7.1 MR Prerequisites

Why MR Prerequisites Come First

The Materials & Resources (MR) category targets the embodied environmental impacts of a building — the impacts locked into the structure and its furnishings long before the first occupant arrives, plus the operational waste streams that follow. Before a project can earn a single MR credit point, it must demonstrate two prerequisites:

1. MR Prerequisite: Storage and Collection of Recyclables (operations-focused)
2. MR Prerequisite: Construction and Demolition Waste Management Planning (construction-focused)

These are pass/fail. Skip either and the project is ineligible for LEED certification, no matter how many credit points are earned elsewhere.

Prerequisite 1: Storage and Collection of Recyclables

Intent

Reduce the waste generated by building occupants that is hauled to and disposed of in landfills.

Requirements

Provide dedicated areas accessible to waste haulers and building occupants for the collection and storage of recyclable materials for the entire building. The collection program must include, at a minimum:

Batteries, lamps, and e-waste are hazardous or special streams — they cannot go in normal recycling bins. The project must show a safe, code-compliant pathway, which usually means a locked cabinet for batteries and lamps and a contracted take-back program for e-waste.

Waste Audit

The project must conduct a coordinated waste audit that establishes a baseline of expected waste types and volumes. The audit informs storage sizing, hauler selection, and signage. Audits are typically done after schematic design when occupancy and program are stable.

Common Pitfalls

• Treating e-waste as ordinary recycling — it must be tracked separately under EPA's Universal Waste Rule.
• Locating the recycling area in a freight elevator or hallway that occupants cannot reasonably access.
• Forgetting mercury-containing lamps — even LED-dominant buildings still have some fluorescent or HID lamps that must be safely collected.

Prerequisite 2: Construction and Demolition Waste Management Planning

Intent

Reduce construction and demolition (C&D) waste sent to landfills and incinerators by recovering, reusing, and recycling materials.

Requirements

Develop and implement a written Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste Management Plan that, at a minimum:

• Estimates the total quantity of waste the project will generate, by material and by weight or volume.
• Identifies the haulers and processors that will manage each stream, including their facility addresses and recovery rates.
• Specifies which streams will be diverted from disposal — typically at least five streams (for example: concrete, metals, wood, gypsum, cardboard).
• Sets goals or targets for diversion (a percentage by weight or volume) and assigns responsibility on the construction team.

The plan must be in place before construction begins and updated as the project progresses. Alternative Daily Cover (ADC) — material used to cover landfilled waste at the end of each working day — counts as landfill disposal, not diversion, even though some haulers report it as recycled. This rule prevents projects from inflating diversion numbers with material that is, in practice, still landfilled.

Excluded Materials

Land-clearing debris, soils, and hazardous waste are excluded from the calculation in both the prerequisite and the related credit. The plan should call this out so the construction team does not waste effort tracking it.

How the Prerequisite Differs from the Credit

The prerequisite is about planning. Points come later under MR Credit: Construction and Demolition Waste Management, which requires actual diversion performance (covered in Section 7.4).

Documentation Tips

• Use the LEED-provided spreadsheet template to size bins and track haul tickets.
• Photograph signage and bin placement during the first month of construction; reviewers ask for evidence.
• Keep weight tickets monthly — back-calculating at the end of a 24-month build is the #1 cause of audit findings.