Amount of waste reduced over the lifetime of products sold by the organization during the reporting period.
Organizations should footnote all assumptions used. See usage guidance for further information.
This metric is intended to capture waste reductions that result from products the organization produces and sells. For example, an organization that develops, manufactures, and markets machines used to recycle beverage containers (i.e., reverse vending machines) may report the amount of consumers' waste reduced by recycling containers over the lifetime of the machines sold. Organizations should report the lifetime waste reductions of those products sold during the reporting period; much of the waste reduction may actually occur after the reporting period, throughout the remainder of the products' lifetime.
Such waste reduction might include efforts to reduce (i.e., using fewer inputs), reuse (e.g., repurposing rather than disposing or recycling excess inputs or unwanted outputs), or recycle (e.g., through established systems or through on-site processing) materials or energy through the products sold by the organization.
Organizations wishing to report waste reductions achieved through their operations should report Waste Reduced (OI7920). Organizations wishing to report on waste reductions achieved through the provision of services should report Waste Reductions from Services Sold (PI5678).
In some contexts, this metric may help measure the HOW MUCH Depth dimension of impact, which helps estimate the degree of change in outcome that the stakeholders experienced. For more on the alignment of IRIS metrics to the five dimensions of impact, see IRIS+ and the Five Dimensions of Impact (https://iris.thegiin.org/document/iris-and-the-five-dimensions/). No single metric is sufficient to understand an impact; rather, metrics are selected as a set across all dimensions of impact. When possible, the selection of metrics to measure and describe the five dimensions should be based on best practice and evidence.
June 2022 - IRIS v5.3 Released (current version)
Immaterial change. Minor revisions to definition and usage guidance for clarity.
January 2020 - IRIS v5.1 Released
No change.
May 2019 - IRIS v5.0 Released
No change.
March 2016 - IRIS v4.0 Released
New metric. Waste Reductions from Products Sold (PI5926) was developed via the IRIS Taxonomy Group.
IRIS Metrics Work Better in Sets
To use IRIS metrics—and the resulting data—to understand impact performance, IRIS metrics should be used and analyzed in generally accepted sets and according to well-defined objectives. IRIS+ gives you access to generally accepted Core Metrics Sets aligned to common Impact Themes and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).