Changes to our reporting in 2026
Updated carbon impact calculations
What’s changed any why
When we adopted our original carbon estimates, organisations typically relied on bespoke calculations or academic studies that were not directly comparable. Since then, WRAP, working on behalf of DEFRA, has developed the CarbonWARM methodology, which is now widely recognised across the UK waste sector.
We have updated our approach to align with CarbonWARM2, which provides standardised carbon factors for wood recycling and energy‑from‑waste. This brings our reporting into line with current best practice and improves comparability with other organisations.
What this means for your reports
- Collections up to 31 December 2025 continue to use our previous calculation.
- Collections from 1 January 2026 onwards use the new CarbonWARM‑based calculation.
- Reports covering both periods apply the appropriate method to each and show a combined total.
Because the calculation method has changed, figures before and after 1 January 2026 should not be compared directly on a like‑for‑like basis. If you need to make a like-for-like comparison please contact us and we can provide figures using a consistent methodology.
Combined reuse
What’s changed any why
Previously, we reported ‘Reuse’ and ‘Firewood’ as separate categories on client social and environmental impact reports, based on our ‘High Grade Reuse’ and ‘Low Grade Reuse’ internal reporting categories respectively. Following discussion with our members it was determined that although firewood accounts for a significant portion of Low Grade Reuse, much of it is also used for woodwork practice and donated to the local community for things like allotments and crafts, so ‘firewood’ is not representative of the category. We have therefore decided to include it in the Reuse category on our Social and Environmental Impact Reports, which brings it into line with how we report reuse and recycling on our annual and member social and environmental impact reports.
What this means for your reports
- ‘Reuse’ now includes Low Grade as well as High Grade Reuse, and so is likely to be higher than the Reuse category as previously defined and may not be directly comparable.
- The ‘Firewood’ category no longer exists on any reports, and wood that was previously shown in this category is now included in ‘Reuse’.
- High Grade Reuse and Low Grade Reuse are still shown separately on our collection summaries and CSV data exports.
Changes to jobs and training measures
What’s changed and why
Time‑based measures work better for reporting at different levels, such as individual sites, monthly periods, or full years, and have been suggested as a possible improvement in client feedback. We have therefore updated how we report jobs and training outcomes.
How we report these measures now
- ‘Volunteers trained’ has been replaced with weeks of training.
- ‘Jobs created’ has been replaced with weeks of paid work.
‘Volunteers trained’ was based on a count of new volunteers, while ‘weeks of training’ is based on a count of days volunteered. Both ‘jobs created’ and ‘weeks of paid work’ are based on a count of employees per month and reflect the period of employment, not hours worked.
On client reports, these figures continue to be based on national average social outcomes per tonne collected. We now use a rolling 12‑month average rather than a fixed annual average, which makes the figures more responsive to change. All Social and Environmental Impact Reports now use these updated measures, including reports for previous periods, which will be produced using the new template from now on.