Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Green Building Council has launched an updated version of its TRUE certification program, a “zero waste” standard for facilities, construction projects and events.
- The program’s updated rating system, Total Resource Use and Efficiency v2, aims to streamline requirements and emphasize the business benefits of achieving zero waste goals, USGBC said in a news release.
- The new version of the TRUE program rebalances the points system used for certification, which USGBC said better supports projects that are “starting their zero waste journey while also rewarding high performers.”
Dive Insight:
USGBC has offered the TRUE certification for about 10 years, and organizers say an update was needed to better align with how businesses are penciling out their zero waste program plans amid rising disposal costs and tightening landfill capacity. At the same time, waste volumes are rising, the organization said. USGBC also offers the LEED certification for green buildings.
The USGBC’s TRUE certification measures the waste reduction and diversion efficiency of individual facilities. It can also be used to certify events like festivals, conferences and sports games.
The organization said the standard has so far helped companies certify over 680 projects, diverting 8.9 million tons of waste from disposal.
Companies interested in achieving the standard must meet a series of requirements related to waste diversion, data collection, staff training and community impact. Each project earns a series of credit points — up to 100 total— based on how effectively they achieve certain aspects of their zero waste project. The previous version offered up to 81 points, and the categories were slightly different.
TRUE v2 is meant to offer businesses a more straightforward pathway for how to improve zero waste performance and show progress on ongoing efforts, said Peter Templeton, president and CEO of USGBC and Green Business Certification, in a statement. It also awards more points for what the organization considers “higher-impact and harder-to-achieve actions.”
“This results-driven approach supports sustainability goals, improves the bottom line, and strengthens long-term business resilience,” he said.
The updated standard still has most of the same requirements of the previous version. Projects must meet a 90% diversion rate. Projects must also still follow approved diversion strategies for materials, such as reduction, reuse, composting, recycling or anaerobic digestion. The standard does not consider incineration or waste-to-energy as a valid diversion strategy under the standard.
Projects can also start on the TRUE pathway with an optional pre-certification process. For this process, applicants show they’re already implementing zero waste tactics such as creating a diversion plan, measuring and tracking diversion strategies and conducting zero waste audits.
TRUE also has a new digital platform called Arc, which helps collect, measure, benchmark and verify sustainability performance, it said.
Ann Tracy, chief sustainability officer for Colgate-Palmolive, said TRUE v2 will make it easier for the company to onboard new sites to its zero waste certification processes and document progress on its projects.
Colgate-Palmolive says its 53 TRUE-certified projects across 27 countries is more than any other company.
Its 2025 sustainability strategy included a goal to reach 100% TRUE certification for zero waste across its global operations. That included manufacturing sites, technology centers, offices and warehouses. The sustainability report says 75% of Colgate-Palmolive’s sites reached that certification.
In 2025, nearly 90% of Colgate-Palmolive’s in-house manufacturing volume was produced in TRUE Zero Waste-certified facilities. The company is in the process of updating its 2030 goals.
