Feature image: TRUE Platinum Taylor Farms Salinas in Salinas, California. Photo courtesy of Taylor Farms.
The TRUE Certification Maintenance and Recertification Guidance document is now updated and available for reference for any TRUE projects seeking recertification.
TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) is a leadership standard designed to recognize facilities that have defined and achieved their zero waste goals, making positive impacts on people, the environment and the economy, both locally and globally. However, leadership is not confined to the moment of certification; the life cycle of a project provides numerous opportunities to demonstrate commitment to zero waste goals, from the planning phase to maintenance and improvement of existing work. By formalizing these aspects of the life cycle, facilities can market the unique and valuable features of their work as well as obtain clearer guidance on next steps.
While annual certification maintenance has long been a part of the certification process, TRUE recertification was introduced in September 2020 as a more comprehensive way to recognize projects that engage in this continuous improvement process and demonstrate leadership after achieving TRUE certification by maintaining or improving their zero waste efforts.
The TRUE Certification Maintenance and Recertification Guidance is a tool built to support this process and has now been updated to provide additional clarification on how projects can pursue several recertification pathways, including
- Recertification to maintain certification status (required every three years for projects certified during or after September 2020).
- Recertification to upgrade the certification level or diversion percentage for a project.
- Recertification to upgrade the certification to the most current TRUE version.
- Recertification due to a facility move or a large facility expansion.
Looking for additional guidance? Be sure to review the TRUE rating system and TRUE addenda table for the most up-to-date credit requirements. You can also review the Diversion Data Additional Guidance for support in calculating diversion for your annual diversion data or recertification submission.