Standardization News

A new ASTM International standard will help manufacturers classify discarded materials from their factories and facilities. This will help meet an important need for companies that value corporate responsibility and the environment.

“This standard provides a system based on classification, location, disposition, and treatment,” says ASTM International member Amy Costello, a sustainability manager at Armstrong Flooring. “It will provide manufacturers a common way to classify waste materials generated at their facilities.”

Costello says that many manufacturers – especially global companies and companies with many facilities – find it difficult to determine how much waste they generate because of different requirements related to waste.

The new standard will help by providing a general classification for sustainability accounting purposes and key performance indicators related to discarded materials.

The new standard (soon to be published as E2979) was developed by ASTM International’s committee on sustainability (E60).