Waste does not leave.It piles up.
Lean and sustainability meet in one place: every classic lean waste uses material, energy or fuel that did nothing for the customer, and the US EPA lists the cost of each. LeanSuite is software for finding those wastes, fixing them and keeping the fix. It is not carbon accounting, and this page says what it can and cannot do.
Last updated
Five places the waste hides
Each one is a cost you can see and a resource you cannot. The big numbers below are yours. They stay blank until you add your own figures in the estimator, and we never fill them in for you.
Scrap and rework
The part is already made.
A scrapped part has used its material and the energy to shape it. A reworked part uses that energy a second time. The bin gets emptied, so it never looks like much. EPA Table 1, defects (opens in a new tab).
Inventory and spoilage
Stock sits, then it spoils.
Parts made early take space, get moved twice and some go out of date. EPA's toolkit also counts the heating, cooling and lighting of the room they sit in. EPA Table 1, inventory (opens in a new tab).
Paper and printing
A form is printed, carried, filed, then shredded.
Every paper audit, checklist and log is made, moved and stored before it is thrown away. A form filled in on a phone or tablet skips that whole trip.
Repeat trips and travel
The same drive, again.
Audits, training and fixes can mean someone travelling to a site more than once. Fuel and hours go on the road. The GHG Protocol counts business travel as its own line in a company's value chain emissions. GHG Protocol, Scope 3, category 6 (opens in a new tab).
Idle time and energy
Stopped, but still drawing power.
When a line waits, the lights, heating and cooling often keep running. EPA lists wasted energy during production downtime as an environmental cost of waiting. EPA Table 1, waiting (opens in a new tab).
One unfixed problem, four stages
Nothing here is a measurement. It is how a small, ignored problem tends to grow, in the order it tends to grow.
Day one
One part comes out wrong
It is scrapped or reworked. The material and the energy are already spent, and nobody writes it down.
Week one
The cause is still there
The next shift makes the same part. The bin fills again. Someone prints a sheet to keep count.
Quarter
A workaround becomes the routine
People stop mentioning it. Extra stock goes in just in case, and more of it sits waiting.
Year
It is part of the cost base
Budgets assume it. New people learn the workaround as the normal way. Nobody can say when it started.
The fix costs least on day one. That is why finding it early matters.
Eight wastes, and what each one uses up
Lean names eight wastes. EPA tied the first seven to the material, energy and fuel they burn. Pick a row to read what EPA says.
| Waste | Raw materials | Energy (power, heating, cooling, lighting) | Transport fuel and emissions | Packaging | Waste sent to disposal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raw materials: listed | Energy (power, heating, cooling, lighting): listed | Transport fuel and emissions: not listed | Packaging: not listed | Waste sent to disposal: listed | |
| Raw materials: listed | Energy (power, heating, cooling, lighting): listed | Transport fuel and emissions: not listed | Packaging: listed | Waste sent to disposal: listed | |
| Raw materials: not listed | Energy (power, heating, cooling, lighting): listed | Transport fuel and emissions: listed | Packaging: listed | Waste sent to disposal: listed | |
| Raw materials: not listed | Energy (power, heating, cooling, lighting): listed | Transport fuel and emissions: listed | Packaging: listed | Waste sent to disposal: listed | |
| Raw materials: listed | Energy (power, heating, cooling, lighting): listed | Transport fuel and emissions: not listed | Packaging: not listed | Waste sent to disposal: listed | |
| Raw materials: listed | Energy (power, heating, cooling, lighting): listed | Transport fuel and emissions: not listed | Packaging: not listed | Waste sent to disposal: listed | |
| Raw materials: listed | Energy (power, heating, cooling, lighting): listed | Transport fuel and emissions: not listed | Packaging: not listed | Waste sent to disposal: listed | |
| Not in EPA's table. Our addition. | |||||
Overproduction
More raw material and energy go into things nobody ordered. The extra product can spoil or go out of date and then has to be disposed of, and any hazardous materials used add emissions and waste of their own.
