LBGA Online School · Track 2: Professional Operations Module 2.1 · Certification
Module 2.1 · The Circular Economy Dashboard

Read your city like a balance sheet

Every municipality runs a waste budget whether it publishes one or not. The certified operator's first skill is to pull that budget, read the three numbers that actually matter, and audit the landfill those numbers pay for.

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Briefing 1 · The three numbers
the dashboard

Whatever the city calls its report, three figures define the whole system. Diversion rate — the share of waste kept out of landfill by recycling, composting, and reuse. Tipping fee — the dollars-per-ton charged to dump. Cost per household — total program spend divided by served homes.

Where to find them: the annual Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) report or Integrated Waste Management Plan — usually public, often buried on the city's public-works page.
Briefing 2 · The landfill audit walk
on-site

Request a site visit and walk the operation. Note the active cell (where today's waste lands), the leachate collection system that catches toxic runoff, the gas capture or flare handling methane, the daily cover sealing each layer, and the scale-house records that log every inbound ton.

What good looks like: gas is captured (not just flared), leachate is tested, and the scale house can hand you tonnage-by-stream on request.
Briefing 3 · Benchmarking
context

A number means nothing alone. Compare your city's diversion rate to the ~32% US national average, with strong programs clearing 50%+. Then find the single biggest stream by weight — in most cities it is organics plus OCC (old corrugated cardboard). That is where the largest, cheapest gains hide.

Operator's read: the biggest stream, not the loudest material, is where a diversion program earns its money back first.
Knowledge check · Circular Economy Dashboard
LBGA · Academy
Reading the Circular Economy Dashboard
Professional Operations Certification · 2.1
Question 1 of 2
A city reports a "diversion rate" of 45%. What does that number describe?
Field brief
Pull your city's numbers
Find your municipality's latest MSW report and record the three numbers — diversion rate, tipping fee, cost per household. Then compare all three against a neighboring town. The gaps you find are your first operator's memo.
① Find the MSW report② Record the 3 numbers③ Benchmark a neighbor