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GRI Training Partner GRI 306 · Waste · Disclosure GRI 306-1

Waste generation and significant waste-related impacts

GRI 306-1 · mandatory · narrative disclosure

Disclosure 306-1 requires an organization to describe the inputs, activities and outputs that lead or could lead to its significant actual and potential waste-related impacts. The organization must also state whether these impacts relate to waste generated in its own activities or to waste generated upstream or downstream in its value chain.

Legal status

GRI 306: Waste 2020 remains the applicable GRI Topic Standard for waste reporting at the date of this review.

Disclosure focus

The disclosure focuses on the causes and sources of significant waste-related impacts. It is not a quantitative waste-generation disclosure: total waste quantities and breakdowns are reported separately under Disclosures 306-3, 306-4 and 306-5. Quantitative information may be included as supporting context where useful.

When identifying relevant inputs, activities and outputs, consider the quantities involved, hazardous characteristics, limitations on recovery or product life, known threats when materials are discarded, and activities that generate significant quantities of waste or hazardous waste.

GRI recommends presenting a process flow that shows how materials move from upstream inputs through the organization’s activities to downstream outputs, where waste is generated and where outputs eventually become waste.

If Waste has been determined to be a material topic, Disclosure 306-1 supplements rather than replaces Disclosure 3-3 Management of material topics.

This LRA educational guidance supports disclosure preparation. For the exact requirements, always refer to the official Global Reporting Initiative source.

Prepare

What to collect before drafting

Tick each field as the evidence lands. Owners are the teams that usually hold the source files.

  • Input

    Waste / Operations / Sustainability Reporting

    Prepare and reconcile these columns: Input; Activity; Output; Actual or potential impact; Why significant; Waste generated in.

    Evidence Approved source records, calculation files and review evidence supporting input.

    Watch for The published response for input is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

Before you start

  • Disclosure 306-1 requires an organization to describe the inputs, activities and outputs that lead or could lead to its significant actual and potential waste-related impacts. The organization must also state whether these impacts relate to waste generated in its own activities or to waste generated upstream or downstream in its value chain.
  • Apply Disclosure 306-1 when the related topic is material and the disclosure is applicable under the relevant GRI Standard.
  • Have the supporting records and the final response been reconciled?
+ Show GRI 306-1 sub-elements (LRA working checklist)

How to prepare it

Disclosure 306-1 requires an organization to describe the inputs, activities and outputs that lead or could lead to its significant actual and potential waste-related impacts. The organization must also state whether these impacts relate to waste generated in its own activities or to waste generated upstream or downstream in its value chain.
Collect and reconcile the records for: Input.
Apply Disclosure 306-1 when the related topic is material and the disclosure is applicable under the relevant GRI Standard.
Draft the response using the defined terms shown in the disclosure focus; do not substitute broader internal labels.
Review the final wording against every requirement and the supporting governance or data records before sign-off.

Request the data

Request the disclosure evidence

Translate the disclosure into an internal business question — then adapt it to your organisation's own language.

Provide the reporting-period records and reconciliations for Disclosure 306-1: Input. Include scope, definitions, methods, assumptions, limitations, owners and approvals.

Use the organisation's own role and document names, but preserve the defined GRI terms and the scope described above.

Better request

Provide the reporting-period records and reconciliations for Disclosure 306-1: Input. Include scope, definitions, methods, assumptions, limitations, owners and approvals.

Draft your disclosure

Notes that turn data into a disclosure

LRA training templates — adapt them to your organisation, and check the official source before sign-off.

Method note

If Waste has been determined to be a material topic, Disclosure 306-1 supplements rather than replaces Disclosure 3-3 Management of material topics.

Context note

Keep mandatory GRI Requirements, GRI recommendations and additional LRA preparation controls clearly distinguished. Apply a GRI 1 reason for omission where required information cannot be reported.

Download Centre

Preparation tools & forms

Download preparation tools for GRI 306-1 with free verified email access for 24 hours. Source-report links remain public.

Free · Email access

Check

For each claim, check the evidence

  • Input is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates input.

    Evidence to check Approved source records, calculation files and review evidence supporting input.

Evidence pack to prepare

Common reporting gaps

  • Using internal or approximate wording in place of the defined GRI terms.
  • Changing the required reporting population or denominator without explanation.
  • Treating GRI recommendations or LRA preparation controls as mandatory disclosure requirements.
  • Leaving a reported field unsupported by traceable source evidence and review records.

Real reports

How 3 companies report it

Examples of full and partial reporting practice. These are evidence-led reviews, not exact disclosure templates to copy.

Real published reports

SCG Packaging Public Company Limited

Exact

Containers and Packaging · Thailand · 2025 · p.81 ↗

SCG Packaging Public Company Limited’s Sustainability Report 2025 provides data on waste impact inputs, including details on significant Tier-1 suppliers and their proportion of total spend (p.99). The report also quantifies waste impact activities, notably reporting annual biological carbon sequestration from economic forest activities amounting to 308,949 tonnes of CO2e per year (p.101). However, the report does not present information on waste impact outputs, and while it references waste-related impacts and locations, the specifics on outputs remain unclear (p.104).

Globalvia

Partial

Ground Transportation — Highways and Railtracks · Spain · 2025 · p.56 ↗

Globalvia's Sustainability Report 2025 provides detailed coverage of waste-related impacts, including management of significant waste impacts on page 98, activities related to waste and biodiversity impacts on page 99, and waste generation and resource use on page 119. However, the report does not provide specific information on waste impact outputs. This indicates a focus on waste inputs, activities, and locations, while output data remains unaddressed in the report.

O-Bank Co., Ltd.

Exact

Banks / Diverse Financials / Insurance · Taiwan · 2024 · p.25 ↗

O-Bank Co., Ltd.'s 2024 Sustainability Report provides information on waste impact inputs and activities, highlighting significant waste-related impacts and management efforts on pages 12 and 25. The report mentions sustainable consumption and production modes and climate change mitigation and adaptation activities (p.12), as well as specific references to GRI 306-2 and 306-3 standards related to waste management (p.25). However, there is no clear information on waste impact outputs in the report.
FieldSCG Packaging Public Company LimitedGlobalviaO-Bank Co., Ltd.
Waste impact inputsNot foundNot foundNot found
Waste impact activitiesNot foundNot foundNot found
Waste impact outputsNot foundNot foundNot found
Waste impact locationNot foundNot foundNot found

Full evidence map with quotes and page numbers →

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Framework references

Relevant GRI requirements and related disclosures

GRI

GRI 306-1

within GRI 306: Waste

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