Excess inventory
Work in progress needs more packaging, stock can deteriorate or be damaged and be replaced, and the space it sits in has to be heated, cooled and lit.
Transportation
More energy and emissions go into moving work around. More floor space for that movement means more lighting, heating and cooling, parts need extra packaging to survive the trip, and moves bring damage and spills.
EPA lists transportation and motion together, so both rows draw on the same line of its table.
Motion
EPA lists motion in the same row as transportation: the extra movement, and the floor space it takes, costs energy and brings the same damage and spills.
EPA lists transportation and motion together, so both rows draw on the same line of its table.
Defects and scrap
Raw material and energy are spent making a part that is then recycled or thrown away. Space for rework and repair adds heating, cooling and lighting.
Over-processing
More parts and raw material per unit, and unnecessary processing adds waste, energy use and emissions.
Waiting and idle time
Material can spoil and components can be damaged while they wait. Heating, cooling and lighting keep running through production downtime.
Unused talent
EPA's table does not list this one, so no resource is marked. EPA's toolkit does say to involve people at every level in spotting environmental waste, and suggests adding environmental waste as an eighth waste in lean training. This is how the other seven get found.
Source: US EPA, The Lean and Environment Toolkit, Table 1 (opens in a new tab, PDF), also on EPA's chapter 2 page (opens in a new tab). Our wording is a plain-language summary. The table shows which resources each waste uses, not how much.
One idea, followed all the way
Waste reduction only lasts if the person who sees the waste can get it fixed, and the fix is written down and watched. EPA's toolkit says the same in its own words: involve people at every level, put the measure next to your lean metrics, and make the waste visible.
- Step 1
A floor idea
An operator sees a machine left running through every break and logs the idea from a phone.
Idea Management - Step 2
A Kaizen
A small team tries a fix. The saving is recorded and checked, not guessed.
Kaizen and projects - Step 3
Standard work
The better way is written down, so the next shift does it too and the fix holds.
AI SOPs from video - Step 4
A number to watch
The measure goes on a KPI board, so a slip shows early instead of after a year.
KPI dashboards
From paper to a screen, and from a trip to a link
Three jobs a plant does every week, done the old way and done on a screen.
Before
Audits and checklists
Printed, filled in by hand, carried to an office, then filed or typed in.
On a screen
Audits and checklists
Filled in on a phone or tablet and saved once. Upload an existing paper form and the AI drafts the digital version.
Document builderBefore
SOPs and training
A binder that is reprinted when something changes, and a trainer who has to be in the room.
On a screen
SOPs and training
An SOP drafted from a video of the job, read on a screen at the station and signed off digitally per person.
AI SOPs from videoBefore
Repeat site visits
Someone travels to see an audit, a fix or a training session.
On a screen
Repeat site visits
Some reviews can be done from the record and the video instead. Some still need a person on site.
Audit managementGoing digital moves some load to phones, tablets and servers, which use power. LeanSuite is software, so its own footprint is small but not zero. We have not measured it, so we do not quote a number.
No numbers yet? Start from a base plant
An example plant built from stated assumptions. Pick a size, then change any box to match yours. Every answer is a range, and every factor links to its source.
Example plant
Round numbers we chose, not an average of real plants and not customers.
What these assumptions give, a year
Example plant, replace with yoursNet CO2e avoided, after the tablets
about -17 to 860 kg CO2e
A range, not a forecast. The low end can sit below zero, which means the tablets could cost more than the paper and trips save.
Paper not printed
about 4,000 to 16,000 sheets
about 22 to 710 kg CO2e. The low end counts raw material and manufacturing only. The high end is EPA's net factor, which also counts forest carbon storage.
Miles not travelled, trips a record or video covers
about 300 to 900 miles
about 90 to 270 kg CO2e at 0.299 kg CO2e a mile. Fuel burned only, so the true figure is higher.
Added by the tablets
about 110 to 130 kg CO2e
Life cycle figure for one tablet model, spread over four years of use. A stand-in, not a LeanSuite figure.
For scale, paper and trips before the tablets
about 280 to 2,500 miles in an average car
Or about 1.9 to 16 urban tree-years of CO2 uptake, as EPA models it. A comparison, not a saving.
