, you can always put in the description to add more information and be a little bit more informative about what that actually means, especially in some of those catch all options. So, hopefully, that helps. Alright. And we got one that was submitted in Chinese. Let me go ahead. Oh, right. So the question is regarding the post training assessment, would oral questioning and practical demonstrations be acceptable, or is a written assessment absolutely necessary? Realistically, it's all about documentation. So if you do an oral question and practical demonstrations, can you film it with your phone? Can you upload the video? You know, things like that. Take some pictures. That's why written is usually the easiest way to document. So it's not that you must do written evaluation. It's that that typically is going to be the easiest way for you to actually document something. But, again, you can take a video of a training. You can take a video of someone demonstrating something successfully, you know, as a part of being assessed for that knowledge. So, hopefully, that helps make sense of that. There's also some more information, like, in the sections for the training on, like, which because there's two different training questions, but you can see, like, suggested uploads. You know, that can also be, like, your training plans, your procedures, those sorts of things. Maybe you have, like, material, like, a presentation that you do, etcetera. So check out this section, but, yeah, written isn't required, but it is probably easier to capture and then subsequently upload. But it's not a restriction on you. Alright. The next question is, does the purchased liquid hand soap or any cleaning materials like detergents in sachets that we can easily buy over the counter in very small quantity, is this still considered to be recorded and monitored as a part of hazardous chemicals? I so it depends on the type of things. So there's different sections about chemicals and, you know, what kind of detergents fall into that. So just make sure you're capturing that type of information there. Generally, over the counter stuff, you know, hand soaps, things like that probably aren't going to be considered hazardous chemicals necessarily, but do check the safety data sheet. You could review that. For example, bleach, hazardous chemical. Right? That you wouldn't want to get that in your eyes, breathe it in, that sort of thing. But you can buy that from a store generally. So those sorts of things, you know, double check what information the product has on it, and then use that as guidance. Also, check your local regional jurisdiction and what they consider hazardous, hazardous. But if you're talking like a regular hand soap that got used and now it's an empty plastic bottle, generally, that would probably fall under non hazardous. But, again, I don't know what kind of hand soap you use. Maybe it's super crazy. But, hopefully, that helps to kind of weigh those options and make sense of that. Alright. We are at time. There's a couple of extra questions. Let me just try to see if I can get through these. So if the next question is is if hazardous waste quantity is increased compared to baseline but still managed in a preferred and approved method, does it show positive improvement or not an improvement? And for recycled waste, if that increases above the baseline, is that can still still count as positive improvement. So I believe this question is regarding those level two or three questions. So if we go down to the bottom. So there's this question about preferred disposal methods. So, again, this kind of refers back to your original baseline. You don't have to do every single one in the preferred method. So that's kind of why I specified that improvement doesn't necessarily mean, like, a absolute reduction because if you did take from you know, let's just call it the bad pile. Like, you're not using great disposal methods. Maybe it was being burned. Right? And then you move that into a responsibly managed landfill that also has energy capture. Right? You moved that up that waste hierarchy. Even if you didn't reduce the total waste, that's still a better disposal method. So it kind of depends on which question you're answering. But generally speaking, it doesn't have to necessarily be, you know, an absolute reduction. And there is more information here. So there's the quantity, the amount, and then they can be absolute or normalized. So that's where absolutes kind of can can be difficult because if you increase production overall, your waste is probably going to go up accordingly. So I would recommend reviewing this as well as there's a just a few different questions that's like, did you improve the disposal method? Did you reduce the amount? So I just don't want to mix those up. So I highly recommend just reviewing this in full for those specific sections. And then if you have additional questions, please do reach out. But, hopefully, that kind of helped answer that question. And the way that it's, you know, phrased is, have you reduced the waste generation in the reporting year? So there's a couple different things like generation. There's also implementation plan in question. So it just kind of depends on which which one it's regarding. Oh, I'm not sure where this is regarding. It says description of waste stream. Would you please update what to mention in the above question? So I believe that's in that table. So this here, for example, if you're using one that's, like, pretty straightforward, you could say batteries here or you could say, like, you know, batteries for small electronics, something like that. But if you're using an option that's a little bit more general, like other or, you know, textile waste. That's like a a really broad category. So last year, I put cotton, for example. So you can just put in more descriptive information so it's helpful for you as well as anybody else reviewing the data to know exactly what's that referring to. Alright. And then finally, the final question is hazardous and toxic waste training required to be conducted for all employees or only for specific personnel who are directly involved in hazardous and toxic waste handling? Additionally, is the treatment for nonhazardous and toxic waste, the same as hazardous and toxic waste? So that's a great question. So, within the questions, there are those two different training questions like I mentioned. So one is generally about, waste segregation. And if I can get to it there we go. So this waste segregation question is about, awareness training. So that's to all employees. But when you're talking about the hazardous waste training, that is specifically to those who handle hazardous waste. And there is a partial yes option. So it's answer yes if you follow or you cover all of these topics. And then partially yes if you do it, but you don't handle or you don't cover all of those topics. And then you get all of the subsequent questions. So just remember, there's two different training ones. The hazardous one is specific to those who may be handling the hazardous waste. And then the second question where is the treatment for nonhazardous and toxic waste the same as hazardous and toxic? They have kind of general catchalls for disposal methods. So generally speaking, when you're selecting that, these are all the different methods that you can select. Some of them do have kind of notes about this is not available for, you know, material recovery is preferred, blah blah blah. So recommend reading over this. I can't remember if there's anyone that's kind of excluded from that, but recommend digging into these. This has a lot more detail than we could get into during this session. Hopefully, that helps. But please, you know, as always, feel free to let me know if you have other questions. Excellent. So that was all of the questions. Thank you all so so much for your time and attention today. Thank you so much to my wonderful interpreters for their hard work today. I hope this was helpful. I'll be sending you the reporting as well as the q and a report and, slide deck and all of that helpful resources that I mentioned earlier. Alright. And thank you all so so much, and you'll see an email from me in a little bit. Alright. Thank you. Have a good one.