Stop Guessing: Waste Management Lessons from 4imprint
By: Jessy Servi Ortiz
Many organizations want to reduce waste, improve recycling, and keep more material out of landfills. But before setting new policies, launching another employee campaign, or investing in technology, they need to answer a more fundamental question: Do we know how much waste we are actually generating?
That question shaped a recent Sustainable Business Council roundtable and facility tour hosted by 4imprint. Christopher La Bonte, Business Sustainability Manager at 4imprint, and Cassandra Cornelius of Logistics Recycling, Inc. shared how the company is using better data, operational improvements, and strong partnerships to replace assumptions with a clearer, more actionable approach to landfill avoidance.
WASTE IS PART OF A LARGER SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY
Waste management is one part of 4imprint's broader sustainability strategy. Although the company had established processes and reporting in place, much of its landfill data still relied on estimates rather than direct measurement. That gap created an opportunity to test the assumptions behind the numbers and build a more accurate picture of its waste streams.
As Christopher La Bonte explained, dumpster volumes were calculated using an assumption that containers were 75% full at each pickup. That assumption became the starting point for a closer look at what the data was actually telling them.
THE FIRST LESSON: A SIMPLE AUDIT CAN REVEAL A LOT
To test that assumption, 4imprint conducted a simple waste audit. Employees photographed dumpsters before pickup across three Wisconsin facilities and evaluated actual fill levels.
The results showed many containers were significantly less full than expected, revealing both reporting inaccuracies and opportunities to optimize collection services.
The lesson: you don't need sophisticated technology to improve waste data. A phone camera and spreadsheet can uncover meaningful opportunities.
TURNING BETTER INFORMATION INTO OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS
The audit led 4imprint to redesign waste collection at its screen-printing facility, replacing multiple comingle containers with a cardboard compactor that provided actual scale weights and enabled recycling rebates.
The change reduced unnecessary pickups, improved measurement accuracy, and increased material recovery. More importantly, it demonstrated how better information can drive both environmental and operational improvements.
WALKING THE FLOOR BEFORE CREATING NEW RULES
The next step was a department-by-department assessment of the distribution center. The team examined what materials entered and left each area, which items were discarded most often, whether employees could easily access recycling bins, how volumes changed seasonally, and what barriers prevented additional recovery.
The assessment revealed an encouraging finding: employees were already following strong waste-management practices, with relatively few behavioral issues left to address. As a result, another employee campaign or additional recycling rules would not have closed the remaining gap. The larger opportunities were in measurement, service design, and material pathways.
This is an important lesson for other organizations. It is easy to assume that poor waste performance is primarily an employee behavior problem. In this case, walking the floor helped show that the larger opportunity involved measurement, service design, and material pathways.
REPLACING ASSUMPTIONS WITH BETTER DATA
To further improve accuracy, 4imprint installed fill-level sensors on dumpsters across its facilities.
The results were eye-opening: the previous methodology had overstated dumpster waste by approximately 39%. Once 4imprint incorporated actual measurements, its reported landfill tonnage decreased and its landfill avoidance rate improved—not because operations had suddenly changed, but because the data had become more accurate.
A change in a sustainability metric does not always mean performance changed. Sometimes the measurement changed.
UNDERSTANDING WHAT “DIVERTED” REALLY MEANS
As organizations pursue zero-waste or landfill-avoidance goals, definitions matter.
Several major zero-waste frameworks use a 90% diversion threshold, but they do not treat every destination the same way. Recycling, reuse, composting, fuel pellets, and waste-to-energy may be counted differently depending on the framework.
A diversion percentage tells only part of the story. Recycling, reuse, composting, fuel pellet production, waste-to-energy, and landfill disposal may be treated differently depending on the reporting framework. Organizations therefore need to understand where materials go after leaving the facility, how each destination is classified, and whether results are based on actual weights or estimates. The goal is not to avoid particular solutions, but to describe and communicate them accurately.
FIVE LESSONS OTHER ORGANIZATIONS CAN APPLY
Together, these changes offer five practical lessons for organizations that want to improve waste measurement, reduce unnecessary costs, and identify realistic opportunities for landfill avoidance.
1. Measure before you mandate
Begin by testing the assumptions already built into your data. A basic photo audit can reveal service and reporting issues before the organization invests in technology or creates new requirements.
2. Right-size service first
Look at container sizes, pickup schedules, fill levels, material composition, and cost. If containers are routinely collected half empty, the organization may be paying to haul air.
3. Separate measurement changes from performance changes
Better data can move a sustainability metric up or down. Neither result necessarily means that operations improved or declined. Clearly document methodology changes so leaders and stakeholders understand what changed.
4. Follow materials to their final destination
Ask vendors for stream-level reporting, actual weights, and end-route information. Recycling, pelletization, waste-to-energy, beneficial reuse, and landfill disposal are not interchangeable.
5. Make vendors part of the sustainability strategy
Waste haulers, technology providers, and material processors hold essential information. 4imprint’s work with GFL Environmental, Enevo, and Logistics Recycling, Inc. helped make its waste data more useful and defensible.
The 4imprint experience reinforces a practical principle: start with observation and reliable data before adding new rules, services, or technology. Walk the floor, test assumptions, right-size collection services, follow materials to their final destination, involve multiple departments, and treat vendors as strategic partners. These actions help organizations focus their time and resources on the changes most likely to improve both environmental and operational performance.
PROGRESS STARTS WITH BETTER DATA
The central lesson from 4imprint's waste management journey is simple: meaningful progress starts with understanding the numbers behind the goal. By challenging assumptions, improving measurement, engaging employees, and partnering with vendors, the company gained a clearer picture of its waste streams and identified practical opportunities to improve performance. Before investing in a new program or technology, begin with a walk through the facility, a conversation with a partner, and one essential question: "How do we know?"
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION AT THE SBC CONFERENCE
Join the 2026 Sustainable Business Council Conference on November 17–18 in Madison to learn how organizations are turning waste into value. Business leaders and sustainability practitioners will share practical strategies for reducing waste, improving resource efficiency, creating revenue opportunities, and strengthening operational performance. Register to connect with the peers, partners, and experts helping Wisconsin businesses turn sustainability challenges into business opportunities.