Arithmetic on stated assumptions: not a measurement of your plant, not a carbon footprint, and not a LeanSuite result. LeanSuite does not measure any of it.
How we calculated this, and where each factor comes from
Forms filled in a year
forms each shift x shifts a day x operating days + forms each day x operating days + forms each week x 52 + forms each month x 12 + forms each yearCalendar arithmetic on the counts you enter. 250 operating days is 5 days x 50 weeks.
Sheets not printed
forms a year x printed pages per form x share moved to a screenThe low end uses the fewest pages and the lowest share. The high end uses the most pages and the highest share. One printed side is one page, and one page is one sheet.
Paper weight
sheets x 5 g / 1,000An 80 gsm A4 sheet is 4.99 g and a 20 lb US Letter sheet is 4.52 g, rounded to 5 g.
Paper CO2e
kg of paper x 0.99 x 1,000 / 907.18474 (low) to kg of paper x 7.95 x 1,000 / 907.18474 (high)EPA WARM v16, office paper not made. The low figure is raw material and manufacturing only. The high figure is EPA's net factor, which also counts forest carbon storage.
Trips and distance
trips a year x share a record or video covers x round-trip miles (x people flying)The low end uses the lowest share and the high end the highest. Kilometres are divided by 1.609344. People flying only applies to the flight factors, which are per passenger; a car counts once.
Travel CO2e
miles x (kg CO2 + g CH4 x 28 / 1,000 + g N2O x 265 / 1,000) per mileEPA GHG Emission Factors Hub 2025, Table 10 for the factors and Table 11 for the warming potentials. Combustion only.
Devices you add
tablets x 74 / 4 (low) to tablets x 86 / 4 (high) kg CO2e a yearApple's published life cycle footprint for one tablet model, spread over the four years of use Apple assumes. A stand-in, not a LeanSuite figure. Enter 0 if you would use tablets you already own.
Net
low: paper low + travel low - devices high. High: paper high + travel high - devices lowThe low end can be below zero. That means the devices could cost more than the paper and trips save, at the cautious end.
For scale
paper and travel CO2e in tonnes / 0.000393 = miles in an average passenger vehicle; / 0.06 = urban tree-yearsEPA's equivalency factors. They put the size in everyday terms. They are not a saving and not a count of trees.
Outside figures used
- Office paper, 0.99 to 7.95 MTCO2E per short ton: US EPA WARM v16, 2023.
- Travel, per mile: US EPA GHG Emission Factors Hub, 2025, Tables 10 and 11. Air factors are Defra's 2022 figures, which EPA holds constant.
- Tablet, 74 to 86 kg CO2e over four years: Apple iPad (A16) Product Environmental Report, 2025.
- For scale, 0.000393 t CO2e a mile and 0.06 t CO2 per urban tree a year: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator references.
Links, exhibit numbers and dates for every one are in the table on the methodology page. Water and wood are not shown, because we have no primary source we can quote for them.
What you could stop losing in a year
Type in your own numbers for any of the five wastes. You do not need to fill them all. Nothing is filled in for you, nothing is sent anywhere, and the answer is only as good as what you enter. Your numbers, your assumptions, not a promise.
Your estimate
What you could stop losing per year
Add your numbers
It appears here once one group is complete.
Your numbers, your assumptions, not a promise. This is arithmetic on what you typed, not a measurement of your plant.
How we calculated this
Scrap and rework
units made in a year x scrap rate x cost per scrapped unitThe scrap rate calculator's cost of scrap per year, with the period set to one year.
Stock written off
value of stock you write off in a yearYour own figure from the books. No formula applied.
Paper and printing
pages per month x 12 x cost per pageInclude paper, toner or ink, and the time spent printing and filing if you count it.
Repeat trips
trips per year x cost per tripCount fuel, tickets, lodging and the hours on the road.
Unplanned downtime
downtime hours per month x 12 x cost per downtime hourThe downtime cost calculator's cost per year, without restart scrap. Use that calculator to work out the cost per hour.
