By Susan Jarvis
November 1, 2004

During the Municipal Waste Management Association's 2004 Fall Summit October 20-22nd in Lexington (KY), attendees were introduced to benchmarking, a management tool which allows cities and departments to "validate, diagnose and improve," according to William Schoen, senior manager with the consulting firm of Hilton, Farnkopf and Hobson in Walnut Creek (CA).

"Benchmarking is a process which involves identifying internal and external standards, documenting current operational baselines, and the tracking and comparison of performance versus your baseline," said Schoen. "Once industry standards and operational baselines have been identified, management teams can target areas for improvement and explore operational best practices." Common baselines for public works and solid waste departments include expense data, overtime costs, diversion and injury rates, and productivity, which can be measured in terms of costs per route.

"Both large and small operations benchmark," continued Schoen. "If your city isn't already benchmarking, its not too late to get started." Schoen advises department to focus on safety, customer service, productivity and cost. If cities have completed the validation benchmarking process, which assess the reasonableness of the operation and identify gaps and weakness, Schoen encourages departments to "dig deeper" and explore diagnostic benchmarking. Diagnostic benchmarking asks, where and how can we improve? "Diagnostic Benchmarking has a greater focus on maintenance," explained Schoen. "Cities involved in diagnostic benchmarking have begun to peel the onion in order to discover and implement more efficient operations."

San Diego's Environmental Services Department has taken the benchmarking message to heart. Elmer Heap, the Director of Environmental Services, shared two benchmarking success stories. San Diego's Mirmar landfill is the first municipally operated landfill to be ISO 14001 certified. The International Environmental Management System standard is the highest standard of certification.

Heap outlined both the environmental and economic benefits of their efficient landfill operations. "The one time cost of $220,000 has delivered an on-going annual cost savings of $2,162,000, including savings on heavy equipment, diesel costs, plant protocol and water savings," explained Heap. The streamlined operations have also lead to reduced emissions, water use reduction and storm water prevention.

The city's Collection Services Division collects more than 374,000 tons of refuse annually and covers more than 8,000 miles of streets. Management wanted to find ways to reduce air emissions and reduce mileage traveled. According to Heap, the department introduced a Geographical Information System, and has reduced mileage, fuel and CO2 since it was implemented. "Collection Services rated 97 percent on a customer satisfaction survey, administered earlier this year. We had high a standard to begin with and through some innovative thinking, long term planning and ongoing community education, we'll continue to meet and exceed both our internal and external benchmarks," concluded Heap.