TL;DR
A diversion rate is the weight of material kept out of landfill divided by the total weight collected, expressed as a percentage. Measured by weight it is verifiable from scale tickets. Measured by volume it is an estimate that can be inflated almost at will.
The formula is simple. The interesting part is what the number does and does not tell you, because two honest companies can report very different rates purely because of what kinds of jobs they take.
The Formula
Diverted weight divided by total weight, times one hundred. Diverted means anything that went somewhere other than a landfill or an incinerator: recycled material, reused goods, scrap metal, composted organics, and donated items. Total means everything that came off the truck.
Every input to that formula comes from a scale ticket. The truck is weighed loaded and empty at each destination, the difference is the net weight of what was dropped, and the ticket records the material category. Add up the tickets for the period, split them into diverted and landfilled, and the arithmetic does the rest.
Why Weight Is the Honest Basis
Weight has one enormous advantage: it is measured by a third party. The scale at a transfer station, a landfill, or a scrap yard belongs to that facility, is certified for commercial trade, and produces a printed ticket. Neither you nor the hauler controls it.
Volume has no such anchor. Nobody measures cubic yards at the gate. A volume-based figure comes from someone eyeballing how full the truck bed was, which means the same load can honestly be described as a third full or half full depending on who is looking and what they want the answer to be.
How Heavy Materials Skew the Number
Here is the part that surprises people. Diversion rates are dominated by dense material. A single cast iron bathtub, a water heater, and a filing cabinet can outweigh an entire room of furniture, and all three go straight to a scrap yard.
That means a garage cleanout heavy in metal can post a high diversion rate almost automatically, while a genuinely careful job clearing a house full of upholstered furniture and particleboard can post a low one despite far more effort. The rate measures the composition of the load at least as much as it measures the diligence of the hauler, which is why what percentage of junk gets recycled varies so widely by job type.
What Volume Math Looks Like
Volume-based reporting flips the skew. Measured by cubic yards, a mattress, a sofa, and a stack of empty boxes look enormous while a pallet of scrap steel looks small. A company that diverts bulky-but-light material can report an impressive volume diversion rate while landfilling most of the weight.
Neither basis is wrong in the abstract, but they answer different questions and they are not comparable. If someone quotes a rate, ask which one it is. A figure that switches basis between claims, using weight when metal is involved and volume when cardboard is, is a sign the number is being managed rather than measured.
Per-Job Versus Fleet-Wide
Per-job diversion requires a dedicated load. If your items ride with three other customers, the scale ticket covers the combined load and your share can only be estimated. That is a real limitation of residential routing, not evasion.
Fleet-wide or annual diversion aggregates every ticket over a period and divides. It is the more meaningful figure for comparing companies, because it averages across job types. For commercial and construction work, per-job reporting is standard and often contractually required, as our guide to construction debris diversion describes.
What Counts as Diverted, and Where It Gets Fuzzy
Most categories are uncontroversial. Metal to a scrap yard, cardboard to a paper mill, electronics to a certified processor, wood to a chipper, and goods to a reuse organization all count.
The edges are debated. Waste-to-energy incineration is counted as diversion in some frameworks and not in others. Material sent to a sorting facility counts only if it actually found a buyer, and mixed loads have real residual rates that get quietly dropped from some calculations. Donated items count as diverted at handoff even though a share of them will later be landfilled by the charity. Ask how a company treats those three cases, because that is where two identical operations can report rates ten points apart. Seeing what can be recycled during a haul makes the categories concrete.
What a Good Rate Looks Like
There is no single right number, and any company quoting the same high figure for every job is not measuring. What you should look for is a stated basis, a stated period, a willingness to show sample tickets, and a candid explanation of which materials in your specific load will and will not divert.
For a metal-heavy load, most of the weight should leave as scrap. For a mixed household load, expect a much lower figure and be suspicious of a high one. Our practical breakdown of diversion rates in practice walks through typical outcomes by job type.
FAQ
What is a landfill diversion rate in one sentence?
It is the share of collected material, normally measured by weight, that goes anywhere other than a landfill or incinerator. Recycling, reuse, donation, scrap, and composting all count as diverted in most frameworks.
Why does the same company report different rates for different jobs?
Because the composition of the load drives the number. A job full of appliances and metal diverts most of its weight without much effort. A job full of upholstered furniture and broken particleboard diverts very little no matter how carefully it is sorted.
Is a volume-based diversion rate ever legitimate?
It can be useful internally for planning truck space, but it is a weak basis for a public claim because nothing verifies it. When comparing companies, insist on weight, since that number traces back to third-party scale tickets.
Does donated furniture count toward diversion?
Usually yes, at the point of handoff. The complication is that a share of donated goods is later disposed of by the receiving organization, and that downstream loss is rarely reflected in the hauler's rate. Ask how donations are counted.
How can I check a hauler's claimed rate?
Ask for the basis, the period, and a sample of scale tickets. Then confirm that the named destination facilities exist and accept that material. Those two steps separate a measured figure from an invented one in about ten minutes.
Getting It Hauled Away
Ask which basis, ask for tickets, and expect an honest answer about your specific load. Otesse junk removal can take it from there. Enter your ZIP in the price box to see which services are available at your address. Send a list of what you have and get a quote before scheduling.