What you could stop losing
each yearly cost above x the reduction you choseThe reduction is your assumption. Move the slider to see how the answer changes.
Emissions lines
Paper: sheets not printed = pages per month x 12 x the share you remove. Paper weight = sheets x 5 g (an 80 gsm A4 sheet is 4.99 g, a 20 lb US Letter sheet 4.52 g). CO2e = kilograms of paper x 0.99 x 1,000 / 907.18474 for raw material and manufacturing only, or x 7.95 x 1,000 / 907.18474 for EPA's net figure, which includes 6.96 for forest carbon storage. Both are MTCO2E per short ton of office paper not made, from EPA WARM v16, exhibits 3-7 and 3-11 (opens in a new tab, PDF).
Power: kWh not drawn = downtime hours per month x 12 x the share you remove x kWh per idle hour. CO2e = kWh x 770.9 lb per MWh x 0.45359237 / 1,000 = kWh x 0.350 kg, the US national average in EPA eGRID2023, table 1 (opens in a new tab, PDF). Outside the US, or on a different grid, this will be off.
Left out: printing energy and ink, the digital side of going paperless, disposal, water, and anything you did not enter. Details on the methodology page.
Work out your inputs with the free tools
What software can and cannot do
Software does not clean up a plant. People do. It helps them see the waste, fix it and keep the fix.
It can
- Keep audits, checklists and forms on a screen instead of on paper.
- Draft an SOP from a video of the job, and keep the training sign-off with it.
- Log floor ideas and follow each one to a checked result.
- Show the numbers you choose, so a slip shows early.
- Keep records linked. You enter information once, and the related paperwork stays attached.
It cannot
- Cut waste by itself. Your people and your process do that.
- Measure your carbon footprint. LeanSuite does not turn its records into carbon, energy or water figures today.
- Replace energy meters or a carbon accounting system.
- Make every trip unnecessary. Some audits need someone in the room.
- Run without a footprint. Devices and servers use power. We have not measured ours, so we do not quote a number.
Where the facts on this page come from
We opened each of these and read the table or paragraph named. Nothing on this page comes from a LeanSuite customer. Last checked .
US EPA
The Lean and Environment Toolkit, Table 1 (PDF) (opens in a new tab)The resources each classic lean waste uses up. Source of the waste-to-impact map above.
Read 2026-10-19. Table 1, pages 21 and 22 of the PDF.
US EPA
Lean and Environment Toolkit, Chapter 2: Identifying Environmental Wastes (opens in a new tab)The definition of environmental waste, the suggestion to add it as an eighth waste in lean training, adding environmental metrics to lean metrics, and showing waste on visual boards.
Read 2026-10-19. Page shows it was last updated July 13, 2026.
GHG Protocol
Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard (opens in a new tab)Business travel is Scope 3, category 6: transportation of employees for business-related activities.
Read 2026-10-19. Table 5.3 and the glossary.
US EPA
WARM v16, Containers, Packaging and Non-Durable Goods (PDF) (opens in a new tab)Emission factors for office paper not made: 0.99 MTCO2E per short ton for raw material acquisition and manufacturing, and 7.95 net once forest carbon storage (6.96) is included.
Read 2026-10-19. Exhibits 3-7 and 3-11, row Office Paper, current mix of inputs.
US EPA
eGRID2023 Summary Tables (PDF) (opens in a new tab)US national grid average of 770.9 lb CO2e per MWh. Your grid may differ.
Read 2026-10-19. Table 1, row U.S., annual total output emission rate.
US EPA
GHG Emission Factors Hub 2025 (PDF), Tables 10 and 11 (opens in a new tab)Kilograms of CO2, and grams of CH4 and N2O, per vehicle-mile for a passenger car and per passenger-mile for flights, and the warming potentials used to add them up. Combustion only. Used in the base numbers block.
Read 2026-10-21. Table 10 and Table 11, last modified 15 January 2025.
