customer wants to know how we separate and reduce waste, what do I fill in

Two sub-questions: total generated and separately collected

The question about waste policy in the VSME basic module usually breaks down into two figures: the total amount of waste the enterprise generates per year, and the portion of that which is separately collected. These are two separate fields, each with their own supporting document, not an open text question about "policy". If your customer sends a questionnaire with open space for comments, it is still advisable to use these two core figures as a basis — the comments are then an expansion, not a replacement.

For total waste generated, use your waste register or invoices from your waste processor, usually broken down in kilograms or tonnes per waste stream. For the separately collected portion, calculate the percentage that was collected separately (paper, plastic, organic waste, residual waste) relative to the total. If you do not have complete records, do not fill in based on an estimate you cannot substantiate — leave the field blank or indicate that the figure is not yet available. A question about waste "reduction" is usually a variant of the target-setting question: has the enterprise set a concrete reduction target, and you answer that in the same way as the target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — with a documented target or otherwise with "no, not yet set".

Where this appears in the VSME base module

This breakdown follows the environmental indicators of the EFRAG VSME basic module, in which waste generation and separate collection are included as two separate data points, separate from the emissions figures in the GHG Protocol. If you also want to immediately see how the total waste figure and the separately collected portion are defined exactly, you will find the precise definition per field there.