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Introduction

The goal of the Measuring Progress Initiative is to help Ecology and its partners make the transition to a long-term data-tracking system that measures progress toward the Beyond Waste vision. This will be done by developing effective and reasonable ways to measure how successful Washington is at reducing the use of toxic substances and the generation of both solid and hazardous wastes.

Ecology recognizes that industries and local government have few, if any, additional resources to invest in more data collection and reporting. While some data-collection efforts may need to be modified and improved, overall, Ecology needs to develop ways other than more reporting to improve its data-tracking system.

Performance indicators and data tracking have been selected as important areas of focus for the following reasons:

1. It is critical to be able to measure success and track progress toward the Beyond Waste vision.
2. There is a need for different evaluation tools. Currently, tracking systems are incomplete and focus mostly on managing waste. Ecology lacks tools for measuring overall reduction of waste and toxic substances.

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