Apple
iPad (A16) Product Environmental Report (PDF) (opens in a new tab)A life cycle footprint of 74 to 86 kg CO2e for one tablet, over the four years of use Apple assumes. Used as a stand-in for a shared floor tablet in the base numbers block.
Read 2026-10-21. Greenhouse gas emissions panel and the methodology notes.
US EPA
Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator: calculations and references (opens in a new tab)Metric tons of CO2e per mile in an average passenger vehicle, and CO2 taken up per urban tree per year. Used only to put sizes in everyday terms.
Read 2026-10-21. Page shows it was last updated August 4, 2026.
The full list of factors, unit conversions and what is not counted is on how LeanSuite estimates environmental impact.
Looking for funding rather than factors? See government grants and tax credits for manufacturers.
FAQs
Lean, waste and carbon questions, answered
No. LeanSuite is software for the lean work itself: audits, SOPs, ideas, Kaizens and KPIs. It records that work and the savings your team checks, but it does not turn those records into carbon, energy or water figures today. The estimator on this page is separate from the product and uses only the numbers you type in.
The US EPA defines it as an unnecessary use of resources, or a substance released to the air, water or land that could harm health or the environment. EPA's lean and environment toolkit notes that environmental wastes are embedded in the classic lean wastes, so removing those wastes also removes the energy, material and emissions tied to them.
By removing work that adds nothing for the customer. Fewer defects means fewer parts made twice. Less early production means less stock to store, heat and write off. Less waiting means less power spent while nothing is made. EPA's Table 1 lists the resource each waste uses up.
It can, because forms that are never printed are never made, moved, filed or shredded. It also moves some load to devices and servers, which use power. How much it is worth depends on your own page count, so the estimator asks for yours. See how LeanSuite estimates paper and electricity emissions on the methodology page.
Sometimes. A review done from a record or a video does not need a trip, and the GHG Protocol counts business travel as its own category of emissions. Some audits and some training still need someone in the room, and we do not claim otherwise.
Paper uses EPA's WARM office-paper factors and electricity uses the US national average from EPA's eGRID2023. Both are linked in the sources list on this page with the table each figure was read from. If your plant is outside the US or on a different grid, use your own factor.
An example plant built from stated assumptions, for when you do not yet know your own paper, trip or device counts. You pick a size, change any box, and get ranges for paper not printed, trips a record or video could cover, and the tablets you would add. Every outside factor links to its source and every formula is on the methodology page. They are arithmetic on assumptions, not a measurement and not a result any customer got.
Pick one area and one waste you can already see. Take the interactive tour at theleansuite.com/see-it-in-action to see the audit, Kaizen and KPI modules with sample data, or book a demo and we will walk through it with your own example. There is also a 90-day pilot at theleansuite.com/pilot.
FREE RESOURCES
Free templates and posters
Not ready for software yet? Start with these free resources.
- Environmental aspects and impacts registerAn ISO 14001-style register of aspects and impacts, with significance scoring, legal requirements, controls and owners.
- Energy loss matrix templateSeven types of energy loss by six energy sources with a cost in each cell, an action plan and an idle-period shutdown checklist.
- Environmental compliance audit checklistAn internal environmental audit: 37 questions with what to look for, a findings log with classes and a score by section.
- Compressed air leak survey logWalk sheet, printable leak tags and a tracker that puts an annual cost on every leak and follows it to a verified fix.
- Waste hierarchy posterThe five levels of the waste hierarchy, from prevention to disposal, with plant examples.
- Energy waste at work posterSix everyday sources of energy waste at work, and the habit that stops each one.
- Spill response posterSix steps for a small spill, drains first, with blanks for your spill kit and emergency number.
- Waste segregation poster (bin colours)Six waste streams with examples, and a box to write in your own bin colour, since colours vary by site.
- Compressed air and water leaks posterWhere air and water leaks hide, and five steps to find, tag, fix and re-check them.
- Green lean poster: the 8 wastes and the environmentThe environmental cost behind each of the 8 wastes, from extra energy to scrapped material.
Start where the waste is easiest to see.
Pick one area and one waste. Find it, fix it, write the fix down and watch the number. Then do the next one.