ESG REPORTING
Your IEMA-certified carbon certificate already contains the numbers your sustainability report needs. The question most sustainability managers face is not how to get the data — it is where exactly to put it, and whether it is in a format their auditor will accept. This article answers both questions. It is written for sustainability and ESG managers at South African companies with commercial kitchen operations: hotel groups, corporate campus operators, hospital groups, school networks and any organisation that generates food waste as part of its operations.
What this article covers
- What your Bokashi Bran® certificate contains and what each number means.
- Which GRI Standards disclosure your food waste data satisfies.
- Where food waste sits in CDP scope 3 reporting.
- How to include it in a JSE sustainability or climate disclosure submission.
- What your auditor needs to accept the data without additional verification.
What your certificate contains
The Bokashi Bran® Certificate of Environmental Stewardship is issued annually, certified by IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment), and documents the following data points for the reporting period:
Total food waste diverted
The total weight of post-consumer organic food waste diverted from landfill during the reporting period, expressed in kilograms and tonnes. This is measured data, not estimated: every drum is weighed on the Bokashi Bran® app at collection, every kilogram timestamped.
Greenhouse gas emissions avoided
Total CO²-equivalent emissions avoided, calculated using DEFRA 2024 greenhouse gas conversion factors. The applicable net saving factor is 691.32575 kg CO²e per tonne of food waste diverted from landfill (landfill factor 700.20961 kg CO²e/t minus composting factor 8.88386 kg CO²e/t).
Carbon factor methodology
DEFRA 2024 — UK Government greenhouse gas conversion factors for company reporting. Peer-reviewed, annually updated, internationally accepted. Cited in full on the certificate.
Reporting period
Calendar year by default. Can be aligned to your fiscal year on request to match your integrated reporting cycle.
IEMA certification
Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment certification mark. Confirms that the methodology, data and reporting process meet recognised professional standards.
The underlying data — individual drum weights, collection dates, site identifiers — is available on the Bokashi Bran® customer portal and can be exported at any time for audit purposes. Your auditor does not need to take the certificate on faith. They can trace every kilogram to a timestamped app record.
Where the data goes in each framework
The table below maps your Bokashi Bran® certificate data to the specific disclosure locations in each major reporting framework. Your sustainability team can use this directly as a reference when compiling disclosures.
| Framework | Disclosure Type | Where food waste data goes | Bokashi Bran® data point |
|---|---|---|---|
|
GRI Standards |
GRI 306: Waste 2020 |
GRI 306-4: Waste diverted from disposal. Report total weight of food waste diverted by recovery operation (composting). Specify the metric tonnes, the recovery method and whether data is measured or estimated. |
Total tonnes diverted + composting as recovery method |
|
GRI Standards |
GRI 305: Emissions 2016 |
GRI 305-3: Other indirect (scope 3) GHG emissions. Food waste to landfill generates biogenic methane — a scope 3 emission. Diversion eliminates this. Report as scope 3 avoided emissions with DEFRA 2024 methodology cited. |
Tonnes CO²e avoided + DEFRA 2024 factor |
|
CDP |
Climate Change questionnaire — C6.5 |
Scope 3 emissions by category. Food waste landfill methane falls under Category 5 (Waste generated in operations). Report as avoided scope 3 emission with methodology disclosure. |
Tonnes CO²e avoided + methodology |
|
JSE Sustainability |
Climate and waste disclosures |
JSE Sustainability and Climate Disclosure Guidance requires disclosure of waste streams, diversion rates and emissions reduction activities. Food waste diversion with IEMA-certified data satisfies the waste management disclosure requirement. |
Total kg diverted + diversion rate % |
|
Integrated Annual Report |
Environmental performance section |
Reference the certificate directly: total food waste diverted (tonnes), CO²e avoided (tonnes), composting methodology. Include as part of scope 3 emissions reduction narrative or standalone waste management section. |
All certificate data points |
‘The underlying weight data is timestamped and traceable to the collection event. Your auditor can verify every kilogram without requesting additional evidence.’
What your auditor needs
Sustainability auditors assessing food waste disclosures typically need four things: evidence that the data is measured rather than estimated; a documented carbon conversion methodology from a recognised source; third-party certification of the reporting process; and the ability to trace reported numbers to source data. The Bokashi Bran® system satisfies all four without any additional work from your team.
Measured data
Every drum is weighed on the Bokashi Bran® app at collection. No estimation. No interpolation. The portal provides a complete transaction-level export.
Recognised methodology
DEFRA 2024 greenhouse gas conversion factors. The most widely cited carbon factor source for company reporting. Full factor citation included on the certificate.
Third-party certification
IEMA certification on every annual certificate. IEMA is a globally recognised professional body for environmental management and assessment.
Source data traceability
Portal data export maps every kilogram to a specific collection date, site and drum number. Your auditor can sample-check any data point against the underlying record.
A note on materiality
For a large hotel group, food service company or corporate campus operator, food waste diversion is not a marginal sustainability metric. A single hotel group across 20 properties diverted 738,714 kg of post-consumer food waste in one fiscal year, avoiding approximately 510 tonnes of CO²-equivalent emissions. At the scale of a national hotel group, hospital network or university campus system, the aggregate figures are material enough to warrant standalone disclosure rather than inclusion as a footnote to general waste management.
There is also a forward-looking materiality consideration. As South Africa’s Carbon Tax Act 15 of 2019 matures and carbon pricing mechanisms develop, the financial value of documented, certified emissions reduction increases. Your IEMA-certified certificate is not only a compliance and reporting document. It is a financial asset — evidence of quantified, third-party-verified emissions reduction that will become more valuable as carbon markets deepen.
The practical bottom line
If your organisation operates commercial kitchen facilities and uses the Bokashi Bran® system, you already have everything you need for food waste disclosure in your integrated report. Log in to your customer portal, download your annual certificate and the underlying data export, and hand both to your sustainability team. The numbers are measured, the methodology is cited, and the certification is in place. No additional consultant required.
If your organisation has not yet implemented a food waste diversion programme, the gap in your sustainability report is also a compliance gap. The 2027 landfill ban is binding. The data your report needs and the data your compliance record needs are the same data. Getting both in place takes less than a week.
ALREADY A BOKASHI BRAN® CLIENT?
Log in to the customer portal to download your annual certificate and data export.
[Button: Log in to portal] · Not yet a client? Contact Frank: frank@bokashibran.co.za · 063 952 7033
Further reading and sources
- GRI 306: Waste 2020 — globalreporting.org
- GRI 305: Emissions 2016 — globalreporting.org
- CDP Climate Change questionnaire technical guidance — cdp.net
- JSE Sustainability and Climate Disclosure Guidance — jse.co.za
- DEFRA 2024 greenhouse gas conversion factors — gov.uk/government/collections/government-conversion-factors-for-company-reporting
- Carbon Tax Act 15 of 2019 — sars.gov.za
- IEMA — iema.net